# Ascending/descending/symmetrical Triangle Also known as: coil. A Chart & Candlestick Patterns concept (Continuation chart patterns) in the LuxAlgo Library. ## What is an Ascending/descending/symmetrical Triangle? Triangles are consolidations bounded by converging lines. The ascending triangle sets a flat ceiling against rising lows: buyers keep stepping up into a fixed offer. The descending triangle mirrors it with a flat floor under falling highs. The symmetrical triangle, the coil, converges from both sides with lower highs and higher lows, recording a market whose rotations are shrinking around an undecided price. Classical readings assign each a lean: ascending up, descending down, symmetrical with the prior trend. The taxonomy is old. Converging consolidations were described in the earliest chart-reading literature, catalogued systematically by Richard Schabacker in the early 1930s, and fixed in their modern form by Edwards and Magee's Technical Analysis of Stock Trends in 1948. Later pattern researchers have compiled large samples of triangle outcomes; the honest summary of that work is that the classical leans show up as tendencies with meaningful failure rates that vary by market and era, not as dependable rules. Those leans are tendencies from classical charting literature, not obligations, and any triangle can resolve either way, so the pattern is usually traded on its [breakout](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/breakout/) rather than its promise. Volume conventionally dries up as the coil tightens and expands on the break, and a classical guideline prefers breaks that arrive before the apex, since patterns that drift all the way into the apex tend to lose their tension. Mechanically a triangle is a narrowing auction. Each rotation covers less ground, participation thins, and resting interest concentrates just outside the boundaries, which is what loads the eventual break: stops and entry orders on both sides sit close together by the time the pattern matures. That compression is also why the pattern's failure mode is expensive if unmanaged, since a [false breakout](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/false-breakout/) fires those orders and then reverses through the crowd, the mechanism behind traps like the [hikkake](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/hikkake/). ## How to identify a triangle on a chart A triangle needs genuine touches on both boundaries; two lines forced over a drift are not a pattern. 1. Find a consolidation after a directional move and require at least two clean touches on each boundary, preferably alternating. 2. Classify by the boundaries: flat top with rising lows is ascending, flat floor with falling highs is descending, and boundaries converging from both sides is symmetrical. 3. Check the internals: rotations should shrink as the pattern ages, and volume conventionally contracts toward the apex. 4. Measure the height at the widest point and note it; that is the base for the [measure rule](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/measure-rule/) objective after the break. 5. Prefer patterns that resolve while tension remains, roughly in the middle-to-late thirds of the way to the apex; a drift into the apex itself usually dissolves the setup. 6. Plan the resolution in advance: entry on a decisive close through a boundary, invalidation on acceptance back inside the pattern. ## How traders use it - Breakout trading with a measured objective: enter on a close through the boundary, project the triangle's widest height from the break via the [measure rule](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/measure-rule/), and invalidate on a return inside the pattern. - Bias from the flat side: repeated equal highs under an ascending triangle's ceiling show demand absorbing supply at a fixed price, so some traders lean long early with stops under the rising line, accepting that the lean fails if the floor gives way instead. - Managing the failure mode: apex chop and [false breakouts](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/false-breakout/) are the pattern's known hazards, so common tactics include requiring a volume-confirmed close outside the lines or waiting for a retest of the broken boundary before committing. - Timeframe nesting: a triangle spotted on the daily is often executed on an intraday chart, where the boundary retest can be triggered from a discrete signal such as an [engulfing bar](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/engulfing-bar/) or [pin bar](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/pin-bar/) at the line. - Reading the buildup bar by bar: sequences of [inside bars](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/inside-bar/) near a boundary show compression reaching its end state, and the first [wide-range bar](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/wide-range-bar/) out of that stack frequently is the breakout bar. ## Triangles vs. other converging patterns - **Rising/falling Wedge** (https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/rising-falling-wedge/): In a wedge both boundaries slope the same direction and the classical lean runs against that slope; a triangle's boundaries converge from opposite sides or hold one side flat. - **Bull/bear Flag** (https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/bull-bear-flag/): A pennant is effectively a small symmetrical triangle mounted on a flagpole: flags and pennants are brief post-impulse pauses, while triangles are larger structures needing multiple touches per side. - **Broadening Formation** (https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/broadening-formation/): The broadening formation is the coil inverted: boundaries diverge and each swing gets wider, volatility expansion instead of the triangle's contraction. ## FAQ ### Which way do triangles usually break out? Classical charting assigns leans: ascending triangles favor upside breaks, descending favor downside, and symmetrical triangles favor the trend they interrupted. These are tendencies reported in classical literature, not reliable predictions for any single pattern, and every type breaks against its lean often enough that most traders wait for the resolution instead of front-running it. ### What is the price target after a triangle breakout? The standard measure rule takes the triangle's height at its widest point and projects it from the breakout level, giving a minimum objective. Some chartists instead run a line parallel to the unbroken boundary. Both are planning estimates, not promises: targets can be overshot or never reached, so they pair with trade management rather than replace it. ### How many touches make a valid triangle? The common standard asks for at least two touches per boundary, and quality rises with more genuine, alternating touches. The word genuine matters: boundaries redrawn after every poke, or lines fitted over a featureless drift, describe hope rather than structure. If the lines need constant adjustment to contain price, the pattern is not there. ### Does volume matter in a triangle? The classical description expects volume to contract as the pattern tightens and expand on the breakout, and many traders still require that expansion before trusting a break. It is a filter rather than a law: thin sessions, 24-hour markets, and index products all blur the read, and useful breaks do occur without textbook volume. Treat contraction inside the coil as consistency, not proof. ### What invalidates a triangle pattern? Three things, mainly. Acceptance back inside the boundaries after a break, which converts the breakout into a trap; a drift all the way into the apex, which dissolves the tension the trade depends on; and structural damage to the boundaries themselves, such as the flat side of an ascending triangle giving way. In each case the correct response is to stand down rather than renegotiate the lines. ### Are triangles continuation or reversal patterns? Mostly continuation in the classical account, especially the symmetrical type, which is assigned the direction of the trend it interrupted. But every type appears at trend ends too, and the descending triangle in particular has a reputation in both roles. The practical stance is to let the break decide: the pattern defines the levels, the resolution defines the direction. ## Related concepts - Rising/falling Wedge: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/rising-falling-wedge/ - Bull/bear Flag: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/bull-bear-flag/ - Pennant: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/pennant/ - Rectangle: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/rectangle/ - Channel Continuation: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/channel-continuation/ - Cup & Handle: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/cup-and-handle/ - Scallop: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/scallop/ - Measured-move Up/down: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/measured-move-up-down/ - Broadening Formation: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/broadening-formation/ - High Tight Flag: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/high-tight-flag/ --- Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/ascending-descending-symmetrical-triangle/ (LuxAlgo Library, the encyclopedia of trading & technical analysis). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/