Breakout above a multi-month high, on volume
Stocks closing above their highest high of the last six months, with today's volume at least 1.5× the recent average.
By Rohit Singh (Mr. Chartist) · Updated 2026-08-25
A breakout is only interesting if two things are true at once: price has cleared a level that actually mattered, and enough people participated to suggest the move will hold. This scan tests both on the same candle, which is the whole point — a new high on thin volume and a volume spike that fails to clear the level are both ordinary events.
The lookback deliberately ends yesterday. If today's own high were inside the window, the stock would be competing against itself and nothing could ever pass. That single offset is the difference between a scan that works and one that silently returns nothing.
( {cash} ( latest close > 1 day ago max( 120 , latest high ) and latest volume > 1 day ago sma( latest volume , 20 ) * 1.5 ) )Chartink can fail silently. Tested on 2026-08-25: a clause containing a nonsense token returned the same number of rows as the correct one, with no error, and a clause with no comparison in it returned every stock in the segment. A scan that returns results has not necessarily parsed as you intended — so sanity-check a few of the names it gives you against the conditions above before trusting the list.
Chartink's own documentation notes that scans cannot always be copy-pasted directly, and its in-app copy function moves condition groups rather than raw text. Treat this clause as the specification to reproduce in the condition builder; if pasting works in your account, so much the better.
What this scan actually tests
- Today's close is above the single highest high of the previous 120 trading sessions — roughly six months. The `1 day ago` offset ends the lookback yesterday so today's candle is not part of the high it must beat.
- Today's volume is more than 1.5× the 20-session average measured as of yesterday, keeping today's spike out of its own baseline.
- Both conditions on the SAME daily candle. This is a same-day breakout list, not a 'made a new high sometime recently' list.
What it cannot see
A scan is bar arithmetic. It cannot read a chart, and every recipe here is honest about where the machine stops and your eyes start.
- The quality of the base. `max(120, …)` returns one number — it cannot tell a tight six-month range from a single spike high the stock drifted away from. A level rejected four times is real supply; a level touched once is a data point.
- Where the close sits inside the day's range. A stock can close above the old high and still print a long upper wick — a rejection, not a breakout.
- Gap versus clean breakout. A stock that gapped over the level on results is a different trade with a different invalidation than one that pushed through intraday.
- Whether the level then holds as support. The retest is the confirmation, and on scan day it has not happened yet.
Why this setup is worth scanning for
Six months of price memory is long enough that the high represents real trapped supply rather than last week's noise. Clearing it on expanding volume is the market re-pricing the stock in public.
A short list on quiet days and a long one after a strong market session — the scan is inherently pro-cyclical, so judge candidates against the day's breadth rather than taking every hit.
Written By
Rohit Singh
Mr. Chartist
With 14+ years of experience in Indian financial markets, Rohit Singh (Mr. Chartist) is a SEBI Registered Research Analyst, Amazon #1 bestselling author, and the founder of Investology — a premium trading ecosystem trusted by a 1.5 Lakh+ strong community across India.
Educational content. A scan is a filter, not a recommendation — the names it returns are candidates for your own analysis, not a buy list, and nothing here is investment advice. Chartink is a third-party service with no affiliation to this site. Registration granted by SEBI, membership of BASL and certification from NISM in no way guarantee performance or assure returns. Markets carry risk.