{"format":"alysly-page/1","url":"https://alysly.com/learn/continuation-chart-patterns/","json":"https://alysly.com/json/learn/continuation-chart-patterns/index.json","lang":"en-US","title":"Triangles, Flags, Wedges & Cup-and-Handle Explained","description":"Triangles, flags, pennants, wedges, rectangles and cup-and-handle – what consolidations look like and when they break.","published":"2026-08-02T15:41:33+02:00","modified":"2026-11-01T18:26:04+01:00","alternates":[{"lang":"de-DE","url":"https://alysly.com/de/lernen/chartmuster-fortsetzung/","json":"https://alysly.com/json/de/lernen/chartmuster-fortsetzung/index.json"}],"about":"Machine-readable version of the page at url. It contains the text, tables and key figures published there, but not the interactive charts and tools.","breadcrumb":[{"name":"Investing & Trading Basics","url":"https://alysly.com/learn/"},{"name":"Level 2","url":"https://alysly.com/learn/#level-2"},{"name":"Continuation Chart Patterns","url":"https://alysly.com/learn/continuation-chart-patterns/"}],"content":[{"type":"paragraph","text":"Level 2 Patterns & Indicators · Part 4/9"},{"type":"heading","level":1,"text":"Continuation Chart Patterns"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"By Alexander Bock, founder and data analyst","links":[{"text":"Alexander Bock","href":"https://alysly.com/about/"}]},{"type":"paragraph","text":"Most of the time markets are not moving; they are waiting. Continuation formations describe that waiting – and the moment it ends."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"They all rest on the same process: compression turns into expansion. The range gets narrower until it does not. The direction of the break that follows is far less predictable than the pattern names suggest."},{"type":"heading","level":2,"id":"triangles","text":"Triangles"},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/ascending-triangle.6d5e5686ca517d2e87eb486da7b1f145520932abccb964e1ca6204a39617eabe.webp","alt":"Ascending triangle: horizontal resistance above rising lows"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"(1) Highs stop at the same price repeatedly — supply sits there. (2) Lows keep rising: buyers accept ever higher prices. Supply gets absorbed, the range narrows, (3) the breakout releases the tension. The direction is not guaranteed — the pattern tells you where something happens, not what."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"In an ascending triangle the highs stop at the same price again and again, while the lows keep rising. The reading: supply sits at the upper edge and is absorbed step by step, while buyers accept higher and higher prices."},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/descending-triangle.bf2d84150a3e3624bd18ee9385626f0a7764ab559a993322fca6f2cf2992deaa.webp","alt":"Descending triangle: horizontal support beneath falling highs"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"The counterpart: (1) lows end at the same price, (2) highs fall — sellers accept less and less. (3) When support breaks, the move is often fast, because the stop orders clustered there trigger additional selling."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"The descending triangle is the mirror image. When the horizontal support breaks, a fast move often follows. The stop orders that built up there trigger extra selling."},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/symmetrical-triangle.c31abc2d7953d9efdbfa6ba3fc080077f9c2037b93934d645d2426f00a1072a7.webp","alt":"Symmetrical triangle: falling highs meet rising lows"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"(1) Falling highs, (2) rising lows: the range narrows from both sides and volatility contracts. Such compressions nearly always end in expansion — (3) — but the direction is open. Anticipating it trades a guess; waiting for the break costs you entry price."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"In a symmetrical triangle both boundaries move toward each other. It is the most honest of the three, because it suggests no direction at all: it says that something is contracting, nothing more."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"One observation that matters in practice: breakouts in the last third of a triangle hold more often than breakouts close to the apex. If the price runs all the way into the apex, the formation usually dissolves instead of completing."