The most important chart patterns for NQ, ES and crypto traders — what they look like, what they mean, and how to trade them.
PATTERN SIMULATOR
How to use this guide: Chart patterns are visual structures in price action that repeat across markets and timeframes. They work because they reflect real human behaviour — fear, greed, indecision, and momentum. No pattern is 100% reliable. Always combine with your overall market context, a defined stop, and proper risk management.
Reversal Patterns
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Support and Resistance
The foundation under every other pattern. Horizontal levels where supply and demand have met. Where they hold, bounce; where they break, flip.
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W Bottom (Double Bottom — aka The Upside Down M)
Price hits the same support level twice then breaks above the neckline. One of the most reliable reversal signals in trending markets.
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M Top (Double Top)
Price tests the same resistance twice and fails. When the neckline breaks, it confirms the trend has reversed and sellers are in control.
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Head & Shoulders
Three peaks — a higher middle peak (the head) between two lower peaks (the shoulders). Neckline break confirms distribution by smart money.
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Inverse Head & Shoulders
The bullish mirror of H&S. Three troughs with a deeper middle trough. Neckline breakout signals accumulation and a potential new uptrend.
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V Reversal
A sharp drop followed by an equally sharp recovery with no base-building. Common after flash crashes or news-driven selloffs. Fast and aggressive.
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Rounding Bottom (Saucer)
A slow, gradual curve from downtrend to uptrend. Reflects a shift in sentiment over time rather than a sharp reversal. Often precedes strong sustained moves.
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Fair Value Gap
A three-bar imbalance left behind by a fast move. The middle bar displaces price hard enough to leave an unfilled gap. Price often returns to the zone and reverses.
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Order Blocks
The last opposite-coloured candle before a strong move. SMC traders treat these zones as institutional footprints where price often returns and reacts.
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Premium & Discount Zones
Where in the recent range should you enter? Discount for longs, premium for shorts. The 50% midpoint splits the two. Simple, mechanical, often ignored.
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Liquidity Sweeps
Price briefly trades through an obvious swing high or low, triggers stops, then reverses. Also known as stop hunts or liquidity grabs.
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Equal Highs / Equal Lows
Two or more swing tops at the same level mark where retail stops cluster. The setup that creates the liquidity pool a sweep then takes.
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Inducement
The most-misread SMC concept. A shallow swing placed to trap retail before the real setup fires. Wait for it to be swept — only then is the level valid.
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BOS & CHoCH
Break of Structure confirms trend continuation; Change of Character signals reversal. The structural language for reading market state in real time.
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Trendline Break
When a trend’s diagonal support or resistance line is decisively closed through. The foundation under most other patterns — and where the cleanest setups live.
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Opening Range Breakout
Mark the high and low of the session’s first N bars; trade the breakout. The 15-min ORB is fast, the 1-hour ORB (Initial Balance) is steadier — both have their place.
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Wedges (Rising / Falling)
Tightening price action that looks like a trend but signals exhaustion. Rising wedges break down; falling wedges break up. Often confused with triangles.
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Continuation Patterns
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Bull Flag
A strong impulsive move up followed by a tight, slightly downward consolidation. When the upper trendline breaks, the move typically continues.
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Bear Flag
A sharp move down followed by a tight, slightly upward consolidation. Sellers are resting before the next leg lower. Breakdown confirms continuation.
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Continuation
Pennant
Similar to a flag but the consolidation forms a small symmetrical triangle. Converging trendlines indicate compressed energy before the next move.
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Cup and Handle
Multi-week U-shaped base, then a small handle pullback, then a breakout above the rim. Classic continuation when properly identified.
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Channels
Two parallel trendlines containing price. Rising, falling, or horizontal. Buy near the lower line, sell near the upper — until the channel breaks.
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Rectangle / Range
Horizontal consolidation between fixed support and resistance. Range-trade inside the bounds, or wait for a confirmed breakout. The default state of most markets.
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Ascending Triangle
Higher lows pressing into flat resistance. Buyers are getting more aggressive. The breakout above resistance is often explosive due to compressed supply.
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Descending Triangle
Lower highs pressing into flat support. Sellers are increasing pressure. Breakdown below support usually leads to a swift, sustained move lower.
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Continuation
Symmetrical Triangle
Lower highs and higher lows converging to a point. A coil of compressed price action. Direction of the breakout determines the trade — trade the break, not the guess.
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Trading Psychology
Getting the setup right is only half the equation
The other half is what’s happening in your head when you’re in the trade. Fear, ego, revenge trading, breaking your own stops — that’s where most accounts actually lose money. Not bad setups.