Technical Analysis
Indicator catalogue, candlestick patterns, and chart patterns — all in one place. Educational reference only; signals vary by timeframe and market.
Click any indicator name to read the full Investopedia explanation. Bullish/bearish signals shown are typical defaults — actual thresholds depend on timeframe, asset, and strategy.
Momentum
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relative Strength Index (RSI) ↗ | Speed and change of price moves (0–100) | RSI > 50 / cross above 30 | RSI < 50 / cross below 70 |
| Stochastic Oscillator ↗ | Closing price relative to high-low range over N bars | %K crosses %D from below in oversold zone (<20) | %K crosses %D from above in overbought zone (>80) |
| Rate of Change (ROC) ↗ | % price change vs N bars ago | ROC crosses above zero | ROC crosses below zero |
| Commodity Channel Index (CCI) ↗ | Price deviation from typical mean (in std devs) | CCI crosses above −100 | CCI crosses below +100 |
| Williams %R ↗ | Where current close sits in N-bar high-low range (−100 to 0) | Cross above −80 (from oversold) | Cross below −20 (from overbought) |
Trend / Momentum
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| MACD ↗ | Difference between two EMAs (12,26) + signal line (9) | MACD line crosses above signal line | MACD line crosses below signal line |
Volatility
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bollinger Bands (20, 2) ↗ | Price relative to N-period mean ± std dev | Bounce off lower band + reversal candle | Touch upper band + rejection |
| Average True Range (ATR) ↗ | Average bar-to-bar range over N periods | Expanding ATR confirms breakout strength | Contracting ATR = consolidation / indecision |
Trend Strength
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Directional Index (ADX) ↗ | Strength of trend regardless of direction (0–100) | ADX > 25 while +DI > -DI | ADX > 25 while -DI > +DI |
Trend
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supertrend ↗ | Volatility-adjusted trailing band (ATR-based) | Price closes above Supertrend line | Price closes below Supertrend line |
| Exponential Moving Average (EMA) ↗ | Weighted moving average emphasising recent prices | Fast EMA > Slow EMA (e.g. 9 > 21) | Fast EMA < Slow EMA |
| Simple Moving Average (SMA) ↗ | Arithmetic mean of N closing prices | Price > SMA200 / SMA50 > SMA200 (golden cross) | Price < SMA200 / SMA50 < SMA200 (death cross) |
| Parabolic SAR ↗ | Stop-and-reverse trailing dots | Dots flip below price | Dots flip above price |
Volume
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-Balance Volume (OBV) ↗ | Cumulative volume flow (up days add, down days subtract) | Rising OBV with rising price (confirmation) | Falling OBV with rising price (divergence warning) |
| Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) ↗ | Volume-weighted accumulation/distribution over N bars | CMF > 0 (buying pressure) | CMF < 0 (selling pressure) |
Volume / Momentum
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Money Flow Index (MFI) ↗ | Volume-weighted RSI (0–100) | MFI < 20 + reversal candle | MFI > 80 + reversal candle |
Trend / S-R
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ichimoku Cloud ↗ | Multi-line trend, momentum, support/resistance system | Price above cloud; Tenkan > Kijun | Price below cloud; Tenkan < Kijun |
Support / Resistance
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pivot Points ↗ | Daily/weekly pivot, S1–S3, R1–R3 levels | Bounce off S1/S2 with volume | Rejection at R1/R2 with volume |
| Fibonacci Retracement ↗ | Key % retracement levels (38.2, 50, 61.8, 78.6) | Bounce at 61.8% retracement | Rejection at 61.8% retracement |
Volume / S-R
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume Profile / VWAP ↗ | Volume at each price level / volume-weighted average price | Price > VWAP intraday | Price < VWAP intraday |
Volatility / Breakout
| Indicator | What it measures | Bullish signal | Bearish signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donchian Channels ↗ | Highest high / lowest low over N bars | Break above upper channel | Break below lower channel |
Reference: Investopedia — Technical Indicators overview. Educational use only.
Candlestick patterns are based on the TA-Lib library conventions used in the algo trading code. Green = bullish; Red = bearish; Gray = neutral. Each SVG diagram shows the approximate candle shape. Patterns must be interpreted in context of the prior trend and volume.
🕯️ Single-Candle Patterns — 1 candle
▲ Bullish
Hammer
CDLHAMMER
Appears in a downtrend. Small real body near the top of the candle's range, with a lower wick at least 2× the body length. Little or no upper wick. Signals rejection of lower prices.
Key: Long lower wick ≥ 2× body; tiny upper wick
Learn more ↗ ▲ Bullish
Inverted Hammer
CDLINVERTEDHAMMER
Appears in a downtrend. Small real body near the bottom of the range with a long upper wick ≥ 2× the body. Little or no lower wick. Indicates bulls attempted to push prices higher.
Key: Long upper wick ≥ 2× body; tiny lower wick
Learn more ↗ ▲ Bullish
Marubozu (Bullish)
CDLMARUBOZU
A long green candle with little to no upper or lower wicks. Open = Low, Close = High. Indicates strong bullish momentum with buyers in full control throughout the session.
