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Chart pattern · Reversal patterns

Wyckoff Spring

Wyckoff Spring
Slope: rising Span: days to weeks

What it is

Price in a sideways range breaks support slightly, then returns and closes above it quickly. Whoever sold the break is trapped, and their exit pushes price toward the top of the range.

Terms on this page: False Breakout · Volume · Structural Invalidation

Wyckoff Spring: a chart with a worked exampleA worked example of the Wyckoff Spring pattern over 70 sessions. The signal comes at the close of session 51, near $47.2. The target is $53.2. The invalidation is $44.0.SignalTop of the rangeInvalidationFalse breakSupport$53.2$44.0$50Volume03570 sessions
Wyckoff Spring: a chart with a worked exampleA worked example of the Wyckoff Spring pattern over 70 sessions. The signal comes at the close of session 51, near $47.2. The target is $53.2. The invalidation is $44.0.SignalTop of the rangeInvalidationFalse breakSupport$53.2$44.0$50$55Volume03570 sessions
  • Blue line the target
  • 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

Richard Wyckoff described it as a stage of accumulation: the break shakes out weak sellers and shows how little supply sits below support. Its mirror image at the top of the range is the false breakout (Upthrust).

Reading it stage by stage

  1. Range Price moves back and forth between a clear support and ceiling.
  2. Break A short drop below support that shakes out weak sellers.
  3. Return A close above support. This is the signal.
  4. Extension A rise toward the top of the range, where profit-taking is common.

Recognition rules

  • A clear sideways range that price has touched at support and at the ceiling more than once.
  • A short break below support, with no long decline after it.
  • A quick return and a close above support within a few sessions.
  • Volume at the break is moderate. Huge volume with a continued decline may be a real break.
  • The first target is the top of the range.

Measuring the target

The top of the range is the first target: a return above support at $47.2 and a ceiling at $53.2. The invalidation level is the low of the break at $44.0. The idea shows in the numbers. The distance to the invalidation is short because the low of the break is close. The distance to the ceiling is the whole width of the range. Whoever waits for the close above support knows where the reading ends before any decision. If price returns and closes below the low of the break, the break was not false. The whole range may then be a pause in a continuing decline.

Where it fools you

  • Every break looks false until it continues. A break is not false before a close back above support. Buying at the time of the break is a bet, not a reading.
  • A slow return that takes many sessions weakens the idea, because those who sold the break are no longer trapped under pressure.
  • In a strong downtrend, the range may be only a pause, and the lows break one after another.
  • Everyone who sees the shape places a stop just under support, so price often reaches those orders before it moves. The correct stop sits under the low of the break, not under support, even if the distance grows slightly.

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.
    • ━ Level Support
    • ⇕ 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.

Mirror image: Wyckoff Upthrust

The same pattern turned upside down, with the same rules in the opposite direction. What was a top becomes a bottom. The trigger, target and invalidation all flip direction.

Wyckoff Upthrust: a chart with a worked exampleA worked example of the Wyckoff Upthrust pattern over 70 sessions. The signal comes at the close of session 51, near $52.8. The target is $46.8. The invalidation is $56.0.SignalBottom of the rangeInvalidationFalse breakoutResistance$56.0$46.8$50Volume03570 sessions

Patterns from the same family

Sharp reversal shaped like a V V-Reversal · Spike Bottom Gartley Pattern Gartley Pattern Bat Pattern Bat Pattern Parabolic Blow-off Top Parabolic Blow-off Top Head and shoulders Head and Shoulders Inverse head and shoulders Inverse Head and Shoulders

Back to the chart pattern encyclopedia or Japanese candlestick patterns.