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  • Table of Contents
    • Overview
      • Why Analyze Securities?
      • Technical Analysis
      • Fundamental Analysis
      • Random Walk vs. Non-Random Walk
      • Asset Allocation and Diversification
      • John Murphy's 10 Laws of Technical Trading
      • John Murphy's "Charting Made Easy" eBook
      • Technical Analysis 101
        • TA 101 – Part 1
        • TA 101 – Part 2
        • TA 101 – Part 3
        • TA 101 – Part 4
        • TA 101 – Part 5
        • TA 101 – Part 6
        • TA 101 – Part 7
        • TA 101 – Part 8
        • TA 101 – Part 9
        • TA 101 – Part 10
        • TA 101 – Part 11
        • TA 101 – Part 12
        • TA 101 – Part 13
        • TA 101 – Part 14
        • TA 101 – Part 15
        • TA 101 – Part 16
        • TA 101 – Part 17
      • Irrational Exuberance
      • Cognitive Biases
      • Arthur Hill on Goals, Style and Strategy
      • Arthur Hill on Moving Average Crossovers
      • Multicollinearity
      • "The Trader's Journal" by Gatis Roze
        • Stage 1: Money Management
        • Stage 2: Business of Investing
        • Stage 3: The Investor Self
        • Stage 4: Market Analysis
        • Stage 5: Routines
        • Stage 6: Stalking Your Trade
        • Stage 7: Buying
        • Stage 8: Monitoring Your Investments
        • Stage 9: Selling
        • Stage 10: Re-Examine, Refine, Re-Enhance
        • Additional Reading
      • Bob Farrell's 10 Rules
      • Richard Rhodes' Trading Rules
      • Donchian Trading Guidelines
      • Why and How To Use Correlation
    • Chart Analysis
      • What Are Charts?
      • Support & Resistance
      • Trend Lines
      • Gaps and Gap Analysis
      • Introduction to Chart Patterns
      • Chart Patterns
        • Broadening Top or Megaphone Top
        • Double Top Reversal
        • Double Bottom Reversal
        • Head and Shoulders Top
        • Head and Shoulders Bottom
        • Falling Wedge
        • Rising Wedge
        • Rounding Bottom
        • Triple Top Reversal
        • Triple Bottom Reversal
        • Bump and Run Reversal
        • Flag, Pennant
        • Symmetrical Triangle
        • Ascending Triangle
        • Descending Triangle
        • Rectangle
        • Price Channel
        • Measured Move—Bullish
        • Measured Move—Bearish
        • Cup With Handle
      • Chart Types
        • Arms CandleVolume
        • CandleVolume
        • Elder Impulse System
        • EquiVolume
        • Heikin-Ashi Candlesticks
        • Kagi Charts
        • Renko Charts
        • Three Line Break Charts
        • MarketCarpets
        • Relative Rotation Graphs (RRG Charts)
        • Seasonality Charts
        • Yield Curve
      • Candlestick Charts
        • Introduction to Candlesticks
        • Candlesticks and Traditional Chart Analysis
        • Candlesticks and Support
        • Candlesticks and Resistance
        • Candlestick Bullish Reversal Patterns
        • Candlestick Bearish Reversal Patterns
        • Candlestick Pattern Dictionary
      • Point and Figure Charts
        • Point and Figure Basics
          • Introduction to Point & Figure Charts
          • Point & Figure Scaling and Timeframes
          • P&F Trend Lines
        • Classic Patterns
          • P&F Bullish Breakouts
          • P&F Bearish Breakdowns
          • P&F Signal Reversed
          • P&F Catapults
          • P&F Triangles
          • P&F Bull & Bear Traps
        • P&F Price Objectives
          • P&F Price Objectives: Breakout and Reversal Method
          • P&F Price Objectives: Horizontal Counts
          • P&F Price Objectives: Vertical Counts
        • Point & Figure Indicators
        • P&F Scans and Alerts
          • P&F Pattern Alerts
      • Chart Annotation Tools
        • Andrews' Pitchfork
        • Stock Market Cycles
        • Fibonacci Retracements
        • Fibonacci Arcs
        • Fibonacci Fans
        • Fibonacci Time Zones
        • Quadrant Lines
        • Raff Regression Channel
        • Speed Resistance Lines
    • Technical Indicators & Overlays
      • Introduction to Technical Indicators and Oscillators
      • Technical Indicators
        • Accumulation/Distribution Line
        • Alligator Indicator
        • Aroon
        • Aroon Oscillator
        • ATR Bands
        • ATR Trailing Stops
        • Average Directional Index (ADX)
        • Average True Range (ATR) and Average True Range Percent (ATRP)
        • Balance of Power (BOP)
        • Bollinger BandWidth
        • %B Indicator
        • Chaikin Money Flow (CMF)
        • Chaikin Oscillator
        • Chande Trend Meter (CTM)
        • CMB Composite Index
        • Commodity Channel Index (CCI)
        • ConnorsRSI
        • Coppock Curve
        • Correlation Coefficient
        • DecisionPoint Price Momentum Oscillator (PMO)
        • Detrended Price Oscillator (DPO)
        • Distance From Highs
        • Distance From Lows
        • Distance To Highs
        • Distance To Lows
        • Distance From Moving Average
        • Ease of Movement (EMV)
        • Force Index
        • Gopalakrishnan Range Index
        • High Low Bands
        • High Minus Low
        • Highest High Value