Key: Full body, no wicks — buyers dominated all session
Learn more ↗ ▲ Bullish
Closing Marubozu (Bullish)
CDLCLOSINGMARUBOZU
Green candle that closes at its high (no upper wick), but may have a lower wick showing the open wasn't the low. Bulls pushed prices to the high at close — strong bullish close.
Key: Closes exactly at high — no upper wick
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
Hanging Man
CDLHANGINGMAN
Same shape as a Hammer but appears in an uptrend — bearish reversal signal. Small body near the top, long lower wick. The lower wick shows sellers pushed prices down but bulls recovered, yet the trend may be losing momentum.
Key: Same shape as Hammer but in an uptrend = bearish
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
Shooting Star
CDLSHOOTINGSTAR
Appears in an uptrend. Small real body near the bottom with a long upper wick ≥ 2× the body. Little or no lower wick. Signals that bulls pushed prices up but sellers overwhelmed them, closing near the open.
Key: Long upper wick ≥ 2× body; appears in uptrend
Learn more ↗ 🕯️🕯️ Two-Candle Patterns — 2 candles
▲ Bullish
Bullish Engulfing
CDLENGULFING
A small bearish (red) candle followed by a larger bullish (green) candle whose body completely engulfs the prior candle's body. Signals a reversal from bearish to bullish sentiment.
Key: Green body completely engulfs prior red body
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
Bearish Engulfing
CDLENGULFING
A small bullish (green) candle followed by a larger bearish (red) candle that engulfs the prior body. Signals a reversal from bullish to bearish — sellers have overwhelmed buyers.
Key: Red body completely engulfs prior green body
Learn more ↗ ▲ Bullish
Piercing Line
CDLPIERCING
After a bearish candle, a bullish candle gaps down on open but closes above the midpoint of the prior red candle. Bulls regain control. Stronger the close into the prior body, the stronger the signal.
Key: Green candle closes above 50% of prior red body
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
Dark Cloud Cover
CDLDARKCLOUDCOVER
After a bullish candle, a bearish candle opens above the prior high but closes below the midpoint of the prior green candle's body. Signals bearish reversal — sellers taking control.
Key: Red candle closes below 50% of prior green body
Learn more ↗ ▲ Bullish
Bullish Harami
CDLHARAMI
A large bearish candle followed by a smaller bullish candle whose body is contained within the prior candle's body. 'Harami' means pregnant in Japanese — the small candle is 'inside' the prior. Signals slowing bearish momentum.
Key: Small green body contained within prior large red body
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
Bearish Harami
CDLHARAMI
A large bullish candle followed by a smaller bearish candle contained within the prior body. Signals slowing bullish momentum — potential reversal from uptrend.
Key: Small red body contained within prior large green body
Learn more ↗ ▲ Bullish
Harami Cross (Bullish)
CDLHARAMICROSS
Bullish Harami variant where the second candle is a Doji (open ≈ close). The Doji inside the prior bearish body signals extreme indecision — stronger reversal signal than a standard Harami.
Key: Doji contained inside prior large red candle body
Learn more ↗ 🕯️🕯️🕯️ Three+ Candle Patterns — 3 to 5 candles
▲ Bullish
· 3 candles
Morning Star
CDLMORNINGSTAR
Three-candle bullish reversal: (1) large bearish candle, (2) small-bodied candle that gaps down (the star), (3) large bullish candle closing above the midpoint of the first candle. Signals trend reversal from down to up.
Key: Red → small gap-down star → large green closing into red body
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
· 3 candles
Evening Star
CDLEVENINGSTAR
Three-candle bearish reversal: (1) large bullish candle, (2) small-bodied candle that gaps up (the star), (3) large bearish candle closing below the midpoint of the first candle.
Key: Green → small gap-up star → large red closing into green body
Learn more ↗ ▲ Bullish
· 3 candles
Morning Doji Star
CDLMORNINGDOJISTAR
Stronger version of the Morning Star where the second candle is a Doji, indicating extreme indecision at the bottom. Third candle must be a strong green that recovers above C1's midpoint.
Key: Red → Doji (gap down) → strong green — high-conviction reversal
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
· 3 candles
Evening Doji Star
CDLEVENINGDOJISTAR
Stronger version of the Evening Star where the second candle is a Doji. Signals extreme indecision at the top before a bearish reversal. Third candle closes well into the first candle's body.
Key: Green → Doji (gap up) → strong red — high-conviction reversal
Learn more ↗ ▲ Bullish
· 3 candles
Three White Soldiers
CDL3WHITESOLDIERS
Three consecutive long bullish candles, each opening within the prior body and closing progressively higher, with little upper wick. Signals strong, sustained buying pressure and a decisive trend reversal.
Key: 3 successive green candles, each closing higher — sustained momentum
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
· 3 candles
Three Black Crows
CDL3BLACKCROWS
Three consecutive long bearish candles, each opening within the prior body and closing progressively lower with little lower wick. Signals strong sustained selling and a decisive bearish reversal.
