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Pattern library

75 stock chart patterns, scanned every close

Every pattern PatternGrade detects has its own page here: what it is, what has to be true on the chart before the scanner returns it, and what its grade measures. All 75 are run across every liquid US stock (~4,500 names) after each US close.

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In the library
75 patterns
Families
8, each with its own page
Directional bias
39 bullish · 29 bearish · 7 neutral

How to read a pattern page

A chart pattern is a shape price traces over days to months, and it tells you how supply and demand changed hands. A base is where sellers were absorbed. A tightening range is a market moving toward a decision. A flag is a pause inside a move that is still running. Naming a shape is the easy part. Being specific enough that two traders looking at the same chart reach the same answer is the work, and that is what every entry here does.

Every page in the library is laid out the same way:

  • What the pattern is: a plain definition, plus the other names traders use for the same shape.
  • What has to be true: the conditions the chart has to meet. Detection is binary. Every condition holds, or it is not a hit.
  • What the grade measures: which parts of the structure push a hit toward A+ rather than B. The grade ranks how cleanly the chart matches its own definition.
  • How it fails: the two or three ways the pattern usually breaks down, and the tell that it is happening.
  • A drawn schematic: the structure itself rather than a screenshot of one stock on one date, so it stays true.

Read a few entries and the shapes start to separate from the look-alikes. For the wider picture of what arrives after each close and what a grade is telling you, see how it works.

The 8 families

Patterns are grouped by what they measure rather than by what they predict. Each family has a page setting out what its members have in common and how to tell them apart, or you can search the whole library.

  • Chart Patterns

    18

    The classical chart patterns: cups, flags, triangles, wedges, double bottoms and head and shoulders, with what has to be true on the chart for each to trigger.

    • Cup & Handle
    • Bull Flag
    • VCP (Volatility Contraction)
    • Flat Base
    What these have in common

  • Trend & Stage

    7

    Trend-following setups: Stage 2 uptrends, power trends, golden crosses, 52-week highs and moving-average pullbacks, used to define regime rather than to time an entry.

    • Stage 2 Uptrend
    • Power Trend
    • Golden Cross
    • 52-Week High
    What these have in common

  • Volume

    3

    Volume-based setups: relative volume, volume dry-up and the pocket pivot, which read participation rather than price to find institutional footprints.

    • Relative Volume
    • Volume Dry-Up
    • Pocket Pivot
    What these have in common

  • Volatility Compression

    5

    Volatility compression setups: Bollinger squeeze, TTM squeeze, NR7, inside bars and ADR contraction, which say an expansion is coming without saying which way.

    • NR7 (Narrow Range)
    • Bollinger Squeeze
    • TTM Squeeze
    • ADR Contraction
    What these have in common

  • Candlestick Reversal

    7

    Single- and multi-session candlestick reversals: hammer, engulfing, morning star, piercing line and three white soldiers, with what each one demonstrates.

    • Hammer Reversal
    • Morning Star
    • Bullish Engulfing
    • Piercing Line
    What these have in common

  • Momentum Indicators

    3

    Momentum setups derived from indicators: MACD crossovers, RSI divergence and stochastic extremes, and what each one is actually measuring.

    • MACD Bullish Cross
    • RSI Bullish Divergence
    • Stochastic Oversold Bounce
    What these have in common

  • Gaps & Islands

    4

    Gap setups: gap ups, breakaway gaps, gap fill reversals and island reversals, and what an untraded price range tells you.

    • Gap Up
    • Gap Fill Reversal
    • Breakaway Gap
    • Island Reversal
    What these have in common

  • Short Setups

    28

    Bearish chart patterns and short setups: head and shoulders, double top, bear flag, descending triangle, death cross and the bearish candlestick reversals.

    • Head & Shoulders
    • Double Top
    • Triple Top
    • Rounded Top
    What these have in common

All 75 patterns, searchable

Search by name, or narrow by family and direction. Every entry links to its own reference page, and each schematic is drawn to show the structure the scanner tests for rather than a particular stock.

