As of 12/02/2024
  Indus: 44,782 -128.65 -0.3%  
  Trans: 17,545 -73.73 -0.4%  
  Utils: 1,057 -21.90 -2.0%  
  Nasdaq: 19,404 +185.78 +1.0%  
  S&P 500: 6,047 +14.77 +0.2%  
YTD
 +18.8%  
 +10.4%  
 +19.9%  
 +29.3%  
 +26.8%  
  Targets    Overview: 12/02/2024  
  Down arrow44,000 or 46,000 by 12/15/2024
  Down arrow17,025 or 18,000 by 12/15/2024
  Down arrow1,025 or 1,100 by 12/15/2024
  Up arrow20,000 or 18,500 by 12/15/2024
  Up arrow6,200 or 5,900 by 12/15/2024
As of 12/02/2024
  Indus: 44,782 -128.65 -0.3%  
  Trans: 17,545 -73.73 -0.4%  
  Utils: 1,057 -21.90 -2.0%  
  Nasdaq: 19,404 +185.78 +1.0%  
  S&P 500: 6,047 +14.77 +0.2%  
YTD
 +18.8%  
 +10.4%  
 +19.9%  
 +29.3%  
 +26.8%  
  Targets    Overview: 12/02/2024  
  Down arrow44,000 or 46,000 by 12/15/2024
  Down arrow17,025 or 18,000 by 12/15/2024
  Down arrow1,025 or 1,100 by 12/15/2024
  Up arrow20,000 or 18,500 by 12/15/2024
  Up arrow6,200 or 5,900 by 12/15/2024

Bulkowski on the NR7 Chart Pattern

Updated with new performance information on 11/26/24.

The NR7 is based on the high-low price range that is the smallest of the prior six days (seven days total). When an NR7 occurs, it means that today's price is the narrowest of the seven days.

I use the NR7 in the chart pattern indicator because it gives good results. Click here for more information on the chart pattern indicator.

The NR7 pattern
NR7

NR7: Important Bull Market Results

Overall performance rank (1 is best)**: 11/23
Break even failure rate*: 46% (up breakouts)
Average rise*: 7%
Percentage meeting price target*: 43%
 
The above numbers are based on hundreds of perfect trades as of 3/19/2013. See the glossary for definitions.
* Based on the trend high, not the ultimate high. See text.
** Based on the average rise compared to other small patterns with upward breakouts in a bull market

NR7: Identification Guidelines

CharacteristicDiscussion
7 barsThe pattern is composed of seven bars.
Narrow RangeThe most recent bar must have a smaller high-low price range than the prior six bars (seven bars, total).
BreakoutA breakout occurs when price closes above the top or below the bottom of the NR7.

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NR7: Trading Tips

Trading TacticExplanation
BuyOnce price closes above the top of the pattern or below the bottom of it, buy/short at the open the next day, respectively.
Alternate buyAnother method is to use the last day of the NR7 as a trading signal. A close above the top of the last day, or below the bottom of it may suggest the trend direction. Ride price following the new trend until the swing ends. I have not tested this method, so make sure you do.
Measure ruleThe NR7 fulfills the measure rule only 43% of the time (bull market, up breakout). That is, measure the height of pattern and add it to the highest price in the pattern to get an upward target or subtract it from the lowest low in the pattern to get a downward price target.

NR7: Performance Statistics

For the following statistics, I used 1,201 stocks, starting from January 1990 to March 2013, but few stocks covered the entire range. All stocks had a minimum price of $5. Since samples were numerous, I included only one every 25 trades. There were two bear markets in the 2000s (as determined by the S&P 500 index), from 3/24/2000 to 10/10/2002 and 10/12/2007 to 3/6/2009. Everything outside of those dates represents a bull market.

For each NR7, I found when the trend started and when it ended. To find the trend peak or valley, I found the lowest valley and highest peak within plus or minus 5 days (11 days total) each, before the NR7 and the same peak/valley test after the NR7. The closest valley or peak before the NR7 is where the trend began. The closest peak or valley after the NR7 is where the trend ended. I compared the peak or valley to the average of the highest high and lowest low price of the NR7 pattern.

