IB One‑Way Break & Retrace (Chicago 5m)

What It Tracks
Initial Balance (IB) Range

Defined as the high/low from 08 : 30 – 09 : 30 Chicago time each day.

Plotted as steplines on your chart (“IB High” in aqua, “IB Low” in fuchsia).

Session Window

Monitors price from 09 : 30 – 15 : 00 Chicago time (the remainder of the regular day).

Break Classification

Held: Price never breaches the IB high or low during the session.

One‑Way Break: Price breaks one side of the IB (high or low) but doesn’t break the opposite side.

Discarded: Price breaks both sides of the IB—in which case the day is skipped from all statistics.

Retracement Measurement

For “One‑Way Break” days only, measures how far price retraces back into the IB range (as a percentage of the IB width).

Retracement values are capped at 100% (so extreme extensions beyond the IB don’t inflate averages).

Labeling on the Chart

Held days are marked with an orange “Held” label at the unbroken IB edge.

One‑Way Break days are marked at the furthest pullback point with a green (if upside break) or red (if downside break) label showing the retrace % (e.g. “37.5%”).

Discarded days (both‑side breaks) get a gray “Discard” label.

Summary Table (Top‑Right)

Bucket Count % Sessions Avg Ret%
Total Sessions   X      100.0%       Y.Y%     
Held   H      H/Total       0.0%    
Breakouts   B      B/Total      A.A%     
Discarded   D      D/Total       –       
  0–20% Retrace       E0     E0/B         Avg0%    
  20–40% Retrace      E1     E1/B         Avg1%    
  40–60% Retrace      E2     E2/B         Avg2%    
  60–80% Retrace      E3     E3/B         Avg3%    
  ≥80% Retrace        E4     E4/B         Avg4%    
Count: Number of days in each category.

% Sessions: That count divided by Total Sessions.

Avg Ret%: Average retracement on only those days. (Held and Discarded rows show 0% or blank.)

How to Use
Held days indicate a very tight IB that never gave way—these can signal strong balance before a later move.

One‑Way Breakouts show directional moves that retraced back into the IB by some amount. Use the retrace % buckets to gauge typical pullback sizes after breakout.

Discarded days (both‑side breaches) are volatile or whipsaw days—excluded from your retracement analysis.

By filtering out those whipsaw sessions and focusing on clean one‑way breaks, you get a clearer picture of how deep retracements tend to be after true breakout moves.