As of 11/20/2024
Indus: 43,408 +139.53 +0.3%
Trans: 17,002 -26.31 -0.2%
Utils: 1,055 +1.25 +0.1%
Nasdaq: 18,966 -21.33 -0.1%
S&P 500: 5,917 +0.13 +0.0%
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YTD
+15.2%
+6.9%
+19.7%
+26.3%
+24.1%
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 46,000 or 43,000 by 12/01/202418,000 or 16,600 by 12/01/20241,075 or 1,000 by 12/01/202420,000 or 18,400 by 12/01/20246,100 or 5,800 by 12/01/2024 |
As of 11/20/2024
Indus: 43,408 +139.53 +0.3%
Trans: 17,002 -26.31 -0.2%
Utils: 1,055 +1.25 +0.1%
Nasdaq: 18,966 -21.33 -0.1%
S&P 500: 5,917 +0.13 +0.0%
|
YTD
+15.2%
+6.9%
+19.7%
+26.3%
+24.1%
| |
|
46,000 or 43,000 by 12/01/202418,000 or 16,600 by 12/01/20241,075 or 1,000 by 12/01/202420,000 or 18,400 by 12/01/20246,100 or 5,800 by 12/01/2024 | ||
Initial release: 12/21/2021.
The idea behind pattern pairs is to pick a chart pattern type (like broadening bottoms with upward breakouts) to buy and another to sell (like double tops). You buy the upward breakout from the broadening bottom, hold for a few years, and sell when a double top appears and breaks out downward. Along the way, you give price a chance to rise far enough to overcome those trades which are stopped out for a loss. This is a trend-following strategy.
The figure illustrates the idea for trading pattern pairs, where price is the red line and the boxes are chart patterns. This articles assumes you buy an upward breakout from either a rounded bottom or a busted one (price breaks out downward, drops no more than 10%, reverses, and closes above the top of the pattern. Buy as price rises above the top of the pattern).
On the sale side, you can sell the first bearish chart pattern which comes along or wait for your favorite bearish chart pattern to appear and sell then.
Here's a list of the top five performing sell signals, based on annualized gain (annualized because the hold time is often years, in parenthesis).
The following list shows the expected performance of chart pattern pairs, ranked by their expectancy. Expectancy is a way of gauging winning and losing trades and how much money you might make trading a pattern pair. I put the expected profit per trade, per share, in parenthesis.
To improve performance, try these tips.
The databases I built over several decades doesn't identify every chart pattern. There may be plenty of double tops over the years, for example, that I didn't catalog on the way to the one I did catalog. So buying an upward breakout from a rounded bottom and selling at the double top I cataloged would be different than choosing to sell a different double top. However, the following analysis does give a real-world flavor for how well you might do trading chart patterns if you follow the pattern pair strategy.
Here's what I used in my analysis.
I used the following 43 chart patterns in the analysis, but some only applied if they were busted.
I used a stop loss order set a penny below the bottom of the chart pattern. Price on the way down may have gapped below the stop price (for the sale price), so I used the lower of the stop price or the opening price on the day of sale).
For trailing stops, I removed the stop loss order and used a trailing stop set at 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% below a peak, never lowering the stop value, but raising it if a higher peak came along during the trade.
In Table 1, I calculated the percentage net gain (the average of gains and losses) when using various trailing stop loss amounts (10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%) for all tested chart patterns according to the busted/non-busted buy/sell configuration. In parenthesis is the size of the average loss so I could detail how losses change with various stop loss orders.
For example, if I tested non-busted rounded bottoms and sold various non-busted patterns (ascending triangles, broadening tops, head-and-shoulders tops, and so on), I made an average of 80% ("Stop Loss Only" column) after having a stop loss order in place. Losses averaged 25%. Replacing the stop loss with a 10% trailing stop cut the gain to 8% but also trimmed the average loss to 4%. Using a 25% trailing stop allowed me to keep more money, 26%, but losses climbed to 13%. If I didn't use any type of stop, the gain averaged 176% with losses averaging 31%.