Showing 75 of 75 patterns

  • Cup and handle chart pattern: a rounded U-shaped base recovering to the level of the left rim, followed by a short shallow handle drifting lower before a breakout above the rim.
    Cup & HandleBullish

    A cup and handle is a continuation base: a stock that has already advanced pulls back into a rounded, U-shaped correction, recovers to its prior high, then drifts sideways-to-lower in a short, shallow handle before attempting a breakout.

  • Bull flag chart pattern: a steep near-vertical advance forming the pole, then a shallow parallel channel drifting down against the trend before price breaks out higher.
    Bull FlagBullish

    A bull flag is a short continuation pattern: a steep, near-vertical advance (the pole) followed by a shallow pullback or sideways drift that slopes gently against the move (the flag).

  • Volatility contraction pattern: three successively shallower pullbacks within a base, each correction smaller than the last, tightening into a breakout.
    VCP (Volatility Contraction)Bullish

    The Volatility Contraction Pattern, described by Mark Minervini, is a base built from a series of pullbacks that each get shallower than the last, with volume drying up as the sequence progresses.

  • Flat base chart pattern: after an advance, price consolidates in a shallow horizontal range with a firm ceiling and floor before breaking out.
    Flat BaseBullish

    A flat base is a shallow, horizontal consolidation that forms after a stock has already advanced.

  • Darvas box: price contained between a firm horizontal ceiling and floor, each tested repeatedly, before it closes above the box top.
    Darvas BoxBullish

    The Darvas Box, from Nicolas Darvas's How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market, frames a consolidation as a box: a ceiling price repeatedly rejects advances and a floor repeatedly holds declines.

  • Base on base: a first consolidation, a muted breakout, then a second base forming entirely above the first with little net progress between them.
    Base on BaseBullish

    A base-on-base forms when a stock breaks out of one base, fails to make substantial progress, and immediately builds a second base above the first.

  • Double bottom reversal: two lows at a similar level separated by a rally to an interim peak, forming a W, with the neckline drawn across the middle peak.
    Double BottomBullish

    A double bottom is a reversal base shaped like a W: price makes a low, rallies to an interim peak, sells off to a second low near the first, then turns back up.

  • Triple bottom: three tests of the same support level, each holding, separated by rallies that stall at a common resistance line.
    Triple BottomBullish

    A triple bottom is a reversal base in which price tests roughly the same support level three times without breaking it.

  • Rounded bottom or saucer: a smooth curved base with no sharp low, where a downtrend decelerates and gradually turns into an uptrend.
    Rounded BottomBullish

    A rounded bottom, or saucer, is a slow reversal in which the downtrend decelerates, price flattens out, and an uptrend gradually takes over, producing a smooth, curved base with no sharp low.

  • Inverse head and shoulders: three lows with the middle one deepest, and a neckline drawn across the two intervening highs.
    Inverse Head & ShouldersBullish

    An inverse head and shoulders is a bottoming reversal: a deep low (the head) sits between two shallower lows (the shoulders), with the intervening highs forming a neckline.

  • Ascending triangle: a flat horizontal resistance line repeatedly tested from below while the lows step steadily higher, compressing toward a breakout.
    Ascending TriangleBullish

    An ascending triangle forms when price repeatedly stalls at the same horizontal resistance while the lows step steadily higher.

  • Symmetrical triangle: lower highs and higher lows converging toward an apex, with no directional bias in the structure itself.
    Symmetric TriangleNeutral

    A symmetrical triangle forms when highs step lower and lows step higher, compressing price into an apex.

  • Falling wedge: a downward-sloping consolidation whose boundaries converge as the highs fall faster than the lows, before price breaks out above the upper line.
    Falling WedgeBullish

    A falling wedge is a downward-sloping consolidation whose boundaries converge: both highs and lows decline, but the highs fall faster, narrowing the range.

  • Rising wedge: an advance whose boundaries converge as the lows rise faster than the highs, losing momentum before breaking down through the lower line.
    Rising Wedge BreakdownBearish

    A rising wedge slopes upward with converging boundaries: price keeps making higher highs, but each advance is smaller than the last.

