Skip to content
Live 17:37 UTC
VIX 25.41 +52.98%
QQQ 654.53 -5.41%
US10Y 4.90% −5 basis points
USDTW 121.67 -0.06%
IWM 272.40 -4.09%
RSP 217.37 -2.67%
SVIX 21.64 -23.96%
VXX 21.20 +24.27%
SMH 457.65 -9.25%
SOXX 134.89 -70.05%
XLF 57.80 -2.36%
XLE 63.39 -0.21%
GLD 376.42 +1.06%
Brent 107.03 -0.34%
WTI 99.64 -0.42%
US2Y 4.58% −3 bps
US5Y 4.69% −5 bps
US20Y 5.30% −5 basis points
US30Y 5.28% −4 basis points
Bitcoin 75,993.60 -5.43%
Tomorrow: NFP · UNRATE
Subscribe → My account
Dark theme
Arabic
Session open
Chart pattern · Reversal patterns

Parabolic Blow-off Top

Parabolic Blow-off Top
Slope: down Timeframe: weeks

What it is

A rise that speeds up session after session until it is almost vertical, on heavy volume at the top. Then price breaks the last higher low and the move ends.

Terms on this page: Volume · Structural Invalidation

Parabolic Blow-off Top: a chart with a worked exampleA worked example of the Parabolic Blow-off Top pattern over 70 sessions. The signal comes at the close of session 62, near $78. The reference is $59. The invalidation is $115.SignalInvalidationReference: base of the accelerationBlow-offLast higher low$115$59$100Volume03570 sessions
Parabolic Blow-off Top: a chart with a worked exampleA worked example of the Parabolic Blow-off Top pattern over 70 sessions. The signal comes at the close of session 62, near $78. The reference is $59. The invalidation is $115.SignalInvalidationReference: base of the accelerationBlow-offLast higher low$115$59$50$100Volume03570 sessions
  • Blue line the move's reference
  • Orange line invalidation
  • Hollow green candle closed above its open
  • Filled red candle closed below its open
A worked example that explains the rule, not a stock price · prices on the right axis, sessions under the volume bars

More detail

The acceleration is the message: late buyers chase price, and short sellers are forced to cover. When new buyers run out, nothing holds the price up. So the drop is often faster than the rise. This pattern has no agreed numeric limit for when the slope becomes "parabolic". The judgment is by eye: rising stages where each slope is steeper than the one before.

Reading it stage by stage

  1. Base A calm rise with clear retracements.
  2. Acceleration A steeper slope and shorter retracements.
  3. Blow-off A near-vertical move on heavy volume.
  4. Break A close below the last higher low. This is the signal.

Recognition rules

  • The slope of the rise steepens stage after stage, and the retracements get shorter.
  • The move is far from its averages.
  • Huge volume in the last sessions.
  • A top with no sideways base under it.
  • Confirmation is a close below the last higher low, not just a large red candle during the rise.

Measuring the target

The base of the last acceleration is the first reference: a break at $78 and a reference at $59. The invalidation level is the high at $115. The reference makes sense because it is the last place the market traded calmly before the rush. There, buyers and sellers last agreed on a price without hurry. What sits above it was built fast, so nobody defends it when price returns. But the distance from the break to the high is large, and volatility at this stage is higher than at any other time. So the calculation starts with position size before anything else. Stocks and crypto after big news are the best-known examples of this pattern.

Where it fools you

  • Selling because the rise is "overdone". A parabolic move can double before it ends. No top is a top until it breaks.
  • The first drop is often followed by a strong bounce that tests the high, so the signal does not mean a straight line down.
  • Short selling in these moves carries a special risk: the last rise may be the sharpest part of them.
  • Mixing up a strong rise with a parabolic rise is common. A strong trend has a steady slope with regular retracements. A parabolic one has a rising slope and the retracements vanish.

Where to find it on the platform

  • Daily candles · free tool
    Daily candles for the platform's symbols, no sign-up, so you can spot the pattern yourself. The drawing tools are in the members' terminal.
  • Technical terminal · drawing tools Members only
    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.
    • ⇕ Measure Target 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.

Patterns from the same family

Gartley Pattern Gartley Pattern Bat Pattern Bat Pattern Wyckoff Spring Wyckoff Spring Head and shoulders Head and Shoulders Inverse head and shoulders Inverse Head and Shoulders Double top Double Top

Back to the chart pattern encyclopedia or Japanese candlestick patterns.