Reading the market regime before prices move

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CHART PATTERNS · Academy

Chart patterns: 30 formations read on the chart

A chart pattern is not a prophecy. It is a geometric description of a balance between supply and demand, and its meaning begins at a breakout confirmed by a close, not when you draw the lines. Every chart here is a worked example: the signal level, the target and the invalidation on the price axis, and under the chart a Volume (Volume) bar , and each card shows where it fools you, including a False Breakout (False Breakout) .

30chart patterns
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Reversal patterns

Reversal · 15

Appears at the end of an existing trend and makes a reversal more likely.

Head and shoulders: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Head and Shoulders over 70 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 59 near $420. Target $380. Invalidation $440.SignalTargetInvalidationLeft shoulderHeadRight shoulderNeckline440$380$400$Volume03570 sessions

Head and Shoulders (Head and Shoulders)

Bearish weeks to months

Three consecutive tops, the middle one higher than its neighbors, with the lows on one line called the Neckline. The pattern describes an uptrend that lost its ability to make a higher high: buyers tried twice after the head and never reached it.

Where it fools you: the best-known trick is the break followed by a pullback to the neckline (Throwback), which shakes out early entries with tight stops. Worse is labeling it on a chart with no uptrend before it. Then it is sideways chop, not a pattern.
Full guide →
Inverse head and shoulders: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of an Inverse Head and Shoulders over 70 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 58 near $95. Target $110. Invalidation $87.SignalTargetInvalidationLeft shoulderHeadRight shoulderNeckline110$87$80$100$Volume03570 sessions

Inverse Head and Shoulders (Inverse Head and Shoulders)

Bullish weeks to months

The previous pattern flipped upside down: three bottoms, the middle one the deepest, with their highs on one neckline. It describes a seller who has spent his pressure · the decline after the head can no longer make a lower low.

Where it fools you: an upside break without supporting volume often fails. The bearish pattern is different: it can fall under its own weight. And in a falling broad market most bullish reversals fail, however perfect they look.
Full guide →
Double top: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Double Top over 64 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 53 near $190. Target $170. Invalidation $209.SignalTargetInvalidationFirst topSecond topSeparating bottom209$170$180$200$Volume03264 sessions

Double Top (Double Top)

Bearish weeks

Two peaks at about the same level, split by a trough. The read is simple: price tested a ceiling twice and was rejected twice. Sellers showed up at the same number.

Where it fools you: before the separating low breaks, the pattern is not a pattern. It is just two tops. Most beginner losses come from selling at the second top, expecting it to be rejected, then price breaks out and keeps going.
Full guide →
Double bottom: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Double Bottom over 64 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 53 near $58. Target $66. Invalidation $49.SignalTargetInvalidationFirst bottomSecond bottomSeparating top66$49$60$Volume03264 sessions

Double Bottom (Double Bottom)

Bullish weeks

Two bottoms at roughly the same level with a peak between them. A buyer defended the same price twice and refused to sell below it.

Where it fools you: a second low that breaks the first slightly and then bounces (Spring) shakes out stops sitting right under the low. Place the stop below the lower of the two lows with a margin, not at its edge.
Full guide →
Triple top: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Triple Top over 76 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 68 near $101. Target $87. Invalidation $113.SignalTargetInvalidationThree tops at one priceSupport line113$87$80$100$Volume03876 sessions

Triple Top (Triple Top)

Bearish weeks to months

Three tops at one level. The more often price is rejected at one price, the more weight the level carries · and the more traders wait for it to break.

Where it fools you: a level tested three times is visible to everyone, so stop orders pile up beneath it. That makes a false break more likely here than with a double top, not less.
Full guide →
Triple bottom: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Triple Bottom over 76 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 66 near $79. Target $92. Invalidation $66.SignalTargetInvalidationThree bottoms at one priceResistance line92$66$80$Volume03876 sessions

Triple Bottom (Triple Bottom)

Bullish weeks to months

Three bottoms at one level. Building a slow bottom wears down sellers one after another.