The 5-bar peak or valley number tends to find major turning points on the daily charts.

I measured performance from the day after the breakout (opening price) to the nearest trend peak or trend valley.

NR7: Performance and Failure Rates

Table 1: Performance and Failure Rates
Market/Breakout direction 5% Failure  Average 
 Rise/Drop 
Bull market, up breakout46%7%
Bull market, down breakout47%-6%
Bear market, up breakout40%8%
Bear market, down breakout27%-12%

Table 1 lists failure rates, sorted by market condition and breakout direction along with the average rise or decline.

A failure occurs when the stock fails to move in the direction of the breakout more than 5%.

The failure rates may appear high, but that's typical for short-term patterns like the NR7.

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NR7: Measure Rule

Table 2: Measure Rule Performance
Market/Breakout direction Success 
Bull market, up breakout43%
Bull market, down breakout37%
Bear market, up breakout32%
Bear market, down breakout39%

Table 2 shows how often the measure rule works. Use the measure rule to estimate of how far price is likely to rise or drop.

To do this, measure from the highest high to the lowest low in the pattern to get the height. Add the height to the highest high or subtract it from the lowest low to get the target.

NR7: Trading Performance

Table 3: Testing the NR7
Market/Breakout direction Bull/Up  Bull/Down  Bear/Up  Bear/down 
Net profit/loss$78.79$(55.52)$(91.22)$(33.63)
Wins57%45%45%47%
Winning trades7,6004,990920166
Average gain of winners$704.84$747.91$708.69$778.41
Losses43%55%55%53%
Losing trades5,7916,2181,112186
Average loss($742.84)($700.28)($753.02)($758.35)
Average hold time (calendar days)31251814

Table 3 shows the performance based on 29,021 trades using $10 commissions per trade ($20 round trip), starting with $10,000 per trade. No other adjustments were made for interest, fees, slippage and so on.

Here's the setup.

For example, in a bull market after an upward breakout, the net gain was $78.79 for all trades. The method won 57% of the time and there were 7,600 winning trades. The average gain of winning trades was $704.84.

Forty-three percent, or 5,791 trades were losers. They lost an average of $742.84.

The average hold time was 31 calendar days.

Notice how the gains and losses were pegged near 7%, which is how the test was setup.

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NR7: Trading Example

The NR7 chart pattern

The chart to the right shows the NR7 chart pattern (narrow range 7). Each red dot represents the last day -- the narrowest -- of the seven day pattern.

The NR7 is supposed to highlight days of low price volatility, ones that often predict a larger price move within a day or two after the pattern completes. The NR7-2 is supposed to be a more potent version of the narrow range 7. It occurs when the next day is also shorter than any of the prior seven.

The figure shows one NR7 that ends at A (the pattern also appears in the inset).

The breakout occurs at B when price closes above the top of the seven days.

Buy at the open the next day, C.

This trade ends in a loss when price collapses and drops to 7% below the buy price, D.

If the trade had worked, you would have sold at 7% above the buy price.

NR7: Chart Pattern Indicator

The chart pattern indicator uses the narrow range 7 chart pattern to signal market turns. It does this not by trading in the direction of price after the pattern completes, but instead it looks for the breakout. Patternz defines the breakout as a close above the top of the pattern or a close below the bottom of the pattern.

The top and bottom use the seven days, from start to end, of the NR7. Since the breakout method works so well for the chart pattern indicator, it might be used to effectively trade the NR7 pattern.

NR7: Target Exit, Stock Performance

NR7 in DDD

The setup for the following tests is different from the ones previously described.

Trading using a target exit is simple to explain. Look at the adjacent chart.

I boxed the NR7 pattern in red. Entry happens when the stock climbs above a buy stop placed a penny above the top of the 7-bar pattern. The target would be twice the height of the NR7 added to the top of the pattern. In this case, the stock does not rise to the target before the trade is stopped out.