There's not much difference between the results when selling busted or non-busted patterns using stops.
| Table 1: Various Trailing Stop Settings: Net Profit and (Average Loss) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data | 10% | 15% | 20% | 25% | Stop Loss Only | No Stop |
| Non-busted buys, non-busted sales | 8% (-4%) | 12% (-7%) | 20% (-9%) | 26% (-13%) | 80% (-25%) | 176% (-31%) |
| Non-busted buys, busted sales | 8% (-5%) | 12% (-7%) | 20% (-10%) | 23% (-14%) | 76% (-24%) | 186% (-29%) |
I compared the performance of non-busted patterns (both buy and sell) with non-busted buys and busted sales. In 7 of 22 contests, selling a busted pattern won. That's only 32% of the time.
It suggests you avoid trading busted patterns.
Table 2 shows statistics I collected for rounded bottoms using the trading rules described above and shown in the figure. A stop loss order was used and priced a penny below the bottom of the chart pattern (after buying).
For example, if you were to buy the upward breakout from a rounded bottom chart pattern and hold it until you encountered a broadening bottom (the first chart pattern listed in the table), but one with a downward breakout, you'd net an average of 64% on the 153 (76 winners, 77 losers) trades. That's an average of 154% on your winners, 25% average loss on your losers. You'd find that 50% of the trades made money but you'd gain an average of 15% per year (ranking 49th where 1 is best). If you removed the stop loss order and just held on until the broadening bottom with a downward breakout appeared, you'd make an average of 93% per trade.
The expectancy averages a gain of $6.19 per share per trade which ranks 48th where 1 is the best value.
Notes: The rank is based on the net gain for both performance tables (tables 2 and 3) shown below. Trades with sample counts below 30 are not ranked.
| Table 2: Statistics for Rounded Bottoms | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sell Pattern | Average Win | Average Loss | Net | Annualized Net | Rank | No Stop Net | Win/Loss Samples | Win Loss | Average Expectancy | Expectancy Rank |
| Broadening bottom | 154% | -25% | 64% | 15% | 49 | 93% | 76/77 | 50% | $6.19 | 48 |
| Broadening top | 207% | -24% | 102% | 27% | 10 | 145% | 173/144 | 55% | $19.42 | 8 |
| Broadening formation, right-angled and ascending | 173% | -27% | 68% | 19% | 32 | 110% | 63/69 | 48% | $4.69 | 55 |
| Broadening formation, right-angled and descending | 121% | -26% | 50% | 13% | 54 | 85% | 61/57 | 52% | $7.91 | 38 |
| Broadening wedge, ascending | 114% | -25% | 53% | 22% | 25 | 110% | 55/43 | 56% | $9.53 | 28 |
| Broadening wedge, descending | 182% | -22% | 67% | 18% | 40 | 88% | 36/46 | 44% | $4.72 | 54 |
| Bump-and-run reversal top | 154% | -24% | 86% | 33% | 2 | 112% | 323/200 | 62% | $10.35 | 25 |
| Diamond bottom | 115% | -25% | 50% | 17% | 45 | 75% | 24/21 | 53% | $5.59 | 50 |
| Diamond top | 168% | -23% | 90% | 29% | 7 | 137% | 82/56 | 59% | $9.86 | 27 |
| Adam & Adam double top | 242% | -22% | 102% | 27% | 11 | 154% | 450/507 | 47% | $17.78 | 12 |
| Adam & Eve double top | 250% | -22% | 105% | 29% | 6 | 160% | 206/235 | 47% | $19.58 | 7 |
