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What happens during this time is that there is a certain level that the buyers cannot seem to exceed. However, they are gradually starting to push the price up as evident by the higher lows.

Ascending Triangle

In the chart above, you can see that the buyers are starting to gain strength because they are making higher lows. They keep putting pressure on that resistance level and as a result, a breakout is bound to happen. Will the buyers be able to break that level or will the resistance be too strong?

Many charting books will tell you that in most cases, the buyers will win this battle and the price will break out past the resistance. Sometimes the resistance level is too strong, and there is simply not enough buying power to push it through. Most of the time, the price will, in fact, go up. The point we are trying to make is that you should not be obsessed with which direction the price goes, but you should be ready for movement in EITHER direction.

In this case, we would set an entry order above the resistance line and below the slope of the higher lows. As such, traders use the falling wedge to set long entry points on the chart.

Below you will see a sketch of a falling wedge: Now that you know what the rising and the falling wedges look like, we should share one more detail regarding these formations. Wedges could have trend continuation, or trend reversal character. When the wedge appears after an extended price move, we expect a reversal of the trend, when the wedge appears earlier in the trend, we expect it to be a temporary retracement that will continue the main trend in place. Typically the more powerful wedge formation is the potential trend reversal formation which occurs after a prolonged trend move.

The symmetrical triangle is a situation on the chart where the tops of the price action are lower and the bottoms are higher. Also, the two sides of the triangle are inclined with the same angle. This creates the symmetrical character of the triangle. Typically with a symmetrical triangle pattern, the expected directional breakout is unknown.

The reason for this is that the bullish and the bearish move have equal strength as seen thru the price action. When a breakout eventually occurs, it is likely to provoke a price move equal to the size of the pattern. Therefore, you should carefully identify a potential breakout in the upper and the lower level of the symmetrical triangle in order to take the right position in the market. The sketch below illustrates the symmetrical triangle formation and possible breakout scenarios: As you see from the example above, the potential target is based on the size of the triangle formation.

With this type of measured move analysis, you will know what to expect from the symmetrical triangle breakout, whether it breaks upwards, or downwards.

Pennants on the chart have a similar shape to that of symmetrical triangles. They typically appear during trends and have a trend continuation character. The bullish pennant is similar to a symmetrical triangle in appearance, but the Bullish pennant formation comes after a price increase. Since pennants have trend continuation character, the bullish pennant is likely to continue the bullish trend on the chart.

When the upper side of the pennant gets broken upwards, we are likely to see an increase equal to at least the size of the pennant, and typically larger. And so when trading pennants, a second target should also be used to catch a larger move. When calculating the second target, you would analyze the price leg immediately following the pennant. You could set the target to 1: When the trend seems strong and has a steep slope a 1: See that here we have two targets. The red target is the first one, which is as big as the size of the pennant.

The green target corresponds to the size of the previous up move, which should be applied starting from the upper side of the pennant. As you have probably guessed, the bearish pennant is the mirror image of the bullish pennant. Bearish pennants start with a price decrease and end up with a symmetrical triangle appearance. Since pennants have trend continuing character, bearish pennants are likely to continue the bearish trend. When the price goes through the lower level of the bearish pennant, you should first look to capture the first target, which is equal to the size of the pennant itself.

When the price completes this target, you can then try to catch the expected further decrease, which is equal to the size of the previous leg or.

Symmetrical Triangle

Refer to the image below for a Bearish Pennant: You can hardly mistake an expanding triangle on the chart. The reason for this is that it has very unique parameters.


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Both sides of the expanding triangle are inclined, but in opposite directions. The direction of the potential price move of this chart pattern is very tricky to determine.

Trading Triangles

Therefore, we will now introduce a few rules, which will help you to identify the direction of the expected price move. If the expanding triangle is a horizontal mirror image of a symmetrical triangle, then you should trade the formation as a trend continuation pattern. The image below shows a sketch of an expanding triangle with symmetrical lines: For traders already in a position, triangles can provide an estimate of how far the triangle breakout is likely to take the price.

This can be done in real-time or at the close of a bar, such as a daily close. Waiting for a bar to close such as an hourly, daily, or weekly bar outside of the triangle will cut down on the chance of a false breakout, but if the bar closes significantly outside the formation, the trade may be taking place too late in the move and there will be less profit potential available. Once a breakout occurs and a position has been taken, a stop can be placed just outside the opposite side of the triangle.

3 triangle patterns to know and use in trading

If price has moved through the resistance line, a long position is taken and a stop is placed just below the support line. If price moves through the support line, a short position is taken and a stop placed just above the resistance line. As price moves towards the apex of the triangle, risk will be reduced as the stop price moves closer to the entry price lines converge.

Figure 1 shows an example of an ascending triangle. How to Establish Profit Targets. Figure 2 below shows the same chart from Figure 1, except this time the price points used for profit target calculation and the profit target are highlighted. These prices are both highlighted on the chart. This profit target is hit very quickly. A reduction in volume can usually be seen from the start of the triangle until the breakout. When a breakout occurs, volume should increase.

The Most Important Triangle Patterns You Can Use Right Now

This does not always occur, but volume can be used as a confirmation indicator. The breakout is less likely to fail if there is a strong surge in volume pushing price in the breakout direction. Figure 2 shows volume increasing on the breakout. Ascending and descending triangles possess certain tendencies, but ultimately the breakout direction does not need to be predicted.

Triangles can be traded by entering a position when the support or resistance line is broken and a stop-loss can be placed outside the opposite side of the formation. When a breakout occurs, a profit target can be calculated using the height of the formation and then adding it to the breakout price in the case of upside breakout, or subtracting the height of the triangle from the breakout price in the case of a downside breakout.