Subscribe to RSS feeds Bulkowski Blog via RSS

Thomas N. Bulkowski’s successful investment activities allowed him to retire at age 36. He is an internationally known author and trader with almost 30 years of stock market experience and widely regarded as a leading expert on chart patterns. His four books, including the best selling Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns, have been translated into six languages. He may be reached at

Support this site! Clicking on his books below takes you to Amazon.com. If you buy ANYTHING, they pay for the referral.

Bulkowski’s Eve & Adam Double Bottom

Elliott
Wave
Funda-
mentals
Indicators Market
Review
Pattern
Rank
Psychology Quiz Research Software Test
Portfolios
Trading
Class
Trading
Setups
Tutorial Watch
List
ThePatternSite.com logo Candles Chart
Patterns
Event
Patterns
Scoring
Patterns
Volume
Patterns
ThePatternSite.com logo
Market
Industrials (^DJI):
Transports (^DJT):
Utilities (^DJU):
Nasdaq (^IXIC):
S&P 500 (^GSPC):
 
As of 09/02/2010
10,320.10 50.63 0.5%
4,342.03 58.62 1.4%
396.87 -0.49 -0.1%
2,200.01 23.17 1.1%
1,090.10 9.81 0.9%
 
YTD
-1.0%
5.9%
-0.3%
-3.0%
-2.2%
 
10,475 by 09/15/2010
4,450 by 09/15/2010
400 by 09/15/2010
2,250 by 09/15/2010
1,100 by 09/15/2010
Mkt Overview: 08/29/2010

CPI: on 08/27/2010

Written by and copyright © 2005-2010 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved.

For more information on this pattern, read Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns, Second Edition, pictured on the right, pages 244 to 258. That chapter gives a complete review of the chart pattern, including tour, identification guidelines, focus on failures, performance statistics, trading tactics, and sample trade. Below is just a sliver of the information contained in the book.

Eve & Adam double bottoms do better in a bear market than in a bull market according to the performance rank. Failure rates are lower in a bull market though.

 

 

 

Eve & Adam double bottom chart pattern

Eve & Adam Double Bottom
Score your chart pattern for performance.

Important Bull Market Results

Overall performance rank (1 is best): 11 out of 23
Break even failure rate: 4%
Average rise: 35%
Throwback rate: 57%
Percentage meeting price target: 66%

Identification Guidelines

Consult the associated figure on the right.

CharacteristicDiscussion
Price trendDownward leading to the pattern.
ShapeTwo distinct valleys that look different. Eve bottoms appear first and are wider and more rounded looking. Adam bottoms appear after Eve and are narrow, V-shaped, sometimes with one long price spike. Spikes that appear tend to be more numerous and shorter on Eve bottoms.
PeakThe rise between bottoms should measure at least 10%, but allow variations.
Bottom priceThe price variation between bottoms is small, usually between 0% and 4%. The two valleys should appear to bottom near the same price.
SeparationThe twin valleys are several weeks apart with most falling in the 2 to 7 week range; wider than 7 weeks and performance deteriorates.
ConfirmationThe double bottom confirms as a true double bottom once price closes above the peak between the two valleys. That is the top red line on the figure to the right.
VolumeEvenly split between the right and left bottom showing heavier volume.

Double bottom setup

The Double Bottom Setup

Top

Trading Tips

A trading setup related to double bottoms and throwbacks is located here.

Consult the associated figures on the right.

Trading TacticExplanation
Measure ruleCompute the height from the highest peak (A) to the lowest valley (B) in the pattern then multiply it by the above “percentage meeting price target.” Add the result to the breakout price (the highest peak in the pattern, A) to get the target, C.
Price reversalPrice must have something to reverse, so if the decline leading to the double bottom is small, expect a small rise.
Big WLook for a double bottom with a tall left side, one with a steep decline and few or no price consolidations along the way. Expect price to return to near where the downtrend began.
ConfirmationWait for confirmation – price to close above the peak between the valleys. If you don’t wait, there’s a 64% chance that price will continue lower without confirming the double bottom.
HandleSee the figure to the right. Sometimes price will confirm the double bottom then waffle up and down, forming a handle. When price breaks out of this region, it often moves up in a strong trend.
Flat baseExpect a large rise if the double bottom appears after a long, flat base. Use the weekly scale to find the flat base – the double bottom will look like a pothole in a road.
TrendsA short-term decline leading to the double bottom results in the best post breakout performance.
Yearly lowDouble bottoms within a third of the yearly low perform best.
Volume trendA downward volume trend suggests good post breakout performance.
ThrowbacksThrowbacks hurt post breakout performance
Eve and Adam double bottom measure rule
The Measure Rule
Eve and Adam double bottom chart pattern with handle
Handle
Flat base followed by any chart pattern
Flat Base
Top

Example

Eve & Adam double bottom chart pattern example

The above figure shows an example of an Eve & Adam double bottom chart pattern. The Eve bottom has three days at about the same price level. Adam bottom has a long, single price spike. The two bottoms look different. Eve is wider than Adam and more rounded looking. The Eve & Adam double bottom chart pattern confirms when price closes above the high between the two bottoms, shown here as the breakout point.

Other Examples

See Also

-- Thomas Bulkowski

Top

Copyright © 2005-2010 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved. If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.