Is there a reason these round number breaks dont hold up? Probably no more than there is to any other break or move that fails or falls short: a lack of follow-through. It is not uncommon to see enthusiasm dwindle in rather subdued markets, or in situations where the round numbers are more of a symbolic nature than that they actually represent true technical levels of resistance and support. In these cases, it is fair to assume that not too many stop-losses reside above or below the levels. As a result, the price action remains calm; as much as those in position do not see the need to get out, those on the sidelines are not exactly scrambling to get in, either. More practical than trying to figure out the reason (foolish in any respect) is asking ourselves if these failed round number breaks could somehow be anticipated and possibly exploited. Interestingly, in the Forex Price Action Scalping Excerpts

First the round numberisbroken,quiteoftenwithhardlyanyfight.Notmuchlaterthe break is tested, usually successful. On seeing this, a number of new players step in, thinking theyre in for a treat. And then, for some reason oranother,theplaydiesoutlikeaflame.Tradersatanymomentintime may buy as cheaply or sell as dearly as the market allows them, but if no new players pick up on their idea of direction (follow-through), they aretrappedonthewrongsideofthefield.Allofthisisnotuncommonly captured within the confines of an unmistakable range very close to theroundnumberofinterest.Itisascalperstasktofigureoutwhen the predicament of the trapped becomes unbearable from a technical perspective.Naturally,theideaistocapitalizeontheirinstinctofflight. Everything is very easy in hindsight, yet if you managed to grasp the concept of the forces in play that caused the upside break in Figure 11.1, I am sure you can also see why this particular rang

Let us examine up close what exactly went on from the moment the third top was set (4). It started to go wrong for the bulls when the reaction to this top (a tiny countermove) was not being picked up by new bulls in the 20ema a few bars later. That would have been a perfect opportunity to swing prices back up. From there on, they could have created themselves a nice squeeze by not giving in to whatever bearish pressure and then force themselves a way through the top barrier of the range. In fact, the three earlier tops (1, 3 and 4) would have made for an excellent barrier to trade that upside break from. However, instead of working on that upside break, the market set out on its way to the bottom of the range again (5) and now even showed a classic triple top in its wake. These are not bullish signs.

But there was hope still. After all, the round number zone was cracked to the upside and successfully tested earlier on, and that should at least amount to something. If somehow new bulls found it in their heart to aggressively step in above the 1.33 level, inspiring even more bulls to jump in after them and bring prices once again to the top of the range, the chart would show an unmistakable double bottom in round number support (2 and 5). And that would look quite bullish. Forex Price Action Scalping