  • Pennant: a sharp advance forming the pole, then a small converging consolidation before price resumes higher.
    PennantBullish

    A pennant is a brief continuation pattern: a sharp advance (the pole) followed by a small, symmetrical consolidation whose boundaries converge.

  • High tight flag: a near-doubling in a matter of weeks, followed by a very shallow tight consolidation that gives back almost none of the advance.
    High Tight FlagBullish

    The high tight flag is the most demanding of the flag family: a stock roughly doubles in a matter of weeks and then consolidates in a shallow, tight range instead of giving the move back.

  • Descending channel breakout: a decline contained between two parallel falling lines, followed by a close above the upper boundary.
    Descending Channel BreakBullish

    A descending channel is a downtrend bounded by two roughly parallel falling lines.

  • Consolidation breakout: price holds a defined horizontal range for weeks, then closes decisively above the top of it on expanding volume.
    Consolidation BreakoutBullish

    A consolidation breakout is the generic case: price spends time in a defined horizontal range, then closes decisively above it.

  • Stage 2 uptrend: a flat basing area gives way to an advance, with price holding above a rising long-term moving average.
    Stage 2 UptrendBullish

    Stage 2 is the advancing phase in Stan Weinstein's four-stage model.

  • Power trend: price holds above a rising short-term moving average for many weeks, with the moving-average stack correctly ordered and every pullback shallow.
    Power TrendBullish

    A power trend is a demanding trend filter: not merely an uptrend, but one where the moving-average structure, the persistence of the trend, and price's behaviour relative to its averages all indicate an unusually strong regime.

  • Golden cross: a rising 50-day moving average crossing above a flattening 200-day moving average, well after the low.
    Golden CrossBullish

    A golden cross occurs when a shorter-term moving average, conventionally the 50-day, crosses above a longer-term one, conventionally the 200-day.

  • 52-week high: price clearing the highest level of the past year, above which no overhead supply from trapped holders exists.
    52-Week HighBullish

    A 52-week high is the highest price a stock has traded in the past year.

  • New high pullback: a stock makes a fresh 52-week high, then drifts back modestly on lighter volume before turning up again.
    New High PullbackBullish

    This setup combines momentum with a less extended entry: the stock recently made a new 52-week high, then pulled back modestly rather than breaking down.

  • 20-day moving average bounce: within an established uptrend, price pulls back to a rising 20-day average, holds it, and turns back up.
    20-Day SMA BounceBullish

    In a healthy short-term uptrend, the 20-day moving average often acts as dynamic support.

  • Pullback to a moving average: after a sustained advance, price corrects into a rising longer-term moving average that has supported the trend, and holds.
    Pullback to SMABullish

    This setup looks for stocks in an established uptrend that have pulled back into a longer-term moving average.

  • Relative volume: a session trading several times the stock's own average volume, shown as an outsized bar against an otherwise ordinary volume history.
    Relative VolumeNeutral

    Relative volume (RVOL) compares a session's volume to the stock's own recent average.

  • Volume dry-up: during a pullback, trading volume contracts to unusually low levels, indicating very few sellers at these prices.
    Volume Dry-UpBullish

    A volume dry-up is the opposite of a volume spike: trading activity contracts to unusually low levels, typically at the end of a pullback or late in a base.

  • Pocket pivot: an up day inside a base whose volume exceeds every down day of the preceding two weeks, firing before the breakout.
    Pocket PivotBullish

    The pocket pivot, developed by Chris Kacher and Gil Morales, is an early entry signal that fires inside a base rather than at the breakout.

  • NR7 narrow range bar: seven daily candles where the final one has the smallest high-to-low range of them all, showing volatility compressing.
    NR7 (Narrow Range)Neutral

    An NR7, from Toby Crabel's work on volatility patterns, is a bar whose high-to-low range is the narrowest of the last seven.

