Low-volume consolidation followed by high-volume breakdown below 10-bar low with volume expansion.
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Four conditions operate in parallel. First, "close below 10-candle low" means the current bar has closed beneath the lowest close of the prior 10 sessions — a structural breakdown. Second, "volume more than 1.5x the 20-period average" confirms genuine participation in the move — not a thin-market drift below support. Third, "body more than 40% of ATR(14)" ensures the candle's real body is substantial, eliminating weak, indecisive breakdown candles. Fourth, "low volume in at least 3 of the last 5 bars" (volume below 80% of average) confirms the pre-breakdown period was genuinely quiet — a distribution zone, not an already-active selling period. The combination creates a high-specificity signal that fires when quiet consolidation transitions sharply to high-conviction downside.
Distribution breakdown is the Wyckoff distribution phase realized: institutional supply is loaded quietly during low-volume consolidation, then initiated as a downside break when demand is exhausted. The setup works best when the consolidation occurs near a known resistance zone or a prior swing high — the quiet period represents sellers distributing into residual demand, and the breakdown confirms they have won. Failure modes: (1) the breakdown occurs into major support (52-week lows, key SMA levels), where buyers aggressively defend — the screen does not check what is below the breakdown level; (2) a news event reversal pulls the stock back above the breakdown level within the same session; (3) the low-volume period was accumulation by a single large buyer, and the breakdown is a fake-out designed to shake out weak hands before a reversal. Compare to Accumulation Breakout for the bullish equivalent, and Volume Surge 2x for high-volume events without the prior consolidation filter.
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This screener finds stocks that have consolidated on low volume for at least three of the last five bars and then broke below the 10-bar low with heavy volume and a full-bodied candle. It is the bearish mirror of Accumulation Breakout — it captures the institutional distribution pattern: quiet supply loading at resistance followed by a decisive high-volume breakdown. Short sellers and breakdown traders use it to identify potential trend initiation to the downside where volume confirms institutional selling rather than retail noise. Who uses this: institutional-style traders looking for short entries on the first day of breakdown from a distribution base. Failure mode: the low-volume consolidation may have been accumulation, not distribution — a breakdown that quickly reverses on buying is a classic bear trap. Related screens: Accumulation Breakout and Volume Surge 2x.
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