| Eve & Adam double top | 216% | -23% | 90% | 23% | 24 | 156% | 223/247 | 47% | $13.75 | 14 |
| Eve & Eve double top | 288% | -23% | 124% | 40% | 1 | 181% | 213/238 | 47% | $22.56 | 2 |
| Falling wedge | 279% | -24% | 116% | 31% | 4 | 136% | 38/44 | 46% | $22.22 | 4 |
| Head-and-shoulders top | 150% | -23% | 67% | 20% | 29 | 109% | 713/658 | 52% | $9.30 | 29 |
| Sell Pattern | Average Win | Average Loss | Net | Annualized Net | Rank | No Stop Net | Win/Loss Samples | Win Loss | Average Expectancy | Expectancy Rank |
| Head-and-shoulders, complex top | 146% | -24% | 69% | 24% | 19 | 93% | 133/110 | 55% | $4.67 | 56 |
| Rectangle top | 149% | -24% | 57% | 15% | 50 | 93% | 108/123 | 47% | $7.70 | 39 |
| Rising wedge | 166% | -25% | 84% | 24% | 17 | 128% | 192/143 | 57% | $11.08 | 20 |
| Rounding top | 181% | -22% | 55% | 14% | 52 | 76% | 91/148 | 38% | $2.90 | 59 |
| Ascending scallop | 130% | -27% | 68% | 25% | 15 | 86% | 70/46 | 60% | $5.49 | 51 |
| Descending scallop | 204% | -25% | 80% | 23% | 23 | 107% | 326/383 | 46% | $6.13 | 49 |
| Scallop, inverted and ascending | 298% | -28% | 129% | 26% | 13 | 196% | 39/42 | 48% | $18.85 | 11 |
| Scallop, descending and inverted | 157% | -26% | 57% | 20% | 31 | 77% | 212/254 | 45% | $8.33 | 35 |
| Triangle, ascending | 161% | -26% | 64% | 17% | 42 | 114% | 81/88 | 48% | $5.27 | 52 |
| Triangle, descending | 108% | -24% | 46% | 17% | 44 | 57% | 104/93 | 53% | $8.19 | 36 |
| Triangle, symmetrical | 171% | -25% | 67% | 19% | 36 | 114% | 273/306 | 47% | $8.46 | 34 |
| Triple top | 187% | -25% | 70% | 20% | 30 | 119% | 512/620 | 45% | $11.87 | 18 |
| Rectangle bottom | 229% | -26% | 65% | 18% | 37 | 110% | 59/105 | 36% | $7.64 | 40 |
| 3 falling peaks | 223% | -24% | 91% | 24% | 20 | 127% | 616/710 | 46% | $10.96 | 21 |
| Roof | 124% | -20% | 59% | 23% | 22 | 113% | 37/30 | 55% | $7.11 | 42 |
| Roof, inverted | 104% | -24% | 45% | 15% | 47 | 56% | 46/39 | 54% | $9.20 | 30 |
| Sell Pattern | Average Win | Average Loss | Net | Annualized Net | Rank | No Stop Net | Win/Loss Samples | Win Loss | Average Expectancy | Expectancy Rank |
The figure shows an example of how this trade unfolds.
A bullish chart pattern appears and you buy at the breakout. Continue holding until your selected chart pattern appears. The chart pattern is bullish because it has an upward breakout but then things go wrong. Price reverses. Sell when the stock dips below the bottom of the chart pattern (meaning it busts the upward breakout).
Table 3 shows the performance statistics for this setup (buying a normal rounded bottom and selling only after a busted chart pattern appears). A stop loss order was used and priced a penny below the bottom of the chart pattern (after buying).
For example, buying a rounded bottom with an upward breakout in a bull market and selling a busted broadening bottom shows winning trades making an average of 245%. Losing trades lost 23% giving a net gain of 106%. The annualized gain is 26% in this case, giving the setup a rank of 14th (where 1 is best). If you traded this without a stop, the net gain climbed to 136%. Of the stocks I looked at, I found 58 trades with 48% of them winning. Expectancy was a gain of $22.25 per share, ranking 3rd where 1 is best.
