# London breakout: a strategy to learn and test | DT Academy > Mark the Asian session range, then trade the first clean break as London opens. [Strategy Library](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/strategies) Session # London breakout The Asian session is usually quieter, so its high and low make a clear range. When London opens, more traders arrive and price often breaks out of it. You mark the range, wait for the open and trade a clean break. Beginner Forex majors, most often GBPUSD and EURUSD London open M5, M15 [Use this strategy](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&from=academy&entry=strategy_use&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fstrategies%2Flondon_breakout) [Practice it](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&from=academy&entry=strategy_practice&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fstrategies%2Flondon_breakout) Example 01 ### London breakout on a chart GBPUSD · M15 Asian range range, break Asian range: 1.2702 to 1.2738Entry: 1.2751Stop: 1.2720Target: 1.2797 (1.5R)Sample candles, not market data The break was a candle close above the range high after London opened. The stop at the middle of the range is one of three common choices. ### The rules Setup Mark the Asian range: the high and low from 00:00 to 07:00 GMT (adjust for daylight saving) Skip days when the range is so wide that the stop leaves no room for your target Entry After 07:00 GMT, enter when a candle closes beyond the range high (long) or low (short) Skip the break if the breakout candle is a pin bar pointing the other way Stop The middle of the range, or just beyond the most recent swing, or the far side of the range Target A fixed R such as 1.5R, or close at the end of the London session Manage Move the stop to breakeven at 1R, or take half off at 1.5R ### Common mistakes - Getting the hours wrong. Daylight saving moves the sessions by an hour twice a year. - Trading straight into news. A release near the open can reverse the break. - Trading a range that is too wide. A wide range puts the stop too far away for the target. - Chasing the first spike. A fast move through the range that closes back inside is a false break. ### When it's off - Call it off if price closes back inside the range - Skip the day if there is no break by your cut-off time - Skip it when high-impact news is due near the open ### Words to know Asian range In the ICT course, the high and low printed between 20:00 and 00:00 New York time (some sources use other hours), marked before London opens as reference levels. Log what London does with it: sweep and reverse, break and run, or stay inside. Breakout Price moves through a support, resistance or range edge and a candle body closes beyond it. A wick beyond that closes back inside is a sweep, not a breakout. False breakout Price breaks beyond a level but cannot stay there and comes back inside, trapping breakout traders. It is only known after the return, never at the breakout candle's close. R multiple 1R is what you lose if the stop is hit, and results are measured as multiples of it: making twice your risk is +2R, a full stop is -1R. R needs the initial stop; without a recorded stop it is unknown, not zero. Breakeven stop Moving the stop to your entry so a trade that turns closes at about zero instead of a full loss. It is a trade-off, not free insurance: it saves 1R on trades that fade after moving your way, but turns winners that come back to test the entry into 0R. London open When European trading starts, around 07:00 to 08:00 GMT. Time stop Closing a trade at a set time whatever the price. When you make it yours, I'll ask what the rules above leave open. Start with one of these: - Which hours make your range, in which time zone, and how do you handle daylight saving? - Do you enter on a touch, a stop order, or a candle close, and on which timeframe? - What do you do if both sides break on the same morning? [Ask Edge in DT Terminal](https://www.thedtterminal.com/login?signup=true&from=academy&entry=strategy_question&redirect=%2Fjournal%2Facademy%2Fstrategies%2Flondon_breakout) ## From DT Academy - [Market sessions](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/market-sessions) - [Key news events](https://www.thedtterminal.com/academy/key-news-events) ## What testing exists No independent test of the London breakout was found. Treat it as a framework to define and test yourself. ## Before you trust a backtest - Many professional traders risk under 1% of their account on one trade idea, and the common guideline is 1 to 2%. - The more versions of a rule you try on the same data, the more likely a good backtest is luck. Decide your rules before you test. - Include spread and commission, and practice on dates you have not looked at, before you trust a result. ## Sources - [Trading the Tokyo session (opens in a new tab)](https://www.ig.com/au/ig-academy/a-look-at-forex-trading-strategies/trading-the-tokyo-session), IG Academy - [Trading the London session (opens in a new tab)](https://www.ig.com/au/ig-academy/a-look-at-forex-trading-strategies/trading-the-london-session), IG Academy - [Trading the 24-hour forex market (opens in a new tab)](https://www.ig.com/en-ch/learn-to-trade/ig-academy/a-look-at-forex-trading-strategies/24-hour-forex-market), IG Academy - [London breakout strategy (opens in a new tab)](https://www.dailyforex.com/forex-articles/london-breakout-strategy/210474), DailyForex - [London BreakOut Classic strategy (opens in a new tab)](https://doc.stocksharp.com/en/api-examples/0989_London_BreakOut_Classic), StockSharp docs - [Controlling risk (opens in a new tab)](https://www.ig.com/en/ig-academy/money-management/controlling-risk), IG Academy - [Forex risk management (opens in a new tab)](https://www.cmcmarkets.com/en-gb/forex/forex-risk-management), CMC Markets - [Pseudo-mathematics and financial charlatanism (Notices of the AMS, 2014) (opens in a new tab)](https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/math_pubs/40/), Bailey, Borwein, López de Prado and Zhu - [What is backtesting? (opens in a new tab)](https://www.ig.com/uk/trading-strategies/what-is-backtesting-and-how-do-you-backtest-a-trading-strategy--220426), IG DT Academy is education, not financial advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any instrument. Trading carries a high risk of losing money, and past results, examples and backtests do not guarantee future results. [Risk disclosure](https://www.thedtterminal.com/risk-disclosure) --- Risk disclosure: Futures, forex and options trading contains substantial risk and is not for every investor. An investor could potentially lose all or more than the initial investment. Risk capital is money that can be lost without jeopardizing one's financial security or lifestyle. Only risk capital should be used for trading and only those with sufficient risk capital should consider trading. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. [Read the full risk disclosure](https://www.thedtterminal.com/legal/risk-disclosure). 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