Where it fools you: it takes weeks to build, and entering before the breakout ties up capital in an asset that is not moving. The cost here is time, not price, and it is a real cost in options trading, where time eats value.
Full guide →
Rounding bottom: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Rounding Bottom over 90 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 81 near $64.0. Target $81.4. Invalidation $56.2.SignalTargetInvalidationRounding bottomEdge81.4$56.2$Volume04590 sessions

Rounding Bottom (Rounding Bottom)

Bullish months Mirror image: the rounding top

A gradual shift from decline to rise that draws a bowl-shaped arc. No sharp turning point · a slow change of ownership from a desperate seller to a patient buyer.

Where it fools you: it is only clear in hindsight. While it forms it looks like dull stagnation, and most people who call something a "rounding bottom" do so after the breakout has passed.
Full guide →
Diamond top: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Diamond Top over 76 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 63 near $65.1. Target $46.5. Invalidation $68.0.InvalidationSignalTargetBreadthContraction68.0$46.5$60$Volume03876 sessions

Diamond Top (Diamond Top)

Bearish weeks Mirror image: the diamond bottom

Swings that widen and then contract, drawing a diamond. It describes a peak of emotion: a sharp disagreement over value that widens, then a hesitant consensus that contracts before the decision.

Where it fools you: rare and easy to imagine. Any random chop can be boxed with four lines that look like a diamond. If the widening then narrowing is not obvious without effort, it is not a diamond.
Full guide →
Broadening formation: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Broadening Formation over 76 sessions.Higher highsLower lows70$80$Volume03876 sessions

Broadening Formation (Broadening Formation)

Mostly bearish weeks

Higher highs and lower lows in succession, so the shape opens like an upturned horn. Volatility rises with no direction · a market that has lost its price anchor.

Where it fools you: the most dangerous pattern to trade live. Every leg looks like a great entry, and the widening range swallows the stop. The more useful read is to treat it as a volatility warning and cut position size, not as an opportunity to grab.
Full guide →
Quasimodo pattern: chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Quasimodo pattern over 64 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 50 near $105.6. Target $89.6. Invalidation $117.6.SignalTargetInvalidationBCDEFBreak of Structure1117.6$89.6$80$100$Volume03264 sessions
  1. 1Quasimodo level

Quasimodo pattern (Quasimodo · Over-and-Under)

Bearish days to weeks Mirror image: the bullish Quasimodo

A higher high than the previous one, then a drop that breaks the last higher low in the uptrend, then a bounce back to the old high's level where it is rejected.

Where it fools you: calling it before price falls under the low is C: with no lower low there is no change in structure, and selling at the B level is selling a pullback inside an uptrend.
Full guide →
Three drives: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Three Drives Pattern over 70 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 56 near $82. Target $76. Invalidation $94.SignalTargetInvalidationFirstSecondThirdC1C2C1-C2 line94$76$60$Volume03570 sessions

Three Drives (Three Drives Pattern)

Bearish weeks Mirror image: Three Drives to a bottom

Three proportional rising drives separated by equally proportional pullbacks, then a break of the line joining the lows of the two pullbacks.

Where it fools you: every uptrend makes three higher highs. If the lengths and timing are not proportional, it is a trend, not a pattern. And selling at the third drive before the C1-C2 line breaks may meet a fourth drive.
Full guide →
Island reversal: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of an Island Reversal over 60 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 37 near $51.0. Reference $44.0. Invalidation $53.6.SignalInvalidationReference: the rally baseIslandThe two gaps53.6$44.0$50$Volume03060 sessions

Island Reversal (Island Reversal)

Bearish days to weeks Mirror image: the bullish Island Reversal

Sessions isolated by two gaps: a gap up that opens above everything before it, then a gap down that closes below everything inside, leaving the sessions between them cut off from price on both sides like an island.

