Journal · 28 May 2026
Marking the retest without chasing the first close
Name the rule before the close happens
Some students wait for a retest. Some act on the first close outside a level they have already defended. Both can be coherent. Switching in the moment, because the close looked strong, is how folders fill with plans that were never the plan.
Write the choice on the sheet while price is still inside the box. 'I wait for a return to the broken edge' or 'I treat the first close outside as enough.' The studio's evening four is built around the first of those sentences, because it is the one people abandon.
Two ways a return can look
Price comes back to the broken edge, stalls or rejects, and leaves again in the direction of the break. That is a retest that held. Mark the stall, not the entire journey back.
Price comes back, re-enters the old range, and closes inside. That is a failed break, even if you already liked the first close. The pencil goes through the earlier arrow. This is the mark students postpone because it embarrasses the first arrow.
Chasing has a recognisable shape
The first close prints. You had written that you would wait. You move the written line anyway and call the close 'close enough to a retest' because it paused for a few minutes. The pause of a breakout candle is not a return to the level.
In review hours, Kanya asks for the timestamp of the return. If you cannot point to a later touch of the broken edge, the retest was a story added after the fact. The sheet should show the touch, or it should show that you chose the first close on purpose.