Key: 3 successive red candles, each closing lower — sustained selling
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
· 3 candles
Identical Three Crows
CDLIDENTICAL3CROWS
Similar to Three Black Crows but each candle opens at approximately the previous close (tiny gap down), creating nearly identical open prices. An even stronger bearish continuation signal.
Key: Like 3 Black Crows but each opens near prior candle's close
Learn more ↗ ▼ Bearish
· 5 candles
Rise/Fall Three Methods
CDLRISEFALL3METHODS
A five-candle continuation pattern: (1) long candle in trend direction, (2–4) three small counter-trend candles that stay within the first candle's range, (5) large candle resuming the trend. Confirms trend continuation.
Key: Large candle → 3 small retracement candles → large candle same direction
Learn more ↗ ◆ Neutral
· 3 candles
X-Side Gap Three Methods
CDLXSIDEGAP3METHODS
Three-candle gap-filling pattern. Two candles in the same direction with a gap between them, then a third candle of the opposite color that closes the gap. Signals continuation after the gap is filled.
Key: Two trend candles with gap; third candle fills the gap
Learn more ↗ ⚠️ Candlestick patterns are probabilistic signals, not guarantees. Always confirm with volume, trend context, and other indicators before acting. SVG diagrams are illustrative approximations. Click "Learn more" for detailed images and explanations.
Chart patterns form over multiple bars and represent structural price action setups. SVG diagrams show the approximate price shape. Click "Learn more" for detailed examples. Pattern validity improves with higher timeframes and volume confirmation on breakout.
▼ Bearish
Double Top
Price rallies to a resistance level, pulls back, then rallies again to the same resistance — but fails to break through. The two peaks are at roughly the same price. A break below the neckline (the pullback low) confirms the pattern.
📍 Two peaks at same resistance → neckline break = entry
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▲ Bullish
Double Bottom
Price declines to a support level, bounces, declines again to the same support — then bounces again. Two troughs at roughly the same price. A break above the neckline (the bounce high) confirms the bullish reversal.
📍 Two troughs at same support → neckline break = entry
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▲ Bullish
Cup and Handle
Price forms a U-shaped 'cup' over weeks to months as it declines then recovers to the prior high. A small pullback/consolidation ('handle') forms just below resistance. A breakout above the handle on volume confirms the pattern.
📍 U-shaped base → small handle consolidation → breakout
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▼ Bearish
Head and Shoulders
Three peaks with the middle peak (head) higher than the two outer peaks (shoulders). A neckline connects the two troughs. Breaking below the neckline signals a bearish trend reversal. Target = neckline − head height.
📍 Left shoulder → higher head → right shoulder → neckline break
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▲ Bullish
Inverse Head & Shoulders
Three troughs with the middle trough (head) lower than the two outer troughs (shoulders). Breaking above the neckline confirms a bullish reversal. Target = neckline + head depth.
📍 Left shoulder → lower head → right shoulder → neckline break
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▲ Bullish
Ascending Triangle
A flat resistance line (sellers repeatedly defend the same price) combined with a rising support line (buyers making higher lows). Price coils toward the apex. A breakout above resistance on volume is typically bullish.
📍 Flat top resistance + rising lows → upside breakout
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▼ Bearish
Descending Triangle
A flat support line (buyers defend the same price) combined with declining resistance (sellers making lower highs). A breakdown below support on volume is typically bearish.
📍 Flat bottom support + declining highs → downside breakdown
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ◆ Neutral / Continuation
Symmetrical Triangle
Both support (higher lows) and resistance (lower highs) converge toward the apex. The breakout direction often follows the prior trend. Considered a continuation pattern — watch the breakout direction for the trade.
📍 Converging trendlines → breakout in prior trend direction
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▲ Bullish
Bull Flag
After a sharp upward move (the flagpole), price consolidates in a slight downward channel (the flag). A breakout above the upper channel line resumes the uptrend. Target = flagpole length added to breakout point.
📍 Sharp uptrend → brief downward channel → upside breakout
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▼ Bearish
Bear Flag
After a sharp downward move (flagpole), price consolidates in a slight upward channel (the flag). A breakdown below the lower channel line resumes the downtrend.
📍 Sharp downtrend → brief upward channel → downside breakdown
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ◆ Neutral / Continuation
Pennant
Similar to a flag but the consolidation forms a small symmetrical triangle (converging trendlines) rather than a channel. Follows a sharp price move (the pole). The breakout typically continues in the prior trend direction.
📍 Sharp move → converging consolidation → continuation breakout
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▼ Bearish
Rising Wedge
Both support and resistance slope upward but converge — the range narrows as price rises. Despite the rising price, momentum weakens. A breakdown below support (often on increased volume) is bearish.
📍 Converging rising trendlines → bearish breakdown
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ▲ Bullish
Falling Wedge
Both support and resistance slope downward and converge — range narrows as price falls. Momentum weakens on the downside. A breakout above resistance is bullish and often sharp.
📍 Converging falling trendlines → bullish breakout
Learn more on Investopedia ↗ ⚠️ Chart patterns are best used alongside volume analysis and indicator confluence. False breakouts are common — always use a stop loss. For educational purposes only.