Where it fools you: a gap caused by an earnings release or a dividend payout is not a structural island, and on timeframes shorter than daily nearly every open makes a gap. Closing the second gap cancels the pattern.
Full guide →
Reversal after a surge: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Bump-and-Run Reversal over 80 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 69 near $67.8. Target $61.0. Invalidation $76.4.SignalTargetInvalidationSurgeStart of the surgeEntry line76.4$61.0$Volume04080 sessions

Bump-and-Run Reversal (Bump-and-Run Reversal)

Bearish months

A calm rise along a trendline of moderate slope called the entry line, then a sharp acceleration that pulls price away from the line, which is the surge, then a drop that returns to the line and breaks it.

Where it fools you: drawing the entry line on the lows of the run-up itself makes it steep, so it breaks early. And selling during the acceleration, before the original line breaks, faces a rally that may accelerate further.
Full guide →
Double bottom "Adam and Eve": a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of an Adam & Eve Double Bottom over 70 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 62 near $41.6. Target $52.0. Invalidation $31.2.EveSignalTargetInvalidationAdamSeparating top52.0$31.2$40$Volume03570 sessions

Adam & Eve Double Bottom (Adam & Eve Double Bottom)

Bullish weeks Mirror image: the Adam & Eve Double Top

Two bottoms of similar depth but different shapes: the first is sharp and narrow with a long lower shadow, called "Adam", and the second is rounded and wide and takes longer, called "Eve".

Where it fools you: a sharp second low like the first is not this pattern, and buying before the close above the separating peak is buying inside a decline.
Full guide →
The sharp V-shaped reversal: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a sharp V-shaped reversal over 60 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 37 near $118. Target $135. Invalidation $102.SignalStart of the declineInvalidationBottomLast lower high135$102$120$Volume03060 sessions

Sharp reversal shaped like V (V-Reversal · Spike Bottom)

Bullish days to weeks Mirror image: the inverted sharp V reversal

A steady decline with lower highs turns up with no real base, so price draws the letter V.

Where it fools you: buying during the drop, assuming it is a sharp bottom, is a bet on a pattern that has not finished. The trigger is a close above the last lower high, not the low itself.
Full guide →

Continuation patterns

Continuation · 11

A pause inside a trend · more likely to resume than reverse.

Bull flag: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Bull Flag over 64 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 38 near $49. Target $61. Invalidation $47.SignalTargetInvalidationPoleFlag61$47$40$Volume03264 sessions

Bull Flag (Bull Flag)

Bullish days to weeks

A sharp jump (the flagpole) followed by a narrow slope against the trend (the flag). Orderly profit-taking, not a reversal: the seller sells in a tidy channel while the buyer absorbs.

Where it fools you: if volume did not dry up inside the flag, it is not a flag but the start of distribution. And a flag that slopes up (not down) is a rising wedge, a pattern with the opposite meaning.
Full guide →
Bear flag: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Bear Flag over 64 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 38 near $56.8. Target $42.4. Invalidation $59.2.SignalTargetInvalidationPoleFlag59.2$42.4$50$Volume03264 sessions

Bear Flag (Bear Flag)

Bearish days to weeks

A sharp drop followed by a narrow bounce sloping up. The bounce is not a recovery. It is a pause while sellers reposition.

Where it fools you: sharp bounces in falling markets are violent, and the bounce can stop out an early seller before the pattern proves itself. Enter on the break, not inside the flag.
Full guide →
Bull pennant: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Bull Pennant over 64 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 37 near $40.3. Target $49.9. Invalidation $39.5.SignalTargetInvalidationPolePennant49.9$39.5$30$Volume03264 sessions

Bull Pennant (Bull Pennant)

Bullish days

Like the bull flag, but the pause is a small contracting triangle, not a sloping channel. The range narrows from both sides: a short balance before the push resumes.