        • Linear Regression R2
        • Lowest Low Value
        • Mass Index
        • MACD (Moving Average Convergence/Divergence) Oscillator
        • MACD-Histogram
        • MACD-V
        • MACD-V Histogram
        • Median Price
        • Money Flow Index (MFI)
        • Negative Volume Index (NVI)
        • On Balance Volume (OBV)
        • Percentage Price Oscillator (PPO)
        • Percentage Volume Oscillator (PVO)
        • Performance Spread
        • Price Relative/Relative Strength
        • Pring's Know Sure Thing (KST)
        • Pring's Special K
        • Rate of Change (ROC)
        • Relative Strength Index (RSI)
        • Relative Volume (RVOL)
        • RRG Relative Strength
        • StockCharts Technical Rank
        • Slope
        • Standard Deviation (Volatility)
        • Stochastic Oscillator (Fast, Slow, and Full)
        • StochRSI
        • Traffic Light
        • TRIX
        • True Range
        • True Strength Index
        • TTM Squeeze
        • Typical Price
        • Ulcer Index
        • Ultimate Oscillator
        • Vortex Indicator
        • Weighted Close
        • Williams %R
      • Technical Overlays
        • Anchored VWAP
        • Bollinger Bands
        • Chandelier Exit
        • Double Exponential Moving Average (DEMA)
        • Hull Moving Average (HMA)
        • Ichimoku Cloud
        • Kaufman's Adaptive Moving Average (KAMA)
        • Keltner Channels
        • Linear Regression Forecast
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        • Moving Averages—Simple and Exponential
        • Moving Average Ribbon
        • Moving Average Envelopes
        • Parabolic SAR
        • Pivot Points
        • Price Channels
        • Triple Exponential Moving Average (TEMA)
        • Volume-by-Price
        • Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP)
        • ZigZag
    • Market Indicators
      • Introduction to Market Indicators
        • Market Indicator Dictionary
      • Advance-Decline Line
      • Advance-Decline Percent
      • Advance-Decline Volume Line
      • Advance-Decline Volume Percent
      • Arms Index (TRIN)
      • Bullish Percent Index (BPI)
      • DecisionPoint Intermediate-Term Breadth Momentum Oscillator (ITBM)
      • DecisionPoint Intermediate-Term Volume Momentum Oscillator (ITVM)
      • DecisionPoint Swenlin Trading Oscillator (STO)
      • High-Low Index
      • High-Low Percent
      • McClellan Oscillator
      • McClellan Summation Index
      • Net New 52-Week Highs
      • Percent Above Moving Average
      • Pring's Bottom Fisher
      • Pring's Diffusion Indicators
      • Pring's Inflation and Deflation Indexes
      • Pring's Net New High Indicators
      • Put/Call Ratio
      • Record High Percent
      • Volatility Indices
    • Market Analysis
      • Dow Theory
      • Sector Rotation Analysis
      • Intermarket Analysis
      • The DecisionPoint Chart Gallery
      • DecisionPoint Rydex Asset Analysis
      • Wyckoff Analysis Articles
        • Wyckoff Market Analysis
        • Wyckoff Stock Analysis
        • The Wyckoff Method: A Tutorial
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        • Introduction to Elliott Wave Theory
        • Identifying Elliott Wave Patterns
        • Guidelines for Applying Elliott Wave Theory
    • Trading Strategies & Models
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      • Trading Strategies
        • Bollinger Band Squeeze
        • CCI Correction
        • CVR3 VIX Market Timing
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        • Gap Trading Strategies
        • Harmonic Patterns
        • Hindenburg Omen
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        • The 'Last' Stochastic Technique
        • MACD Zero-Line Crosses With Swing Points
        • Moving Average Trading Strategies
          • Finding Support and Resistance in Moving Averages
          • Guppy Multiple Moving Average: An MA Ribbon Designed to Tip the Market’s Hand
          • How To Trade Price-to-Moving Average Crossovers
          • Trading the Bounce: Finding Support and Resistance in Moving Averages
          • Trading the Death Cross
          • Trading Using the Golden Cross
          • Using the 5-8-13 EMA Crossover for Short-Term Trades
        • Moving Momentum
        • Narrow Range Day NR7
        • Percent Above 50-day SMA
        • Percent B Money Flow
        • The Pre-Holiday Effect
        • RSI(2)
        • Six-Month Cycle MACD
        • Slope Performance Trend
        • Stochastic Pop and Drop
        • Swing Charting
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On this page
  • P & F Buy Signal
  • P & F Sell Signal
  • Double Top Breakout
  • Double Bottom Breakdown
  • Triple Top Breakout
  • Triple Bottom Breakdown
  • Quadruple Top Breakout
  • Quadruple Bottom Breakdown
  • Ascending Triple Top Breakout
  • Descending Triple Bottom Breakdown
  • Bullish Catapult Breakout
  • Bearish Catapult Breakdown
  • Bullish Signal Reversed
  • Bearish Signal Reversed
  • Bullish Triangle Breakout
  • Bearish Triangle Breakdown
  • Long Tail Down Reversal
  • Bull Trap
  • Bear Trap
  • Spread Triple Top Breakout
  • Spread Triple Bottom Breakdown
  • High Pole
  • Low Pole

