Chart cheat sheet
A visual guide to the chart patterns traders see most often — what each shape suggests, what confirms it, and the mistake that catches people out. Tap any pattern for its full guide.
Read the context
Find the trend and nearby levels first.
Wait for the close
A wick through a level is not confirmation.
Know invalidation
Decide where the setup is wrong before entry.
Use confluence
Let structure, trend and momentum agree.
These patterns suggest the current move may be tiring. Confirmation matters because a trend can pause and then continue.
Price tests the same high twice and buyers fail to push through. It can signal an uptrend is losing control.
Price tests the same low twice and sellers cannot continue. It can mark exhaustion at the end of a fall.
Three peaks form, with the middle peak highest. The final lower peak shows buyers are losing momentum.
Three lows form, with the middle low deepest. The final higher low suggests sellers are weakening.
A strong move pauses, organises, then may resume. The pause should stay controlled rather than erase the original move.
A strong rise pauses in a small downward channel. The pause can let buyers reset before another leg higher.
A sharp fall pauses in a small upward channel. It can be temporary buying inside a broader decline.
After a breakout, price returns to the old boundary. Holding it suggests the level has changed role.
Price compresses or balances around a level before attempting to leave it. Candle closes help separate real breaks from wicks.
Repeated highs meet rising lows. Buyers are becoming more aggressive beneath a fixed resistance level.
Repeated lows meet falling highs. Sellers are pressing into a fixed support level.
Lower highs and higher lows compress price. Energy is building, but the shape alone does not choose direction.
Price leaves an area where buyers and sellers were balanced. The old boundary can become a new support or resistance level.
Price briefly breaks a known level, traps breakout traders, then closes back inside the prior range.
One or two candles can reveal rejection or a shift in pressure, but only when they form at a meaningful location.
A large bullish body covers the prior bearish body, showing a sudden shift from selling to buying pressure.
A large bearish body covers the prior bullish body, showing sellers taking control of that candle sequence.
A long wick shows price explored a level and was firmly pushed back. The close reveals which side rejected the move.
The shape starts the investigation. These five checks decide whether it is tradable.
Is the higher chart rising, falling or ranging?
Is the setup at real support, resistance or structure?
Did a full candle close beyond the trigger level?
Where does the chart prove the idea wrong?
Is there enough clear space before the next barrier?
A chart pattern describes price behaviour; it does not predict the next candle. Use it with a trend filter, a defined stop and a tested risk-reward rule. Educational examples only — not trading advice.