Where it fools you: the difference from a symmetrical triangle is its duration and what came before it, not its shape. A triangle with no pole before it is not a pennant, and should not be traded with a pole-based target.
Full guide →
Bear pennant: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Bear Pennant over 64 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 38 near $39.8. Target $30.2. Invalidation $40.5.SignalTargetInvalidationPolePennant40.5$30.2$Volume03264 sessions

Bear Pennant (Bear Pennant)

Bearish days

A sharp drop followed by a small contracting triangle, then the decline resumes.

Where it fools you: a contracting triangle after a sharp drop may be a base forming, not a pennant. Volume at the breakout decides: a rise on heavy volume invalidates the pattern at once.
Full guide →
Ascending triangle: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of an Ascending Triangle over 76 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 64 near $53.2. Target $60.4. Invalidation $51.0.SignalTargetInvalidationHorizontal resistanceRising lows60.4$51.0$Volume03876 sessions

Ascending Triangle (Ascending Triangle)

Bullish weeks

A flat, steady ceiling with lows rising toward it. A seller sells at one fixed price, and a buyer is willing to pay more each time · and the equation ends in favor of whoever raises their price.

Where it fools you: price reaching the apex of the triangle with no breakout drains the pattern of strength. The energy was spent waiting. And a breakout without volume often falls back under resistance within a few sessions.
Full guide →
Descending triangle: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Descending Triangle over 76 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 64 near $46.8. Target $39.6. Invalidation $49.0.SignalTargetInvalidationHorizontal supportFalling highs49.0$39.6$Volume03876 sessions

Descending Triangle (Descending Triangle)

Bearish weeks

A flat, steady floor with highs sloping down toward it. One buyer defends a single price, and the seller accepts less on every attempt.

Where it fools you: in a rising broad market this pattern breaks upward more often than expected. The bigger trend beats the geometry of the smaller shape. This rule applies to every chart pattern.
Full guide →
Rectangle (sideways range): a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Rectangle (sideways range) over 80 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 68 near $54.0. Target $61.2. Invalidation $50.4.SignalTargetCeilingFloorInvalidation61.2$50.4$40$Volume04080 sessions

Rectangle (sideways range) (Rectangle / Trading Range)

Neutral until the breakout weeks

A horizontal ceiling and floor between which price bounces repeatedly. A clear balance between supply and demand at two known limits.

Where it fools you: a long range produces false breaks at both edges, because stop orders pile up just outside them. Require a session close outside the edge, not just a momentary poke through.
Full guide →
Cup and handle: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Cup and Handle over 90 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 73 near $100. Target $120. Invalidation $95.SignalTargetInvalidationCupHandleCup rim120$95$80$Volume04590 sessions

Cup and Handle (Cup and Handle)

Bullish months Mirror image: the inverted cup and handle

A long rounded bottom (the cup) followed by a short, tight pullback (the handle), then a breakout. The cup wears down sellers, and the handle tests the last of them.

Where it fools you: a handle that drops into the lower half of the cup invalidates the pattern. It is no longer a pullback but real selling. And a sharp cup bottom (V) means panic, not absorption, with a lower success rate.
Full guide →
Measured Move: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Measured Move over 70 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 53 near $50.4. Target $55.2. Invalidation $46.0.SignalTargetInvalidationABC55.2$46.0$40$50$Volume03570 sessions

Measured Move (Measured Move)

Bullish weeks to months Mirror image: the bearish Measured Move

A rising leg, then a pullback that retraces part of it, then a second leg roughly equal in length to the first.

Where it fools you: a pullback deeper than 62% of the first leg is a likely reversal, not a pause. And measuring both legs in dollars on a stock that has doubled inflates the target: measure in percent.
Full guide →
Tight high flag: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a High and Tight Flag over 70 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 60 near $38.8. Invalidation $33.6.SignalInvalidationTrailing stopPoleFlag33.6$20$40$Volume03570 sessions

High and Tight Flag (High and Tight Flag)

Bullish weeks

Price doubles or more in four to eight weeks, then a tight pullback of no more than a quarter of the peak, then a breakout above it.