Trades with sample counts below 30 are not ranked.
| Table 3: Statistics for Normal Buy, Busted Sale | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sell Pattern | Average Win | Average Loss | Net | Annualized Net | Rank | No Stop Net | Win/Loss Samples | Win Loss | Average Expectancy | Expectancy Rank |
| Broadening bottom | 245% | -23% | 106% | 26% | 14 | 136% | 28/30 | 48% | $22.25 | 3 |
| Broadening top | 159% | -20% | 62% | 18% | 41 | 118% | 66/78 | 46% | $11.61 | 19 |
| Broadening formation, right-angled and ascending | 206% | -24% | 75% | 19% | 34 | 128% | 22/29 | 43% | $8.81 | 32 |
| Broadening formation, right-angled and descending | 86% | -17% | 40% | 12% | 59 | 58% | 29/24 | 55% | $4.63 | 57 |
| Broadening wedge, ascending | 121% | -27% | 42% | 107% | 13/15 | 46% | ||||
| Broadening wedge, descending | 179% | -30% | 66% | 15% | 48 | 115% | 17/20 | 46% | $6.61 | 45 |
| Bump-and-run reversal bottom | 239% | -18% | 84% | 23% | 21 | 131% | 19/29 | 40% | $7.95 | 37 |
| Cup with handle | 110% | -22% | 24% | 11% | 60 | 26% | 11/21 | 34% | -$0.43 | 60 |
| Diamond bottom | 153% | -22% | 91% | 20% | 28 | 121% | 24/13 | 65% | $9.08 | 31 |
| Diamond top | 168% | -22% | 80% | 21% | 26 | 135% | 38/33 | 54% | $10.70 | 24 |
| Adam & Adam double bottom | 203% | -20% | 75% | 19% | 35 | 122% | 129/175 | 42% | $17.44 | 13 |
| Adam & Eve double bottom | 317% | -22% | 96% | 27% | 12 | 143% | 57/106 | 35% | $19.11 | 9 |
| Eve & Adam double bottom | 143% | -22% | 51% | 13% | 55 | 114% | 47/60 | 44% | $10.86 | 23 |
| Eve & Eve double bottom | 282% | -23% | 106% | 28% | 8 | 139% | 50/68 | 42% | $18.92 | 10 |
| Falling wedge | 179% | -21% | 60% | 16% | 46 | 77% | 21/31 | 40% | $6.48 | 46 |
| Head-and-shoulders bottom | 149% | -22% | 56% | 15% | 51 | 79% | 100/120 | 45% | $10.90 | 22 |
| Head-and-shoulders complex bottom | 176% | -10% | 86% | 24% | 18 | 103% | 17/16 | 52% | $10.15 | 26 |
| Sell Pattern | Average Win | Average Loss | Net | Annualized Net | Rank | No Stop Net | Win/Loss Samples | Win Loss | Average Expectancy | Expectancy Rank |
| Rectangle top | 131% | -25% | 51% | 14% | 53 | 140% | 50/53 | 49% | $6.47 | 47 |
| Rising wedge | 183% | -29% | 87% | 25% | 16 | 119% | 24/20 | 55% | $8.61 | 33 |
| Round bottom | 54% | -24% | 0% | 32% | 4/9 | 31% | ||||
| Rounding top | 106% | -17% | 28% | 54% | 10/17 | 37% | ||||
| Ascending scallop | 117% | -20% | 45% | 18% | 39 | 70% | 41/46 | 47% | $3.63 | 58 |
| Descending scallop | 182% | -24% | 66% | 17% | 43 | 86% | 28/36 | 44% | $7.27 | 41 |
| Scallop, inverted and ascending | 262% | -24% | 128% | 29% | 5 | 165% | 76/67 | 53% | $22.14 | 5 |
| Scallop, descending and inverted | 139% | -24% | 79% | 18% | 38 | 101% | 38/22 | 63% | $11.91 | 17 |
| Triangle, ascending | 249% | -25% | 96% | 31% | 3 | 123% | 34/43 | 44% | $24.66 | 1 |
| Triangle, descending | 102% | -23% | 38% | 13% | 58 | 80% | 23/24 | 49% | $4.84 | 53 |
| Triangle, symmetrical | 99% | -23% | 41% | 13% | 57 | 65% | 41/37 | 53% | $6.90 | 44 |
| Triple bottom | 210% | -25% | 86% | 20% | 27 | 129% | 188/210 | 47% | $12.21 | 16 |
| Rectangle bottom | 162% | -27% | 60% | 13% | 56 | 93% | 24/28 | 46% | $13.60 | 15 |
| 3 rising valleys | 272% | -22% | 119% | 27% | 9 | 179% | 128/138 | 48% | $20.92 | 6 |
| Roof | 71% | -18% | 16% | 60% | 8/13 | 38% | ||||
| Roof, inverted | 158% | -23% | 74% | 19% | 33 | 106% | 22/19 | 54% | $7.11 | 43 |
| Sell Pattern | Average Win | Average Loss | Net | Annualized Net | Rank | No Stop Net | Win/Loss Samples | Win Loss | Average Expectancy | Expectancy Rank |
Here are a few ideas the data suggested which may improve performance of your pattern pairs trading.
