Constructing breakout entry rules and time stops

When a new high is allowed to count

A reusable breakout detector can report how many bars have passed since the prior new high and emit a non-zero reading only when a new high arrives after a lookback-length stretch without one.

That stretch is the lookback gap: the minimum stretch of bars without a new high before the next new high is treated as a breakout.

The same detector returns zero both when no new high prints and when a new high prints without satisfying the lookback gap. That zero reading is abstention, a decision not to enter rather than missing data.

One restatement of the breakout test multiplies three checks: whether today is an n-bar high, whether the prior high is at least n bars old, and the bar count since that prior high. It returns zero unless all three contribute.

Isolating the breakout test in one shared function lets later studies and systems inherit the same rule, so a change to the detector updates every dependent procedure.

When stacked tests may refuse the fill

A rule-based entry is a long signal that fires only when every listed market-state test is true on the same bar.

A rule-based long setup can require several market-state tests at once, illustrated as a 14-bar trend-strength reading below 15, an 8-bar slow oscillator above 70 and rising, a 40-bar oscillator above 50 and rising, and volume above 1.5 times a 50-bar average.

When a clock ends the long

A minimal long procedure can buy when that detector is non-zero and exit once bars since entry reach a stated holding count, including a pairing of a 4-bar lookback with a 4-bar exit.

An inactivity or bars-since-fill exit implements a time stop: the long is closed after a stated hold period even if no new qualifying breakout appears.

The time stop closes the long after a stated number of bars from the fill, whether or not price makes another extreme.