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Market Structure Shift (MSS / BOS / ChoCh)
The moment price breaks its pattern of higher-lows or lower-highs, signaling a possible trend change.
What it is
Markets trend in swings: higher highs and higher lows, or lower highs and lower lows. A market structure shift (also called break of structure or change of character) happens when that sequence breaks — e.g., price takes out the last higher-low with displacement, suggesting sellers have taken control.
Why it matters
Structure defines bias. Trading with the current structure — and flipping bias only when it genuinely shifts — keeps you out of counter-trend bleed.
NQ example REAL SCENARIO
NQ has printed higher lows all morning. At 1:15pm it breaks the latest higher-low with a 40-point displacement candle — structure shifted; longs are no longer the high-probability side.