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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Chart Analysis
  3. Point and Figure Charts
  4. P&F Scans and Alerts

P&F Pattern Alerts

PreviousP&F Scans and AlertsNextChart Annotation Tools

Last updated 10 months ago

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Whenever common chart patterns appear on the right side of our Point & Figure charts, we will display an “alert” with the name of that pattern near the top of the chart. Members can also create custom scans that find stocks with these patterns. Here is a list of the various kinds of P&F chart patterns that we currently detect.

P & F Buy Signal

Buy and Sell signals are very simple patterns that should be confirmed before placing a trade. The P&F Buy signal is used when calculating the various Bullish Percent indices.

A buy signal occurs when a column of X's exceeds the previous column of X's. The buy signal remains in effect until a sell signal occurs.

P & F Sell Signal

A sell signal occurs when a column of O's drops beneath the previous column of O's. The sell signal remains in effect until a buy signal occurs.

Double Top Breakout

Double tops and bottoms are the simplest point and figure patterns to identify. In turn, they form the building blocks of all other patterns.

In a double top, prices rise to a certain level and then retreat because the supply outstripped the demand at that price. If prices rise again to the level at which they retraced before, the double top is achieved. If prices continue to carry through that level, a double top breakout is recognized by our alert system. The double top breakout alert implies that the buyers are now creating more demand than there is supply at the level of the double top and we have a breakout.

Double Bottom Breakdown

Double bottoms are similar to double tops, but in reverse. Prices fall to a certain level and then reverse because the demand outstripped the supply at that level. If prices fall again to the level at which they stopped before, it is called a double bottom is achieved. If prices continue to fall through that level, a double bottom breakdown is recognized by our alert system. The double bottom breakdown implies that the buyers who were supporting the price are no longer able to create demand that exceeds the supply, resulting in price breakdown.

Triple Top Breakout

A triple top breakout is similar to a double top breakout, except that the prices break out after retracing from the same level twice. This implies that the price level is a more significant area of resistance (an area where sellers are willing to sell the stock and create supply that outstrips demand) than what is seen on a double top. The breakout above this level implies that the buyers are now creating more demand than there is supply and therefore the prices are breaking out.

Triple Bottom Breakdown

A triple bottom breakdown is similar to a double bottom breakdown, except that the prices break down after retracing from the same level twice. This implies that the price level is a more significant area of support (an area where buyers are willing to buy the stock and create demand that outstrips supply) than what is seen on a double bottom. The breakdown below this level implies that the sellers are now creating more supply than there is demand and therefore the prices are breaking down.

Quadruple Top Breakout

A quadruple top breakout is similar to a triple top breakout, except that prices break out after retracing from the same level three times. The fourth time, demand outstripped supply at the price level, and prices broke out with a quadruple top breakout.

Quadruple Bottom Breakdown

A quadruple bottom breakdown is similar to a triple bottom breakdown, except that prices break down after retracing from the same level three times. The fourth time, the supply outstripped demand at the price level, and prices broke down with a quadruple bottom breakdown.