  • Bollinger band squeeze: the upper and lower bands contract to unusually narrow width around price, indicating compressed volatility before an expansion.
    Bollinger SqueezeNeutral

    A Bollinger squeeze occurs when the bands, set a number of standard deviations around a moving average, contract to unusually narrow width relative to their own history.

  • TTM squeeze: the Bollinger Bands contract entirely inside the Keltner Channels, a stricter form of volatility compression than band width alone.
    TTM SqueezeNeutral

    The TTM Squeeze, from John Carter's Mastering the Trade, fires when the Bollinger Bands contract entirely inside the Keltner Channels.

  • ADR contraction: successive daily candles with progressively narrower high-to-low ranges, showing average daily range falling to the low end of its history.
    ADR ContractionNeutral

    Average Daily Range (ADR) expresses a stock's typical daily move as a percentage.

  • Inside bar: a session whose entire high-to-low range is contained within the previous, larger bar, establishing neither a new high nor a new low.
    Inside BarNeutral

    An inside bar is a session whose high is lower than the prior high and whose low is higher than the prior low, with the entire range contained within the previous bar.

  • Hammer candlestick: after a decline, a session with a long lower wick, a small body near the top of the range and almost no upper wick.
    Hammer ReversalBullish

    A hammer is a single-session reversal candle: price sells off hard during the session but closes back near the high, leaving a long lower wick and a small body.

  • Morning star: a wide down candle, a small indecisive candle gapping lower, then a strong up candle closing well into the first candle's body.
    Morning StarBullish

    A morning star is a three-session bullish reversal.

  • Bullish engulfing: after a decline, an up candle whose real body completely covers the previous down candle's body.
    Bullish EngulfingBullish

    A bullish engulfing pattern is a two-candle reversal in which an up candle's real body completely covers the previous down candle's body.

  • Piercing line: a wide down candle, then a session opening lower that rallies to close above the midpoint of that candle's body.
    Piercing LineBullish

    A piercing line is a two-candle bullish reversal: after a down candle, the next session opens lower but rallies to close above the midpoint of that down candle's body.

  • Three white soldiers: three consecutive strong up candles, each opening within the prior body and closing near its own high.
    Three White SoldiersBullish

    Three white soldiers is a three-candle bullish reversal made of three consecutive up sessions, each with a substantial real body closing near its high, and each opening within the prior candle's body.

  • Dragonfly doji: a session whose open and close are identical at the top of the range, leaving a long lower wick and effectively no upper wick.
    Dragonfly DojiBullish

    A dragonfly doji forms when a session's open and close are nearly identical and both sit at the top of the range, leaving a long lower wick and effectively no upper wick.

  • Shooting star: after an advance, a session with a long upper wick, a small body near the low of the range and almost no lower wick.
    Shooting StarBearish

    A shooting star is the bearish mirror of the hammer: price rallies hard during the session but closes back near the low, leaving a long upper wick and a small body.

  • MACD bullish cross: the MACD line turning up and crossing above its signal line while both remain below zero, as price stops declining.
    MACD Bullish CrossBullish

    The MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) measures the gap between two exponential moving averages, with a signal line smoothing that gap.

  • Bullish RSI divergence: price makes a lower second low while the RSI makes a higher low, showing the second decline carried less downside momentum.
    RSI Bullish DivergenceBullish

    A bullish RSI divergence occurs when price makes a lower low but the Relative Strength Index makes a higher low.

  • Stochastic oversold bounce: within an uptrend, the oscillator falls below 20 and then turns up as price holds a rising moving average.
    Stochastic Oversold BounceBullish

    The stochastic oscillator measures where a stock closes within its recent high-low range.

  • Gap up: a session opening above the previous day's high, leaving a price range in which no trading occurred.
    Gap UpBullish

    A gap up occurs when a stock opens above the prior session's high, leaving a price range where no trading occurred.

  • Gap fill reversal: price returns weeks later into the untraded zone left by an earlier gap up, finds buyers inside it and turns back higher.
    Gap Fill ReversalBullish

    A gap fill occurs when price returns to the level of an earlier gap, trading through the vacuum left behind.