},{"type":"heading","level":2,"id":"flags-and-pennants","text":"Flags and Pennants"},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/bull-flag.82ab100efa6c9127678909fb633e0ea54d92887aac23f7453e794e1e99178cdc.webp","alt":"Bull flag: a steep rally, a downward-sloping consolidation, then a new breakout"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"(1) The pole — a fast, steep advance. (2) The flag: a slightly downward-sloping consolidation in a tight band, usually on falling volume. Profit-taking meets demand without breaking the trend. (3) The break above the upper boundary. If the pole is fully retraced instead, it was not a flag but a reversal."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"A flag consists of a steep move – the pole – and a narrow consolidation that slopes slightly against it. It is the pattern with the clearest argument behind it: profit-taking meets continued demand, and the move is not given back."},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/bear-flag.7967718dae05592bf9f9d3fabb661f03512f8c661413f1af0db89d91c015cada.webp","alt":"Bear flag: a steep drop, an upward-sloping consolidation, continuation lower"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"The mirror of the bull flag: (1) a steep sell-off, (2) an upward-sloping, narrow recovery — it looks like a base but is too shallow and too weak, (3) continuation lower. The difference between a flag and a bottom shows in the extent and volume of the bounce, not in its shape."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"The downside version looks like a base but is not one. The difference is how far it goes. A bounce that recovers less than a third of the previous move is a pause. One that recovers half or more is no longer a flag."},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/pennant.bc3734b5164b3c82a207e891b9ea2022473c8783e740c0be9165f84be6813792.webp","alt":"Pennant: pole, a short symmetrical contraction, breakout in the trend direction"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"(1) Pole, (2) a short, symmetrically converging pennant — unlike a flag it has no slope but narrows from both sides. (3) Breakout in the trend direction. Pennants typically last only a few periods; if the contraction drags on it becomes a triangle with far less trend context."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"The pennant is the symmetrical version of a flag: no slope, but contraction from both sides. It usually lasts only a few periods. If the contraction drags on, you are looking at a triangle – and its link to the trend is much weaker."},{"type":"heading","level":2,"id":"wedges","text":"Wedges"},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/rising-wedge.5e923db404298018f48dc8ef3b5e9dbf460f090639677aff4b1ce4b590f2c3fa.webp","alt":"Rising wedge: two upward-sloping converging boundaries with a downside break"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"(1) Both boundaries rise, but the lower one more steeply than the upper — the move runs out of room. (2) Each new upward wave is shorter than the last. (3) The break is usually downward. A rising wedge is the rare case where rising prices signal weakness — the slope lives on momentum, not direction."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"The rising wedge is the special case where rising prices signal weakness. Both boundaries rise, the lower one more steeply, and each new wave is shorter than the last. The break is mostly to the downside."},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/falling-wedge.cd1c176c01c5cc7155f29e72c9aec0dc4ff83f238bc56054cac387e9db6dbae6.webp","alt":"Falling wedge: two downward-sloping converging boundaries with an upside break"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"(1) Both boundaries fall, the upper one more steeply — downward pressure is fading. (2) Each new down wave covers less ground. (3) The break is usually upward. As with the rising wedge, what matters is the shrinking amplitude, not the direction of the lines."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"The falling wedge works the other way around. What makes both readable is not the direction of the lines but the shrinking amplitude – the same quantity a volatility indicator measures."},{"type":"heading","level":2,"id":"rectangle","text":"Rectangle"},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/rectangle.c93c64d989b2941ded1cbfc22443f04fa1cf383864c5d734a64ddbcd328d0393.webp","alt":"Rectangle: a horizontal range tested repeatedly, followed by a breakout"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"(1) Upper and (2) lower boundaries are each tested several times without breaking — supply and demand face off at fixed prices. (3) The breakout. The height of the range serves as a rough measure for the ensuing move; more usefully, a failed breakout is obvious here — price simply drops back inside."