Ascending Triple Top Breakout

An ascending triple top breakout is a series of three tops, each higher than the previous top. The pattern is formed by two consecutive double top breakouts. The idea is that demand continues to outstrip supply on an ongoing basis.

Descending Triple Bottom Breakdown

A descending triple top breakdown is a series of three bottoms lower than the previous bottom. The pattern is formed by two consecutive double-bottom breakdowns. The idea is that supply continues to outstrip demand on an ongoing basis.

Bullish Catapult Breakout

A triple top breakout followed by a double top breakout is recognized as a bullish catapult breakout. The implication is that there was supply at the triple top level that was keeping prices from going up, but the triple top breakout took some of that supply away. Prices then retraced, allowing more buyers to create demand and power the up move in prices.

Bearish Catapult Breakdown

A triple-bottom breakdown followed by a double-bottom breakdown is recognized as a bearish catapult breakdown. The implication is that there was demand at the triple bottom level that was keeping prices from falling, but the triple bottom breakdown took some of that demand away. Prices then reversed up, allowing more sellers to create supply and power the down move in prices.

Bullish Signal Reversed

This pattern is a series of rising tops and bottoms that finally soaks up all demand; the double bottom breakdown at the end signals that now supply is outstripping demand.

Bearish Signal Reversed

This pattern is a series of falling tops and bottoms that finally soaks up all the supply; the double top breakout at the end signals that now demand is outstripping supply.

Bullish Triangle Breakout

Triangles are formed when both the supply and demand for the stock are drying up. Prices neither rise nor fall, resulting in an equilibrium between buying and selling. This is indicated by rising bottoms and falling tops which combine to form the triangle. In a bullish triangle breakout, this stalemate between buyers and sellers is resolved by a double top breakout.

Bearish Triangle Breakdown

This pattern is identical to a bullish triangle breakout, except that the stalemate between buyers and sellers is instead resolved with a double bottom breakdown.

Long Tail Down Reversal

This pattern is recognized when the prices drop 20 boxes or more. After such a steep decline, the first reversal provides a good trading opportunity, but the steep drop should give the buyer pause.

Bull Trap

A bull trap is a triple top breakout in which only one box is made, followed immediately by a reversal. The breakout is possibly due to buy stops being hit just above the resistance level, and the quick reversal suggests lower prices ahead.

Bear Trap

A bear trap is a triple bottom breakdown in which only one box is made, followed immediately by a reversal. The breakdown is possibly due to stop-loss orders or short orders being hit just below the support level, and the quick reversal suggests higher prices ahead.

Spread Triple Top Breakout

A spread triple top breakout is similar to a triple top breakout; the difference is that the two retracements do not have to precede the current column immediately. This alert implies that the price level is a significant area of resistance (an area where sellers are willing to sell the stock and create supply that outstrips demand). The breakout above this level implies that the buyers are now creating more demand than there is supply and therefore the prices are breaking out.

Spread Triple Bottom Breakdown

A spread triple bottom breakdown is similar to a triple bottom breakdown; the difference is that the difference is that the two retracements do not have to immediately precede the current column. This implies that the price level is a significant area of support (an area where buyers are willing to buy the stock and create demand that outstrips supply). The breakdown below this level implies that the sellers are now creating more supply than there is demand and therefore the prices are breaking down.

High Pole

The high pole warning is given when a chart rises above a previous high by at least 3 boxes, before reversing to give back at least 50 percent of the rise. The reversal implies that the demand that was making the prices rise has given way to supply pressure. The pattern is a warning that lower prices could be seen in the future.

Low Pole

The low pole reversal is seen when a chart falls below a previous low by at least 3 boxes before reversing to rise by at least 50 percent of the fall. The reversal implies that the supply making the prices fall has been absorbed, and demand is taking over. The pattern alerts that higher prices could be seen in the future. The ideal buy point would be on another reversal back down to be closer to the stop-loss point. This would also set up a double top breakout if the prices reverse up and break over the current column's high.

P&F buy signals.
P&F sell signals.
P&F double top breakout.
P&F double bottom breakdown
P&F triple top breakout.
P&F triple bottom breakdown
P&F quadruple top breakout
P&F quadruple bottom breakdown.
Point and figure buy signals
Point and figure sell signals
Point and figure double top breakout
Point and figure double bottom breakdown
Point and figure triple top breakout
Point and figure triple bottom breakdown
Point and figure quadruple top breakout
Point and figure quadruple bottom breakdown