Breakout above 20-day high with tight prior range and volume expansion.
A close above the 20-day high means the current session's closing price exceeds every close over the prior 20 sessions — a definitive breakout from the range ceiling. The tightness check compares the current 20-day high to the 20-day high from 11 sessions back; requiring the current value to be within 5% of the historical value means the upper boundary hasn't been moving meaningfully, confirming the stock has been range-bound. Volume above 1.2x the 20-bar average confirms that the breakout is being bought, not just a low-liquidity drift above resistance. The 0-stock count indicates tight market conditions or few stocks in the universe meeting all three simultaneously.
The best setups occur when a tight range forms inside a broader uptrend — the stock pulls back and compresses before launching. When a stock breaks out of a consolidation that itself is near a 52-week high, the breakout has additional significance because it is clearing new ground. Failure modes: (1) the break is on the highest-volume bar of the day but price reverses intraday, suggesting a fakeout on the daily close; (2) the stock breaks out while the broader market is weakening — sector rotation can kill individual breakouts quickly; (3) the range is tight because the stock is simply low-volatility and liquid, not because energy is coiling. Compare to 20-Day Consolidation Breakdown for the bear-side resolution. See Near 52-Week High and New 52-Week High for context on where price sits in the longer-term trend.
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This screener finds stocks breaking above their 20-day high after a tight consolidation, confirmed by volume expansion above 1.2x average. The tightness filter — 20-day high within 5% of its level 11 sessions ago — ensures the prior range was genuinely compressed, not merely a pause in a falling stock. Currently 0 stocks match, which reflects the precision of requiring simultaneous range tightness and volume-confirmed breakout. Swing traders and momentum buyers use this to catch early-stage expansion moves after coiling. Search phrases: 20-day high breakout tight range, volume breakout consolidation, coiling stock breakout screener.