Stage 2 Uptrend
Stage 2 is the advancing phase in Stan Weinstein's four-stage model. After basing (Stage 1), a stock breaks out and enters a sustained uptrend in which price holds above rising moving averages. Most large advances happen in Stage 2, which makes it a filter as much as a signal.
- Bias
- Bullish
- Category
- Trend & Stage
- Scan cadence
- Every close
What has to be true for a Stage 2 Uptrend to trigger
- Price trading above its key moving averages
- Shorter moving averages above longer ones
- The longer-term average itself rising, not flat
- The trend established over enough bars to be a stage rather than a bounce
How PatternGrade grades it
Stronger separation between price and the averages, a steeper slope on the long-term average, and a longer-established trend 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 Stage 2 Uptrend looks like in practice
A stock spends nine months between $18 and $24 going nowhere, with its 30-week moving average flat. Then it clears $24 on heavy volume, the 30-week average turns up, and over the following four months price stays above it on every pullback, reaching $38. The 10-week average sits above the 30-week throughout, and both are rising.
How a Stage 2 Uptrend fails
Price loses the rising long-term average and the average itself flattens. A single dip below is common and rarely decisive; a stock that spends weeks beneath a moving average that has stopped rising has left Stage 2 whatever the label says. The subtler failure is a Stage 2 that never gets going. Price clears the base, the average turns up, and then the stock chops sideways for months. Weinstein's framework describes phases, not guarantees, and phases can abort.
What this pattern is telling you
Stage 2 tells you a stock is in an uptrend, not that it is a good entry. Stocks deep into Stage 2 are often extended, and the stage flips to 3 without an announcement.
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 Stage 2 Uptrend 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 Stage 2 Uptrend list, or browse all 75 patterns.
Stage 2 Uptrend FAQ
What is a Stage 2 stock?
A stock in the advancing phase of Weinstein's stage analysis, trading above rising moving averages that are themselves correctly stacked, having broken out of a base.
How do I screen for Stage 2 stocks?
PatternGrade's Stage 2 scanner checks moving-average alignment and slope across every liquid US stock after each close and grades how well-established the trend is.
What are Weinstein's four stages?
Stage 1 is basing after a decline, with a flat long-term moving average. Stage 2 is the advance, with price above a rising average. Stage 3 is topping, where the average flattens again. Stage 4 is the decline, with price below a falling average. The framework comes from Stan Weinstein's Secrets for Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets and is built around the 30-week average on weekly charts.
Which moving average defines Stage 2?
Weinstein used the 30-week on weekly bars, which corresponds roughly to the 150-day on daily bars. PatternGrade applies the equivalent logic on the daily timeframe it scans. The exact length matters less than the two conditions: price above it, and the average itself rising.
Is Stage 2 a buy signal?
It is a regime filter, not an entry. Its usual role is to narrow the universe to stocks whose trend structure is constructive, and then to look for a specific setup within that group. Buying purely because a stock is in Stage 2 gives you no defined risk level, which is why the stage is normally used alongside a base or pullback pattern.
How long does Stage 2 last?
Anywhere from a few months to several years. There is no fixed duration. The stage ends when the moving average flattens and price stops holding above it. That open-endedness is the point: the framework is designed to keep you in a trend rather than to predict its length.
Patterns a Stage 2 Uptrend is mistaken for
- Power Trend
- A power trend is a stricter filter applied on top of the same idea: it demands moving-average alignment, persistence, and price behaviour that Stage 2 alone does not. Every power trend is a Stage 2; most Stage 2s are not power trends.
- Golden Cross
- A golden cross is a single crossover event on specific averages. Stage 2 is an ongoing regime. The cross often occurs near the start of Stage 2, but the cross is a moment and the stage is a period.
- Rounded Bottom
- A rounded bottom is roughly Weinstein's Stage 1 basing area. Stage 2 is the advance that follows it. They are adjacent phases, not competing readings.
- 52-Week High
- A 52-week high is a price fact. Stage 2 is a trend structure. A stock can be in Stage 2 well before making new highs, and can print a 52-week high in a market where its own trend structure is deteriorating.
Last reviewed . Structure and grading for the Stage 2 Uptrend are reviewed against the scanner's own rules.