  • Breakaway gap: after weeks of consolidation, price gaps clear of the entire range on heavy volume and does not re-enter it.
    Breakaway GapBullish

    A breakaway gap is a gap that occurs at the edge of a consolidation, carrying price out of the range and starting a new trend.

  • Island reversal: a cluster of sessions separated from the surrounding price action by a gap down on one side and a gap up on the other.
    Island ReversalBullish

    An island reversal forms when a gap in one direction is followed, after one or more sessions, by a gap in the opposite direction, leaving a cluster of bars stranded as an island on the chart.

  • Head and shoulders top: three peaks with the middle one highest, and a neckline drawn across the two intervening troughs.
    Head & ShouldersBearish

    A head and shoulders top is the best-known bearish reversal: a high (the head) sits between two lower highs (the shoulders), with the intervening lows forming a neckline.

  • Double top reversal: two peaks at a similar level separated by a trough, forming an M, with the neckline drawn across the middle trough.
    Double TopBearish

    A double top is a bearish reversal shaped like an M: price makes a high, pulls back to a trough, rallies to a second high near the first, and fails there.

  • Triple top: three tests of the same resistance level, each failing, separated by pullbacks that hold a common support line.
    Triple TopBearish

    A triple top forms when price tests roughly the same resistance three times and fails each time.

  • Rounded top: a smooth curved dome with no sharp peak, where an uptrend gradually loses momentum and a downtrend takes over.
    Rounded TopBearish

    A rounded top is the mirror of the saucer bottom: an uptrend gradually loses momentum, price flattens into a dome, and a downtrend takes over.

  • Bear flag: a steep decline forming the pole, then a shallow parallel channel drifting up against the trend before price breaks down again.
    Bear FlagBearish

    A bear flag is the downside mirror of the bull flag: a steep decline (the pole) followed by a shallow consolidation that drifts up against the move.

  • Descending triangle: a flat horizontal support level tested repeatedly while the highs step steadily lower, compressing toward a breakdown.
    Descending TriangleBearish

    A descending triangle forms when price repeatedly holds the same horizontal support while the highs step steadily lower.

  • Bearish pennant: a sharp decline forming the pole, then a small converging consolidation before price resumes lower.
    Bearish PennantBearish

    A bearish pennant is a brief continuation pattern: a steep decline followed by a small, symmetrical consolidation whose boundaries converge, typically resolving in the direction of the decline..

  • Inverted cup and handle: a rounded dome topping structure, a recovery to the level of the left rim, then a weak upward handle that fails before the breakdown.
    Inverted Cup & HandleBearish

    An inverted cup and handle is the downside mirror of O'Neil's base: price forms an inverted, dome-shaped cup, recovers to a handle that drifts modestly higher, and then conventionally breaks down through the handle's support..

  • Death cross: a falling 50-day moving average crossing below a flattening 200-day moving average, well after the decline has begun.
    Death CrossBearish

    A death cross occurs when a shorter-term moving average, conventionally the 50-day, crosses below a longer-term one, conventionally the 200-day.

  • Stage 4 downtrend: a topping area gives way to a decline, with price holding below a falling long-term moving average.
    Stage 4 DowntrendBearish

    Stage 4 is the declining phase in Stan Weinstein's four-stage model, the mirror of Stage 2.

  • Power downtrend: price holds below a falling short-term moving average for many weeks, with the moving-average stack inverted and every bounce shallow.
    Power DowntrendBearish

    A power downtrend is a demanding filter for sustained weakness: moving-average structure, trend persistence and price behaviour relative to the averages all indicate an unusually strong downward regime.

  • 52-week low: price breaking below the lowest level of the past year, beneath which there is no prior buying to act as support.
    52-Week LowBearish

    A 52-week low is the lowest price a stock has traded in the past year.

  • Breakdown below a moving average: price loses a long-respected 50-day average on heavy volume, then rallies back to it and fails from underneath.
    Breakdown Below SMABearish

    This setup identifies stocks that have broken decisively below a moving average that previously supported the trend.

