Following an uptrend, a double top is a bearish reversal pattern that develops. It comprises of two almost equal-sized peaks that are close to one another in height, separated by a trough. A potential trend reversal is indicated by the pattern, which shows that the price has reached a resistance level twice but been unable to break past it. This pattern is frequently seen by traders as a signal to sell or enter short positions in anticipation of additional market declines. A double top chart pattern is a reversal pattern that occurs when a price touches two relative highs, with a small decline occurring between the two. The pattern is complete when the price line breaks through the support level.

Still, it's worth remembering that oscillator signals may have a short-term effect. Therefore, traders combine oscillators and trend indicators that may provide lagging signals but be more reliable when confirming a trend reversal. This pattern appears so often that it alone may serve as proof positive that price action is not as wildly random as many Traders claim.

Is Trading a Double Top Pattern Profitable?

There are so many stocks in which this chart pattern is formed and it is difficult for traders to look at the charts of more than 500 stocks for finding this pattern. Patience and finding the critical support level are of great importance. An early departure based only on the construction of two successive peaks might result in a false reading of the double top pattern.

• For traders hoping to profit from a shift in the market's trajectory and seize fresh profit possibilities, this can be favorable.
• The price reaches the local support level, while the bulls are trying to take the initiative and drive the price up.
• Notice in the illustration above how the market retests the neckline as new resistance.
• It can be difficult to exactly specify the entry and departure locations or establish the pattern's target levels because of this variability.

Stock market volatility (movement) is much less frenetic as displayed by the ‘smoother’ chart construction. The use of an oscillator has been implemented in this stock example to show the diversity of supporting functions that can be used with the double top pattern. Nowadays, to trade a chart pattern successfully, you need to make a strategy with the addition of filters.Without a strategy, a chart pattern will not make you a profitable trader. A strategy is made by adding confluences to filter out the best chart patterns and leave the bad ones. You must follow all the above steps to identify double top a trend reversal pattern. To detect a double top or double touch, you need to find out a good Resistance level.

Double Top Pattern: Your Complete Guide to Consistent Profits

The Web Site uses contact data from its surveys to send the user information about Sharekhan Comtrade Private Limited and promotional material from some of Sharekhan Ltd.'s partners. Users may opt-out of receiving future mailings; see the choice/opt-out section below. It is imperative for traders to know that a double top pattern cannot be used on its own. A lot of other things are also to be put into consideration before making any decision. It is important to determine which way the market is going, up, down, or sideways. The double top pattern is also characterized by a preceding uptrend.

A bull market occurs when the economy is booming, investment prices are soaring, and so is the people's confidence. Placing stop loss at this spot will help your trade to negotiate double top pattern rules any transaction pressure and will automatically exit you in case the stock hits that price point. Double top patterns are suitable for any type of market conditions.

If the price reaches the support line, then the further downtrend will intensify. However, there are situations when buyers manage to hold the support level, and the price goes up, which means there are false breakouts of support. In this case, the probability of a triple top pattern with the formation of the third price high increases.

The Web Site supplements the information that you provide with information that is received from third parties. The line running through the tops is the resistance line which should be nearly horizontal. This is a sign that the selling pressure is about finished, and that a reversal is about to occur.

How to Trade Double Tops and Double Bottoms

By solely relying on the formation of two successive peaks to define a double top, you might end up with an inaccurate reading and premature exit from your position. The first method to trade a double top pattern is to go short when the price breaks through the neckline/support of the chart formation. It is formed when the price of an asset reaches a peak two consecutive times with a moderate decline between the two. It is confirmed once the price falls below a support level equivalent to the low between the two previous peaks. Bulkowski is an engineer and wanted to build his trading on some kind of scientific research and not on unquantified predictions.

On the other hand, a measured move refers to the distance, measured in pips, starting from the pattern’s broken level to a specific future point. To put it in another way, the measured move is an estimation of distance, while the measured objective defines the exact target or level. The Stop-loss level is always above the highest high of the double top pattern.

When the price bounces back a second time from a Resistance Level then it is called a double price top. It means the resistance level is strong and it is not allowing the price to break the resistance level. To learn more about a reversal pattern that occurs at a swing low, be sure to read the lesson on the double bottom pattern. Upon retesting the neckline, we could look for bearish price action on one of the lower time frames to help confirm that the level is likely to hold as new resistance.

This pattern's highs can be placed at the same level or in growing order. The three mountains pattern is formed much less frequently on candlestick charts. This is also indicated by a price increase with little or no correction. After a strong uptrend, the pattern https://g-markets.net/ forms two highs at the same resistance level. In some cases, the second high may be slightly higher than the first. At the same time, an intermediate downward correction can be seen between the two tops, which makes the pattern look like the letter M.

Forex Trading for Beginners: 3 Profitable Strategies for 2023

Stop-loss, according to the risk management rules, is set above the broken out support level. In technical analysis, a double top is a chart pattern that consists of two swing highs with a trough in between, and the two highs should be at the same or almost the same level. Some traders confuse a double top with a double bottom formation.

In an uptrend, if a higher high is made but fails to carry through, and then prices drop below the previous high, then the trend is apt to reverse. This observation applies in any of the three trends; short-term, intermediate-term, or long-term. A 2B on a minor high or low will usually occur within one day or less of the time... Be mindful that every instance of a double top may be slightly different, and false signals may lead investors to believe a double top is forming when in reality it isn't. After the opening of trade, the price, as expected, continued to decline. Two days later, the trade was closed manually with a profit of $4.44 (more than 40% of the profit of the trade volume).

Trading the Double Top and Double Bottom Chart Patterns

Short-term trading is all about statistics and probabilities and thus you are a little blind if you rely too much on Bulkowski’s statistics (in our opinion). A double top occurred in the chart before the big sell-off in the US stock market in 2000. As you can see below, the instrument’s quotes fell even lower than the expected target. In this case, entering trades with partial profit-taking was possible when key support levels were reached. The price continues to fall, reaches the local support and breaks it out. As a rule, quotes should test the broken out level and continue the decline.

The theory says the price will go the distance equal to the difference between the neckline and the tops. It's worth saying that on a stock chart, a double top formation will have the same psychology behind it as on currency, commodity, and ETF charts. RSI stands for relative strength index and it helps measure the direction and momentum of a specific stock. Generally, RSI looks at gains and losses over 14 periods, although some traders could rely on different time intervals. An RSI indicator increases when a stock increases in value and decreases when the opposite is true.

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Furthermore, when you have the whole range, you can consider it as your MINIMUM target. Of course, it can be a bit more than based on your analysis and patience. This level is assumed to possess a resistance which cannot be broken. Not only is it not complete, but attempting to enter before having a confirmed setup can get you in a lot of trouble. Let’s revisit our EURUSD pattern to see if we can identify a favorable point of entry. Now it’s time for the really fun part – finding out how to profit consistently from these setups.