Double Top
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. The second failure at the same level indicates supply is sitting where buyers cannot clear it.
- Bias
- Bearish
- Category
- Short Setups
- Scan cadence
- Every close
What has to be true for a Double Top to trigger
- Two distinct peaks at broadly similar levels
- A clear trough separating them
- Enough time between peaks that they are distinct events
- The second peak failing rather than breaking decisively higher
How PatternGrade grades it
Closely aligned peaks and a well-formed intervening trough raise the grade.
Every scanner grades its hits A+, A or B from the pattern's own measurable structure. The grading is deterministic — the same chart always produces the same grade. It describes how closely the chart matches the pattern, not how likely anything is to happen; no hit rate or probability is attached to a grade. The reasoning is set out in the methodology.
What a Double Top looks like in practice
A stock reaches $67.80 in June, pulls back to $58 over three weeks, then rallies back to $67.40 in August, within a percent of the prior high, and stalls there for four sessions before rolling over. Volume on the second peak runs about 40% below the first, and the subsequent decline breaks $58 on the heaviest volume of the whole sequence.
How a Double Top fails
Price clears the second high. A double top is only a top while both highs hold; a breakout above them turns the pattern into a consolidation that resolved upward, and stops placed just above the highs get run. The second failure is the neckline that does not break. Price sells off from the second peak, holds the intervening trough, and builds a range instead of reversing.
What this pattern is telling you
A double top is not confirmed until the trough between the peaks breaks. Until then it is two highs and a pullback, which also describes a healthy uptrend.
PatternGrade is not a financial advisor and does not give buy or sell recommendations. Targets and stops shown on a pattern are reference levels derived from its geometry, not advice.
How to scan for Double Top setups
PatternGrade rescans every liquid US stock (~4,500 names) for this pattern after every close and returns the hits as a graded list, with the pattern drawn on each chart, so you review setups rather than hunt for them.
Join the waitlist to be invited when sign-ups reopen and see the current Double Top list, or browse all 75 patterns.
Double Top FAQ
Is a double top bearish?
Yes. It is a bearish reversal pattern, conventionally confirmed when price breaks below the trough separating the two peaks.
Do the two peaks have to be at exactly the same price?
No. Within a few percent is normal and expected. A slight overshoot on the second peak is common and often the stronger version, since it traps breakout buyers before reversing. Insisting on an exact match rejects most real examples.
When is a double top confirmed?
On a close below the trough between the two peaks, the neckline. Before that the stock has merely failed twice at a level, which is not the same as reversing. PatternGrade reports the setup and draws the neckline as the structural reference.
How far apart should the peaks be?
Usually several weeks to a few months on daily bars. Two highs a few days apart are noise within a single move; the separation is what shows the level was tested, abandoned, and tested again.
What does volume tell you on a double top?
Lighter volume on the second peak is the constructive tell for the bearish case. It says the second attempt drew less participation than the first. Heavier volume on the second peak argues the opposite and is a common reason these patterns resolve upward instead.
Patterns a Double Top is mistaken for
- Triple Top
- A third test of the same resistance. If price returns to the level again before breaking the neckline, it is a triple top.
- Head & Shoulders
- Three peaks with the middle highest. A double top has two at similar levels.
- Rounded Top
- A rounded top has no discrete peaks, just a smooth dome. Two identifiable spikes make it a double top.
- Double Bottom
- The bullish mirror at a low: two troughs at similar levels after a decline.
Last reviewed . Structure and grading for the Double Top are reviewed against the scanner's own rules.