  • Dead cat bounce: a severe event-driven collapse, a partial recovery on fading volume that stalls beneath the gap, then further decline.
    New Low BounceBearish

    A dead cat bounce is the short-lived rally that follows a large, event-driven decline.

  • Gap down: a session opening below the previous day's low, leaving a price range in which no trading occurred.
    Gap DownBearish

    A gap down occurs when a stock opens below the prior session's low, leaving a price range where no trading occurred.

  • Distribution day: a meaningful decline on volume heavier than the previous session, the footprint of large holders selling into the market.
    Distribution DayBearish

    A distribution day is a session with a meaningful decline on volume heavier than the day before.

  • Selling climax: an accelerating decline culminating in a session of extreme volume and range that closes well off its low.
    Selling ClimaxBullish

    A selling climax is a capitulation event: a sharp, accelerating decline on climactic volume, typically marking the end of a panic rather than the start of one.

  • Hanging man: after an advance, a session with a long lower wick and a small body near the top of the range, revealing selling pressure inside the session.
    Hanging ManBearish

    A hanging man has the same shape as a hammer, a long lower wick and a small body near the top, but appears after an advance instead of a decline.

  • Bearish engulfing: after an advance, a down candle whose real body completely covers the previous up candle's body.
    Bearish EngulfingBearish

    A bearish engulfing pattern is a two-candle reversal in which a down candle's real body completely covers the previous up candle's body.

  • Evening star: a wide up candle, a small indecisive candle gapping higher, then a strong down candle closing well into the first candle's body.
    Evening StarBearish

    An evening star is the bearish mirror of the morning star.

  • Dark cloud cover: a wide up candle, then a session opening higher that sells off to close below the midpoint of that candle's body.
    Dark Cloud CoverBearish

    Dark cloud cover is the bearish mirror of the piercing line: after an up candle, the next session opens higher but sells off to close below the midpoint of that up candle's body, a partial but decisive reversal of the prior session's gains..

  • Gravestone doji: a session whose open and close are identical at the bottom of the range, leaving a long upper wick and effectively no lower wick.
    Gravestone DojiBearish

    A gravestone doji forms when a session's open and close are nearly identical and both sit at the bottom of the range, leaving a long upper wick and effectively no lower wick.

  • Three black crows: three consecutive strong down candles, each opening within the prior body and closing near its own low.
    Three Black CrowsBearish

    Three black crows is a three-candle bearish reversal made of three consecutive down sessions, each with a substantial real body closing near its low, and each opening within the prior candle's body.

  • MACD bearish cross: the MACD line turning down and crossing below its signal line while both remain above zero, as price stops advancing.
    MACD Bearish CrossBearish

    A bearish MACD cross occurs when the MACD line crosses below its signal line, indicating short-term momentum has turned down relative to the recent trend.

  • Bearish RSI divergence: price makes a higher second high while the RSI makes a lower high, showing the second advance carried less momentum.
    RSI Bearish DivergenceBearish

    A bearish RSI divergence occurs when price makes a higher high but the Relative Strength Index makes a lower high.

  • Stochastic overbought rejection: within a downtrend, the oscillator rises above 80 and then turns down as price fails at a falling moving average.
    Stochastic Overbought RejectionBearish

    The stochastic oscillator measures where a stock closes within its recent high-low range.

  • Bearish breakaway gap: after weeks of consolidation, price gaps clear below the entire range on heavy volume and does not re-enter it.
    Bearish Breakaway GapBearish

    A bearish breakaway gap occurs at the edge of a consolidation, carrying price below the range and starting a new downtrend.

  • Bearish island reversal: a cluster of sessions stranded above the surrounding price action by a gap up on one side and a gap down on the other.
    Bearish Island ReversalBearish

    A bearish island reversal forms when a gap up is followed, after one or more sessions, by a gap down, leaving a cluster of bars stranded above the surrounding price action.

Questions about chart patterns

How many chart patterns are there?

