ascending triangle pattern: How to Use an Ascending Triangle Pattern in Trading

Ascending triangles are often called continuation patterns since price will typically break out in the same direction as the trend that was in place just prior to the triangle forming. A descending triangle formation occurs when price highs are increasingly lower, but price lows are consistent. As a result, a downward-sloping line can be drawn across the highs, while a horizontal line can be drawn across the lows. Ascending triangle chart patterns should be viewed as effective tools that are far from perfect. From this perspective, they should be considered as part of a wider investment analysis process.

While an https://g-markets.net/ triangle chart pattern can sometimes provide bearish signals, they are largely considered bullish formations because they’re uptrend continuation patterns. In the case of an ascending triangle pattern, the bulls move the price up to the formed horizontal resistance. At this point, the selling pressure increases, and the price begins to turn around.

Resistance Area

The ascending trend line chart pattern is a bullish formation. It signals that the market is consolidating after an uptrend, with the buyers still in control. The occurrence of the higher lows is pointing toward a likely breakout as the wedge narrows down. The ascending triangle pattern forms as a security’s price bounces back and forth between the two lines. Prices move to a high, which inevitably meets resistance that leads to a drop in price as securities are sold.

On the fourth try, the bulls succeed, and the price breaks out the level from bottom to top. The stop loss is set a little lower within the triangle according to risk management rules. Let us consider an example of an ascending triangle pattern in the daily chart of Apple Inc. stocks. When using triangle patterns, it is important to do several things.

Advantages and Disadvantages of an Ascending Triangle

Strong breakouts will come with a spike in trading volume, especially for uptrends, and will move at least several percent of the price as well as last for several days. Chart patterns are one of the technical analysis tools used by traders to predict any given market’s future direction. Triangle patterns are a variant of continuation patterns, indicating whether a particular trend is likely to continue. They tend to appear often in the bitcoin and other cryptocurrency markets. Therefore, BTC traders can use triangle patterns as one means of timing a trade.

The ascending triangle charting formation is basically a continuation candlestick pattern, which means you are looking to enter a long position to join the ongoing trend. But, like all candlestick patterns, you need to develop a trading strategy that will help maximize the chances of success. The are also instances when ascending triangles have signaled the end of bear markets. One is Ethereum’s triangle formation between March 2020 and April 2020, which led to a trend reversal to the upside, as shown below. There is a risk of confusing the ascending triangles pattern with the rising wedge, a bullish-to-bearish reversal pattern, because a perfect triangle rarely appears in the price chart.

Example of How to Interpret the Ascending Triangle

An ascending triangle is a type of price action pattern, a chart of security’s price movement over time. Ascending triangles are a continuation pattern, meaning they can be used to help confirm if the price of a security, like a stock, will continue moving in its current direction. The ascending triangle pattern is a price growth pattern, which is constructed in the form of a rising triangle. The second example shows a ascending triangle pattern, with three consecutive highs at a constant level and three consecutive lows increasing each time. The breakout occurs bullishly and the extent of the following uptrend is predicted almost exactly by the height of the base of the ascending triangle.

Cory is an expert on stock, forex and futures price action trading strategies. HowToTrade.com helps traders of all levels learn how to trade the financial markets. The technique is simple and has one goal – to help you find a profit target. Based on this technique, the height from the A to the B point should be equal to the price movement following the breakout.

What does an ascending Triangle pattern indicate?

A horizontal area of resistance should be clearly visible in the chart, while drawing trendline across the stock’s lows should yield an ascending line. A minimum of two swing highs and two swing lows are required to form the ascending triangle’s trendlines. But a greater number of trendline touches tends to produce more reliable trading results.

Buy if the ascending triangle pattern occurs to the upside, or short/sell if a breakout occurs to the downside. A stop loss is placed just outside the opposite side of the pattern. This article will help you understand how to identify and trade the ascending triangle pattern. Most sophisticated traders don’t rely on this signal alone. Instead, an ascending triangle pattern might be combined with other indicators when making a trading decision.

How Long Can You Hold a Short Position?

Attach the Price Range tool to the chart and determine the level that the price should potentially reach. As you can see, it seems like there is indecision between buyers and sellers. Because the price was previously in an uptrend, the arrangement suggests that the price will breakout higher.

• Symmetrical triangles are rarely perfectly formed, so beware not to invalidate what price movements tell you just because the pattern itself isn’t an ideal fit for the conditions.
• The stock advanced to 30.75 before pulling back to around 26.
• Another failed breakout occurred at resistance, but the next lowest low was established well above the $12 price.
• The ascending triangle is one of the most common formations in this area, as it practically consists of two converging trend lines.

However, they are gradually starting to push the price up as evidenced by the higher lows. The reaction lows were progressively higher, and formed an ascending trend line. The first low, in May 1999, occurred with a large spike down to 12.25, but the trend line was drawn to connect the prices grouped around 14. The ascending trend line could have been drawn to start at 12.25 and this version is shown with the gray trend line. The important thing is that there are at least two distinct reaction lows that are consecutively higher.

Ideally, triangle patterns are used to identify areas of potential breakouts. To trade an ascending triangle, you should open a buy position when the price breaks above the resistance level. To calculate the right price to exit the trade in profit, you can use the vertical line at the triangle’s opening point.

This helps in the scenario where the stock rolls over and breaches the uptrend line, but does not break the low of the breakout candle. You will see these shakeouts occur right before a stock really takes off. The difference is the uptrend line follows the trend, while the stop below the breakout candle is fixed. However, in my experience, even with an ascending triangle, anything can happen in the market.