SMA breakout (Donchian-style) strategyvsOrder Block strategy
SMA breakout (Donchian-style) strategy: Buy a fresh push above the 20-bar mean and trail the winner until it folds. · Order Block strategy: Retest of the last opposite candle before a Break of Structure — long bullish OBs, short bearish.
SMA breakout (Donchian-style) strategy
Buy a fresh push above the 20-bar mean and trail the winner until it folds.
Order Block strategy
Retest of the last opposite candle before a Break of Structure — long bullish OBs, short bearish.
Indicators
- SMA (period 20)
- Order Block (swing length 10)
Timeframes
Bias
Long only
Long & short
Market fit
Volatility expansion
Strong directional trends
Entry rules
- Enter long when close crosses above the 20-bar SMA.
- 4-bar cooldown after exit reduces back-to-back whipsaws.
- Long on a bullish OB retest (bull_retest > 0).
- Short on a bearish OB retest.
Exit rules
- Close on a cross back below the SMA.
- Trailing 5% stop catches deeper retracements before the SMA flips.
- Position closes when the OB is mitigated (price closes through the opposite edge).
- An opposite-side OB retest also invalidates the trade.
- 4% trailing stop, 3-bar cooldown.
Expected behavior
Trendy growth in directional regimes punctuated by ugly chop when price oscillates around the SMA. Best paired with a higher-timeframe trend filter to skip the chop.
Selective — OBs are sparse and retests are rarer still. The strategy spends most of the time flat and produces concentrated trades around real structure flips.
Complexity
Which one is right for you?
Derived from the bias, timeframe and indicator profile of each strategy — not a back-test forecast.
When to pick SMA breakout (Donchian-style) strategy
- You expect volatility expansion — the thesis is "Buy a fresh push above the 20-bar mean and trail the winner until it folds."
- You want a long-only bot on 1h–1d candles with a balanced rule-set.
- You're comfortable monitoring 1 indicator (SMA (period 20)).
Buy a fresh push above the 20-bar mean and trail the winner until it folds.
When to pick Order Block strategy
- You expect strong directional trends — the thesis is "Retest of the last opposite candle before a Break of Structure — long bullish OBs, short bearish."
- You want a long & short bot on 15m–1d candles with a balanced rule-set.
- You're comfortable monitoring 1 indicator (Order Block (swing length 10)).
Retest of the last opposite candle before a Break of Structure — long bullish OBs, short bearish.
SMA breakout (Donchian-style) strategy
Buy a fresh push above the 20-bar mean and trail the winner until it folds.
Order Block strategy
Retest of the last opposite candle before a Break of Structure — long bullish OBs, short bearish.
Related comparisons
Other pairings that involve one of these strategies.
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