Liquidity grab vs real breakout

Liquidity & Stop Hunts

The single question that separates them

Did price CLOSE beyond the level, or just wick through it? A grab wicks and snaps back inside. A real breakout closes outside the level and, ideally, holds on a retest.

Retest behavior confirms the read

After a real breakout, the old resistance should hold as new support on the first pullback. After a grab, that same level gets sliced right back through, because it was never truly broken, just visited.

Context decides which one you're seeing

A break INTO a known liquidity pool, like equal highs or an old high, is grab-suspicious by default. A break into open air with no obvious pool nearby is far more likely to be a genuine, tradeable move.