A stop loss order placed a penny below the bottom of the pattern helps minimize any losses.

For a more detailed explanation of the method I used to test the NR7, see the link.

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Testing

As explained in the example above, I used a target exit placed twice as high as the height of the NR7 pattern (from highest price bar to the lowest one in the NR7). I placed a stop loss a penny below the bottom of the pattern and waited for one or the other to trigger.

Tables 4 show results for bull markets with upward breakouts and an inbound price trend either up or down. I used 492 stocks in the test.

Table 4: Testing the NR7 in Stocks with Height Exit
Metric NR7 In
Uptrend 
Uptrend
Benchmark
 NR7 in
Downtrend 
Downtrend
Benchmark
Trades7,3485,3566,4494,581
Average profit/loss per trade$115.81$138.22$163.84$145.03
Win/loss ratio42%42%44%42%
Average hold time (days)41414141
Winning trades3,0782,2622,8421,926
Average gain of winners11%11%12%12%
Average hold time of winners (days)55576361
Losing trades4,2703,0943,6072,655
Average loss-6%-6%-6%-6%
Average hold time of losers (days)34333535

Table 4. The NR7 pattern in stocks outperforms the benchmark but only when the pattern appears in a downtrend, and not by a lot, either: $163.84 versus $145.03.

NR7: Target Exit, ETF Performance

NR7 in ITA

The associated chart shows an example of how I tested the NR7 pattern in exchange traded funds (ETFs).

I boxed the NR7. The day after the pattern ends, we have an upward breakout and we buy the ETF.

A stop loss order placed a penny below the bottom of the NR7 helps limit the effects of adverse moves.

Computing the height of the NR7 (times two), added to the top of the pattern, gives a target price at which to exit. As you can see, the ETF climbed far enough to reach the sale price.

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Testing

This is the same test as the prior one except I used 94 exchange traded funds (ETFs) instead of common stocks.

Table 5: Testing the NR7 in ETFs with Height Exit
Metric NR7 In
Uptrend 
Uptrend
Benchmark
 NR7 in
Downtrend 
Downtrend
Benchmark
Trades6,1146,9825,4005,536
Average profit/loss per trade$133.38$110.80$126.10$145.44
Win/loss ratio45%43%44%45%
Average hold time (days)48464846
Winning trades2,7303,0312,3582,476
Average gain of winners9%9%10%10%
Average hold time of winners (days)67668076
Losing trades3,3843,9513,0423,060
Average loss-5%-5%-5%-5%
Average hold time of losers (days)37374444

Table 5. The NR7 beats the performance of the benchmark but only for the uptrend direction (which is opposite the results shown in Table 4).

NR7: Target Exit, Crypto Performance

NR7 in AAVE

This chart of a cryptocurrency is similar to the other charts for this test. I placed a buy stop a penny above the top of the NR7 and a stop loss order a penny below the bottom of the pattern.

In this example, the crypto broke out upward but soon reversed and triggered the stop-loss order, posting a loss for the trade.

Testing

This is the same test as the prior one except I used 94 exchange traded funds (ETFs) instead of common stocks.

Table 6: Testing the NR7 in Cryptocurrency with Height Exit
Metric NR7 In
Uptrend 
Uptrend
Benchmark
 NR7 in
Downtrend 
Downtrend
Benchmark
Trades5003,3015303,908
Average profit/loss per trade$252.04$320.01$119.82$253.40
Win/loss ratio48%50%42%47%
Average hold time (days)16161616
Winning trades2391,6652201,834
Average gain of winners13%14%13%14%
Average hold time of winners (days)15141816
Losing trades2611,6363102,074
Average loss-7%-7%-7%-7%
Average hold time of losers (days)13141413

The NR7 in cryptocurrencies underperforms the benchmark perhaps because of the low samples (500 versus 3,000).

-- Thomas Bulkowski

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See Also

Below are other short patterns...

 

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