Where it fools you: a pullback deeper than 25% or longer than five weeks takes it out of the definition, and volatility after a rally this size hits a close stop before the breakout.
Full guide →
Rising channel: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Rising Channel over 80 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 65 near $92. Target $98. Invalidation $90.TargetInvalidationSignalLower boundaryUpper boundary98$90$70$80$Volume04080 sessions

Rising Channel (Rising Channel · Ascending Channel)

Bullish weeks to months Mirror image: the falling channel

Two parallel rising lines: the lower joins the lows and the upper joins the highs, and price moves between them.

Where it fools you: two lines on two touches are not a channel. A channel keeps its width while a wedge narrows. And buying at a touch of the lower line before a close that bounces off it runs into a channel break.
Full guide →

Two-way patterns

Bilateral · 4

The trend is decided by the breakout, not before it.

Symmetrical triangle: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Symmetrical Triangle over 76 sessions. Breakout target $75.8. Breakdown target $43.7.Breakout targetBreakdown targetFalling highsRising lows75.8$43.7$60$Volume03876 sessions

Symmetrical Triangle (Symmetrical Triangle)

Decided by the breakout weeks

Highs fall and lows rise, so the two sides converge. Growing hesitation: the range shrinks and no one imposes their price.

Where it fools you: ⚠ Do not guess the direction before the breakout. Most losses on this pattern come from early entries based on an imagined "tilt". The prior trend only tilts the odds. It does not decide.
Full guide →
Rising wedge: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Rising Wedge over 76 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 60 near $81.0. Target $73.2. Invalidation $84.3.SignalTargetInvalidationHighs rising slowlyFaster rising lows84.3$73.2$60$80$Volume03876 sessions

Rising Wedge (Rising Wedge)

Bearish weeks

Highs and lows both rise, but the lows rise faster so the range contracts. A rise losing momentum: each wave is shorter than the last.

Where it fools you: the worst part is that it looks like a healthy rally. A shallow reader sees higher highs and buys, while the shrinking range and drying volume say the opposite. Read the width, not the direction.
Full guide →
Falling wedge: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of a Falling Wedge over 76 sessions. Trigger at the close of session 62 near $68.4. Target $76.2. Invalidation $66.4.TargetInvalidationSlowly falling lowsHighs falling fasterSignal76.2$66.4$70$80$Volume03876 sessions

Falling Wedge (Falling Wedge)

Bullish weeks

Highs and lows both fall, and the highs fall faster so the range contracts. A decline losing strength: the seller pushes price down with shrinking effort.

Where it fools you: it is often confused with an ordinary falling channel. The difference is contraction: a channel keeps its width, a wedge narrows. Without measurable contraction, you are trading a downtrend and calling it a reversal.
Full guide →
Rising broadening wedge: a chart with a worked exampleWorked example of an Ascending Broadening Wedge over 76 sessions. Breakout target $79.0. Breakdown target $34.8.Breakout targetBreakdown targetSlowly rising lowsHighs rising fast79.0$34.8$60$Volume03876 sessions

Ascending Broadening Wedge (Ascending Broadening Wedge)

Decided by the breakout weeks to months Mirror image: the descending broadening wedge

Two rising lines that diverge: the highs rise fast and the lows rise slowly, so the range widens with every leg.

Where it fools you: every leg looks like a breakout. The range widens and resting orders at both edges get hit, so there is no trading inside it. The trigger is a close outside the line, then holding outside it.
Full guide →

Limits of this reference: chart patterns describe a probability, not a certainty, and all of them fail when the bigger market trend runs against them. The prices in the charts are worked examples that explain the rule, not real stock prices. Read them together with the liquidity and volatility environment, not in isolation.

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