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"A horizontal range with several tests on both edges. The practical advantage: a failed breakout is obvious right away, because the price simply drops back inside. Of all the formations, the rectangle gives you the cleanest points of refutation."},{"type":"heading","level":2,"id":"cup-and-handle","text":"Cup and Handle"},{"type":"image","src":"https://alysly.com/img/ta/cup-and-handle.794582cee69f9f839e9f32e07a3085c7a626827b219ba048671d23c69dc2eea0.webp","alt":"Cup and handle: a rounded base, a short pullback at the rim, then a breakout"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"(1) The cup — a rounded base that slowly recovers the prior decline. (2) The handle: a short, shallow pullback just below the old high where the last sellers exit. (3) Break above the rim. A handle deeper than roughly a third of the cup height voids the pattern, because it undoes the recovery."},{"type":"paragraph","text":"A rounded base followed by a short pullback just below the old high. The handle is where the last sellers get out. If it is deeper than roughly a third of the cup, the formation is void. The recovery has then been undone."},{"type":"heading","level":2,"id":"the-warning-they-share","text":"The Warning They Share"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"All of these formations have fuzzy definitions. How shallow may a flag slope? How many touches does a triangle need? Where exactly does the boundary sit?"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"Every one of those choices is a degree of freedom, and degrees of freedom are the raw material of overfitted results. A serious test first needs a definition tight enough that a program can find the pattern without judgment. That is where most pattern statistics fall apart, long before probabilities come into play."},{"type":"heading","level":2,"id":"next","text":"Next"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"From shapes to numbers: moving averages as the first indicator."},{"type":"list","ordered":false,"items":[{"text":"Previous Reversal Chart Patterns","href":"https://alysly.com/learn/reversal-chart-patterns/"},{"text":"Next Moving Averages","href":"https://alysly.com/learn/moving-averages/"}]},{"type":"heading","level":2,"text":"Indices"},{"type":"table","caption":"Indices, performance over the selected period","columns":["Index","1M"],"rows":[[{"text":"Dow Jones","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/indices/dow-jones/"},{"text":"+1.0%","data":{"m1":"+1.0%","m3":"-4.3%","m6":"+4.9%","ytd":"+7.6%","max":"+30.0%"}}],[{"text":"S&P 500","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/indices/sp500/"},{"text":"-2.6%","data":{"m1":"-2.6%","m3":"-2.2%","m6":"+4.2%","ytd":"+10.6%","max":"+35.6%"}}],[{"text":"MSCI World","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/indices/msci-world/"},{"text":"-2.0%","data":{"m1":"-2.0%","m3":"-2.4%","m6":"+3.7%","ytd":"+10.0%","max":"+35.0%"}}],[{"text":"MSCI ACWI","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/indices/msci-acwi/"},{"text":"-3.3%","data":{"m1":"-3.3%","m3":"-3.0%","m6":"+2.3%","ytd":"+10.2%","max":"+41.5%"}}]]},{"type":"heading","level":2,"text":"ETFs"},{"type":"table","caption":"ETFs, performance over the selected period","columns":["Fund","1M"],"rows":[[{"text":"SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY","links":[{"text":"SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/etfs/us/spy/"}]},{"text":"-2.6%","data":{"m1":"-2.6%","m3":"-2.2%","m6":"+4.2%","ytd":"+10.6%","max":"+35.6%"}}],[{"text":"Vanguard S&P 500 ETF VOO","links":[{"text":"Vanguard S&P 500 ETF","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/etfs/us/voo/"}]},{"text":"-2.6%","data":{"m1":"-2.6%","m3":"-2.2%","m6":"+4.2%","ytd":"+10.6%","max":"+34.1%"}}],[{"text":"iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Acc) EUNL","links":[{"text":"iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF USD (Acc)","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/etfs/ishares-core-msci-world-ucits-etf-usd-acc/"}]},{"text":"-2.0%","data":{"m1":"-2.0%","m3":"-2.3%","m6":"+4.3%","ytd":"+10.6%","max":"+487.5%"}}],[{"text":"Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF 1c XMME","links":[{"text":"Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF 1c","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/etfs/xtrackers-msci-emerging-markets-ucits-etf-1c/"}]},{"text":"-9.4%","data":{"m1":"-9.4%","m3":"-4.1%","m6":"-3.3%","ytd":"+14.0%","max":"+93.0%"}}]]},{"type":"heading","level":2,"text":"Stocks"},{"type":"table","caption":"Stocks, performance over the selected period","columns":["Stock","1M"],"rows":[[{"text":"NVIDIA Corporation NVDA","links":[{"text":"NVIDIA Corporation","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/stocks/nvidia-corporation/"},{"text":"United States","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/stocks/browse/?country=United%20States"}]},{"text":"-13.5%","data":{"m1":"-13.5%","m3":"-2.5%","m6":"+5.2%","ytd":"+10.8%","max":"+62.2%"}}],[{"text":"Apple Inc. AAPL","links":[{"text":"Apple Inc.","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/stocks/apple-inc/"},{"text":"United States","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/stocks/browse/?country=United%20States"}]},{"text":"-0.3%","data":{"m1":"-0.3%","m3":"+7.3%","m6":"+16.8%","ytd":"+22.1%","max":"+45.8%"}}],[{"text":"Tesla Inc. TSLA","links":[{"text":"Tesla Inc.","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/stocks/tesla-inc/"},{"text":"United States","href":"https://alysly.com/markets/stocks/browse/?country=United%20States"}]},{"text":"+5.2%","data":{"m1":"+5.2%","m3":"+21.7%","m6":"+2.3%","ytd":"-11.4%","max":"+65.3%"}}]]},{"type":"paragraph","text":"Data note 1","href":"#dn-1"},{"type":"heading","level":2,"text":"More Studies"},{"type":"list","ordered":false,"items":[{"text":"Jul 21, 2026 Collectibles ×5.4 for the same cards, matched-model index, Mar 2022 – Aug 2026 Is the Pokémon Card Market in a Bubble? 4,159 Sales Analyzed Prices for PSA-graded cards multiplied. Measured on the same cards they rose 438%, while the raw median shows 786% because pricier cards came up for sale later.","href":"https://alysly.com/analysis/pokemon-card-market-bubble/"},{"text":"May 19, 2026 Crypto 45.6% Bitcoin’s annualized volatility, Jul 2024 – Sep 2026 Bitcoin in Investment Portfolios: The Real Numbers Bitcoin is calmer than it was and still about three times as volatile as the stock market. It moves with stocks, not with gold.","href":"https://alysly.com/analysis/bitcoin-investment-portfolios/"},{"text":"Mar 17, 2026 Wealth €1.2m needed for €3,000 a month indefinitely at a 3% real return Living Off Your Returns: What It Really Takes The capital you need is arithmetic. The return you assume is a guess, and it can triple the answer.","href":"https://alysly.com/analysis/living-off-returns/"}]},{"type":"paragraph","text":"View all studies","href":"https://alysly.com/analysis/#studies"},{"type":"heading","level":2,"text":"Learn"},{"type":"list","ordered":false,"items":[{"text":"Moving Averages SMA, EMA, crossovers – smoothing and its price: lag.","href":"https://alysly.com/learn/moving-averages/"},{"text":"Oscillators: RSI and Stochastics RSI, stochastics, divergences – and the overbought misconception.","href":"https://alysly.com/learn/oscillators/"}]},{"type":"paragraph","text":"Course overview","href":"https://alysly.com/learn/"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"Updated Nov 1, 2026 · Content and figures checked Oct 19, 2026"},{"type":"heading","level":2,"id":"note-legend-h","text":"Data Notes"},{"type":"paragraph","text":"All calculations run automatically and are not investment advice."},{"type":"list","ordered":true,"items":[{"id":"dn-1","text":"Returns computed automatically from the price series, excluding dividends, taxes and costs."}]},{"type":"paragraph","text":"Data and methodology: Alysly · Responsible for content: Alexander Bock","links":[{"text":"Alysly","href":"https://alysly.com/methodology/"},{"text":"Alexander Bock","href":"https://alysly.com/about/"}]},{"type":"paragraph","text":"View all data notes","href":"https://alysly.com/notes/"}],"structured_data":[{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://alysly.com/#org","name":"Alysly","url":"https://alysly.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://alysly.com/img/icon-512.png","width":512,"height":512},"description":"Data-driven insights, transparent analysis and powerful tools for long-term investors.","email":"mail@alysly.com","contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"customer support","email":"mail@alysly.com","availableLanguage":["de","en"]},"address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","addressLocality":"Haltern am 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Not investment advice. All data without guarantee. Financial information is analyzed and presented partly with AI assistance."}