Chart & Candlestick Patterns
The classical chart-pattern and candlestick catalogs, with honest reliability data.
The Library's implementations of these concepts run on Vela, our next-generation charting platform.
The classical pattern catalogs: chart formations measured in days to months, and candlestick patterns measured in bars. Japanese candlestick analysis reached the West through Steve Nison in 1991; the chart-pattern canon runs from Edwards & Magee to Bulkowski’s statistics. Reliability varies widely by pattern and context, and the pages here carry that data honestly.
The chart patterns split into reversals (head and shoulders, double and triple tops and bottoms, rounding, V and diamond tops, island and key reversals, Wolfe Waves) and continuations (triangles, wedges, flags, pennants, rectangles, the cup and handle), with William O’Neil’s growth-stock bases as a shelf of their own. The mechanics every pattern shares (breakout confirmation, the measure rule, the expected volume signature) sit beside the classical gap taxonomy. On the bar side, western one- to three-bar setups (pin bars, inside and outside bars, the hikkake, the Strat) lead into the Japanese candlestick catalog, from the doji and the hammer to the morning star and three white soldiers.
Start here
Reversal chart patterns
Formations read as the end of a trend, from the head and shoulders and double tops to rounding, V and diamond tops, island and key reversals, and Wolfe Waves.
Continuation chart patterns
Formations read as pauses inside a trend: triangles, wedges, flags and pennants, rectangles and channels, the cup and handle, and measured moves.
O'Neil base taxonomy
William O’Neil’s growth-stock bases, from the cup-with-handle and the flat base to the IPO base, and the base analysis that ties them together.
Pattern mechanics
What every pattern shares: rules for confirming a breakout, the measure rule for price objectives, and the volume shape each pattern is expected to show.
Gap taxonomy
The classical gaps (common, breakaway, runaway and exhaustion), the gap fill, and the gap-and-go setup.
Single/multi-bar (western)
Western bar-reading setups of one to a few bars: pin, inside, outside and engulfing bars, two- and three-bar reversals, the hikkake, and the Strat.
Candlestick catalog
The Japanese candlestick patterns of one to five candles, from the doji, hammer and engulfing to the morning and evening stars, three white soldiers, and the rarer formations.