Break of Structure (BOS)
A close beyond the most recent swing high or low in the direction of the prevailing trend — objective evidence of trend continuation.
What is a Break of Structure?
A Break of Structure (BOS) occurs when price closes beyond the most recent significant swing point in the direction of the existing trend: above the last swing high in an uptrend, below the last swing low in a downtrend. It confirms that the side in control is still pressing — the trend has renewed its claim.
The close matters. A wick through a swing point that closes back inside is not a BOS; it is more often a liquidity sweep — the opposite signal. Distinguishing a genuine break (displacement, body close, follow-through) from a sweep (wick, rejection, reversal) is one of the highest-value skills in structural trading.
Trading around a BOS
A BOS does three things: it confirms directional bias, it creates a new dealing range (the leg from the origin swing to the new extreme), and it usually leaves behind entry zones — the order block that launched the break and any fair value gaps inside the displacement. The standard continuation play is to wait for the retracement into those zones rather than chasing the break itself.
Each new BOS also re-anchors equilibrium. The 50% of the new leg becomes the discount/premium boundary, which is why buying immediately after an extended BOS (deep in premium) has a worse expectancy than waiting for the discount retest.
How Pushing Profits applies it
Structure breaks drive two mechanisms in the platform: range re-anchoring (every confirmed break redraws the dealing range and its EQ) and the opposing-structure veto, which blocks any mean-reversion signal that would fade a fresh confirmed break — the single most common way retail traders get run over.
Frequently asked questions
Does a BOS need a candle close beyond the level?
Yes, by convention. A wick beyond the swing that closes back inside is treated as a liquidity sweep, not a break. Most traders also want displacement — an impulsive, full-bodied move — for a high-quality BOS.
What invalidates a BOS?
A swift reclaim: if price closes back through the broken swing shortly after the break, the 'break' was likely a trap (a fake-out engineered to induce breakout entries). The origin of the move breaking down also voids the continuation thesis.
BOS vs breakout — what's the difference?
A retail breakout is any move through a horizontal level. A BOS is specifically about swing structure in trend context, and SMC traders typically fade breakouts that lack displacement while trading BOS retracements.