Bear Trap
Also called: bear trap, beartrap, bear-trap, false breakdown, failed breakdown.
How it is read
It is commonly read as a "false breakdown". The dip under support does not bring in more selling, so the level holds by the close. Observers often check whether the break came on weak or thin volume. They also check how fast price got back above the level, and whether it stayed there into the close. A quick recovery above old support is generally read as a sign the breakdown did not follow through. The name comes from bearish traders being caught on the wrong side when the level held again.
What it does not tell you
It does not tell you how far the next move runs, or how long, and it carries no price target. You can only confirm the pattern in hindsight. A break under support that keeps falling is a real breakdown, not a trap, and at the moment of the break the two look identical. A reclaim of support can also fail again. So one bar poking back above the level is not proof the trap is complete. Volume, the reclaim and the close are descriptive context, not guarantees. The pattern says nothing about why price moved.
Related concepts
Bear Trap: A Worked Case Study of a False Breakdown
It shows bear trap at work in a chart, not only in a definition.
Open the worked example