Find the trend start for your chart pattern. Often you can just look at a chart and see where the trend begins. If not, or you want to be sure, then the glossary describes how to find it.
Determine the length from the trend start to the pattern's start: short term (less than 3 months), medium term (3 to 6 months) or long term (more than 6 months).
Table 4 shows the results for the four combinations of busted/non-busted trades and the resulting performance.
Buy patterns with a short-term (up to 3 months) duration from the trend start to the pattern's start.
| Table 4: Short (S) Medium (M) or Long (L) Trend Start and Performance | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sell Non-Busted Pattern | Sell Busted Pattern | |
| Buy non-busted pattern | S122% M53% L56% | S131% M43% L54% |
I checked two moving averages at buy time, 50- and 200-day simple moving averages (not as a crossover setup). I compared the breakout price to the value of the moving average. Table 5 shows the performance of buying or selling busted or non-busted patterns when the breakout price was above (A) or below (B) the 50-day simple moving average (SMA).
In all cases, buying if the breakout price is above the 50-day SMA gives the best results.
| Table 5: Above (A) Below (B) 50-Day Simple Moving Average | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sell Non-Busted Pattern | Sell Busted Pattern | |
| Buy non-busted pattern | A83% B8% | A79% B-4% |
Table 6 shows the results of using a longer moving average, the 200-day. Traders often use this as a proxy for the long-term trend.
In all cases, buying if the breakout price is above the 200-day SMA works best but the results are close.
| Table 6: Above (A) Below (B) 200-Day Simple Moving Average | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sell Non-Busted Pattern | Sell Busted Pattern | |
| Buy non-busted pattern | A81% B73% | A76% B75% |
The prior discussion assumes you buy a rounded bottom but sell a chart pattern of your choosing, such as a downward breakout from a head-and-shoulders top (you wait for one to appear). What if you sold the first bearish chart pattern which comes along? How would you do?
Table 7 shows the results sorted by the type of sale pattern involved (busted or non-busted). For example, if you buy a non-busted rounded bottom and sell the first non-busted chart pattern which comes along, you'd make 21% on average. Annualized, you'd make 37%. This compares to a 23% annualized gain if you sell a designated pattern (like you waited for a double top before selling, which may or may not be the first bearish chart pattern to come along).
The results split into non-busted and busted sales. Selling the first non-busted pattern which appears or selling a designated busted pattern worked best.
The bottom half of the table shows expectancy for the two combinations. Selling non-busted patterns gives the highest expectancy ($4.00).
| Table 7: Selling the First Bearish Pattern (Annualized) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sell Non-Busted Pattern | Sell Busted Pattern | |
| Buy non-busted pattern | 21% (37% v 23%) | 11% (17% v 20%) |
| Expectancy (Below) | ||
| Sell Non-Busted Pattern | Sell Busted Pattern | |
| Buy non-busted pattern | $4.00 | $3.28 |
-- Thomas Bulkowski
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