There's no fixed number, because it depends on how finely you split them. Some references list a dozen, others several hundred, and plenty of those are the same idea under a different name. What matters more than the count is whether each one is defined tightly enough to be recognised the same way twice. PatternGrade runs 75, spread across classical chart patterns, candlestick reversals, trend and stage structures, volume and volatility footprints, gaps, and short setups. Each is written as a set of conditions that either hold on the chart or don't.

Do chart patterns really work?

The observation underneath them isn't controversial. Price consolidates before it moves, and certain shapes are what supply being absorbed looks like on a chart. The argument has always been about whether the chart in front of you is really that shape. That's the part PatternGrade settles: every setup is graded against the pattern's own definition, and the track record behind each grade is published alongside it. So you judge a setup on evidence rather than on a pattern's reputation.

How accurate are chart patterns?

Accuracy depends on how strictly the pattern is defined, what you count as success and how long you give it, which is why one headline percentage for chart patterns as a category answers very little. PatternGrade answers it where it counts. Every hit is graded A+, A or B on how cleanly the chart meets the definition, and the track record for that pattern and that grade is published next to it, so you're looking at evidence for the setup on your screen rather than a number about a whole category. Those figures describe what has happened before, and PatternGrade does not give buy or sell recommendations.

How do I find chart patterns on a stock chart?

By hand, you pick a timeframe, mark the swing highs and lows, and look for the things that repeat: a level tested more than once, a range narrowing, a pullback that holds above the previous low, volume drying up while price goes sideways. That's worth learning, and it's a lot of charts to sit through. Checking every liquid US stock (~4,500 names) against 75 definitions after every close is the part PatternGrade does for you, and you get back only the charts where every condition of a definition is satisfied.

How do you read a stock chart pattern?

In three parts: the structure, the level that confirms it, and the level that says the idea was wrong. The structure is the shape itself and what it implies about who has been buying. The confirmation is the price the pattern has to clear before it's anything more than a drawing. The invalidation comes out of the same geometry, and it's the point where the argument the shape was making no longer holds. Every entry in this library sets out all three in plain language, with a diagram and the ways the shape usually breaks down.

What is the difference between bullish and bearish chart patterns?

Direction, mostly. Most bearish patterns are the geometric mirror of a bullish one, built on the same logic inverted. The trading isn't symmetric, though. Declines tend to be faster and more volatile than advances, so bearish setups resolve quicker, and the invalidation level on a short sits above the setup rather than below it. The library holds 39 bullish entries, 29 bearish and 7 that stay neutral until they break one way, and every one of them is graded the same way.

Is this a chart pattern cheat sheet?

It's the thing a cheat sheet is a picture of. Every entry carries the schematic, which is usually what people want from one, and then the conditions underneath it: the proportions, the volume behaviour, the prior trend that has to exist. The picture is the easy half. The definition is the half that decides whether what you're looking at is a match or something that merely resembles one.

What is the difference between a chart pattern and a candlestick pattern?

Scale. A chart pattern is a structure that spans weeks to months: a base, a triangle, a topping formation. The evidence is where price travelled across that span and what volume it took to get there. A candlestick pattern reads one to three sessions from their open, high, low and close, so the trend it appears in does more of the work, which is why every candlestick entry here spells out the prior structure that has to be in place first. The two are kept in separate families for that reason, and each is graded against its own definition.

The track record behind every grade is published, and how those figures are measured is set out on the methodology page. PatternGrade does not give buy or sell recommendations. Targets and stops shown on a pattern are reference levels drawn from its geometry.

Last reviewed September 2, 2026. Every entry is checked against the scanner that detects it, so the conditions described here are the conditions that run.

Start with a pattern you already trade.

Each entry sets out what has to be true on the chart before the scanner returns it, and what its grade is measuring. 75 patterns, end-of-day, across ~4,500 US stocks.

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PatternGrade is a technical pattern scanner for ~4,500 US stocks. The information on this site is for educational and analytical purposes only and is not investment advice. Always trade at your own risk.

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