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How to read a breakout and a retest
Price trading one cent above a level is not yet a breakout. A lot of fast spikes fail within minutes. Splitting the move into separate steps makes it easier to see which breakouts have something behind them.
1. The first cross
Price trades through the level. On its own this only tells you the level was touched. Thin stocks often print one trade above a level and fall straight back.
2. A candle close above the level
A one-minute (or your timeframe's) candle that closes above the level shows price stayed there for the whole candle, not just for one print.
3. Volume and who is trading
Volume well above normal, for example about twice the usual for that time of day, shows real participation. Order flow adds the side: a breakout carried mostly by buy-side volume reads differently from one where sellers are hitting every bid. Big prints at the ask on the tape point the same way.
4. The hold
Staying above the level for a while (Nasdaq Life uses 60 seconds for its strict check) filters out spikes that reverse right away.
5. The pullback retest
Many breakouts come back to the level before going further. If the old resistance holds as support and price bounces from it, the level has been tested from both sides. A move back below the level after the cross, by about half a percent, is a common sign of a failed breakout.
How Nasdaq Life checks it
The strict confirmation needs all of these within 30 minutes and before the first target: a one-minute close above, about 2× relative volume, a 60-second hold, at least 65% buy-side volume, and a pullback with a 0.5% bounce. Most spikes never confirm, on purpose. None of this predicts where price goes next; it describes what already happened around your level.