A worked example that explains the rule, not a stock price. The two arrows are the breakout and breakdown possibilities, each the height of the pattern. Prices are in the right-hand column, and sessions sit under the volume bar.Hollow green candles closed above their open, and filled red candles closed below it.
Numbers in the example chart
From the same calculation that draws the shape and writes the "Measuring the target" section below.
Upside breakout target
79.0$
Downside break target
34.8$
Pattern height
14.7$
Chart span
76 sessions
What it is
Two rising lines that diverge: the highs rise fast and the lows rise slowly, so the range widens with every leg.
The visible rise hides growing volatility, and the pattern isn't read as a direction until price closes outside one of the two lines and holds there. Each side pushes price further than the last time and neither wins. The descending broadening wedge is its mirror image: two falling lines moving apart, read the same way in the opposite direction.
When the trigger starts and when it fails
Signal
A close outside one of the two lines, then holding outside it · the chart shows both possibilities.
WideningHighs rise faster than lows · volatility grows with every leg.
TouchesAt least two touches per line confirm the shape.
ResolutionA close outside one of the two lines, then holding outside it · the chart shows both possibilities at the same widening height.
After the breakA return to the broken line from the other side is common. A close back inside the wedge cancels the break.
Recognition rules
Two rising lines, with the upper at least twice as steep.
At least two touches per line.
The range widens from one leg to the next.
Volume tends to rise as the range widens.
A leg that fails to reach the opposite boundary is an early warning that the side pushing it is tiring. A close outside the other line confirms it.
A touch is measured by closes, not shadows alone. A shadow beyond the line followed by a close inside it is a touch, not a break.
Measuring the target
The wedge's widest span is projected from the broken line in the direction of the break. In the example the span is $14.7, so the target is $79.0 on an upside breakout and $34.8 on a downside break.
Where it fools you
Every leg looks like a breakout: the range widens and pending orders get hit at both edges, so there is no trading inside it · the signal is a close outside the line, then holding outside it.
A widening range alone isn't a trend: the higher highs here don't mean strength as in a rising channel, but growing swings.
The target is large relative to price because the widening is large, so the distance to invalidation after the break is large too, and position size is calculated from it.
It is told apart from a rising channel by slope: two parallel lines are a channel, two diverging lines are a broadening wedge, and each has its own reading.
Open the daily timeframe for any symbol and draw the pattern yourself. Your drawing is saved per symbol in your browser, and the terminal does not name or detect the pattern.
╱ TrendlineLows rise slowly and highs rise quickly
⇕ MeasureTarget equals pattern height
We do not detect chart patterns with a numeric rule: telling them apart takes judgment on the chart. Candlestick patterns with a numeric rule are detected daily by the candlestick pattern scanner.
The mirror image: descending broadening wedge
The same pattern turned upside down, with the same rules in the opposite direction: what was a top becomes a bottom, and the trigger, target and invalidation all flip direction.
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