Skip to content
S&P 500 Fut—Nasdaq 100 Fut—Dow Fut—Russell Fut—VIX—DXY—US 10Y—WTI Crude—Gold—Silver—Nat Gas—Bitcoin—Ethereum—EUR/USD—GBP/USD—USD/JPY—
Tier 2Lesson 7 of 20

Classical Patterns

Head & shoulders, double tops and bottoms

10 min+60 XP Name the Pattern

Head and shoulders, double tops, triangles: these shapes have been traded for a century because they map a real change in supply and demand. Learn what each pattern says about the participants — and how to measure where it should go.

01Head and shoulders

Three peaks: a left shoulder, a higher head, and a lower right shoulder. The neckline connects the troughs between them. The failure to make a new high at the right shoulder shows buyers are exhausted; a close below the neckline confirms the pattern.

95.0100.0105.0110.0NecklineTarget ≈ 97LSHeadRSConfirm
IllustrativeHead at 110, neckline at 103.6: the 6.4-point height projected down from the break gives a target near 97.2.
Measured move
target = breakout level ± pattern height
Height = head to neckline (H&S), peak to trough (double top/bottom), widest part (triangle).

02Double tops and bottoms

Two tests of the same extreme that fail to break it. A double bottom shows sellers twice unable to push lower; it is confirmed when price closes above the peak between the two lows. The inverse is a double top.

100.0105.0110.0Confirmation levelLow 1Low 2
IllustrativeTwo lows around 100.5 with a peak at 105.5 between them. The break above 105.5 confirms the double bottom.

03Triangles and pattern quality

Ascending triangles (flat top, rising lows) show buyers becoming more aggressive under a fixed supply level — usually a bullish break. Descending triangles are the mirror image. Symmetrical triangles are compression; trade the break, not the guess.

100.0105.0110.0Flat resistanceRising lows
IllustrativeAn ascending triangle: three rejections at the same resistance while each pullback holds higher, until buyers break through.
Watch outPatterns fail

Published studies of chart patterns show many break the “wrong” way or reverse after breaking. Treat the neckline or boundary as the decision point, keep the stop on the other side of the pattern, and size so a failure costs exactly 1R.

Key takeaways
  • H&S: higher head between two lower shoulders; confirmed by a close through the neckline.
  • Double tops/bottoms: two failed tests of the same extreme.
  • Measured move = breakout level ± pattern height.
  • A close beyond the boundary on expanding volume is the best confirmation.
Common mistakes
  • Trading a pattern before it is confirmed
  • Seeing patterns in noise on very low timeframes
  • Placing the stop inside the pattern

Complete “Trendlines & Channels” to unlock this challenge.

Go to Trendlines & Channels