Latest articles
Each article takes one question a trader actually asks and answers it with the pattern drawn to its real proportions, the context it needs before it means anything, and the price that would prove the read wrong. New articles publish several times a week, and every one is checked against the sources it cites.
- pattern roundup November 4, 2026 · 7 min read Japanese candlesticks: where the patterns came from, and what the story gets wrong Japanese candlesticks came from Osaka's rice market and reached the West in 1991. What the history supports, where the Homma legend outruns it. Read the article
- read the chart November 2, 2026 · 7 min read How to draw trend lines that the chart actually supports How to draw trend lines: two points make a line, the third tests it. Anchors, wicks versus closes, log scale, slope, and what a break does and does not mean. Read the article
- honest limits October 30, 2026 · 6 min read False breakouts: why the break you just watched may not be one A false breakout is a move through a level that fails and returns. Why it is only false relative to a rule you set in advance, and what the evidence says. Read the article
- pattern roundup October 28, 2026 · 6 min read Long-legged doji, and the other indecision candles A long-legged doji opens and closes at one price after a wide range. What it and the other indecision candles record, what they need, and what ends the read. Read the article
- chart pattern entity October 26, 2026 · 6 min read Island reversal pattern: two gaps, one stranded cluster of prices An island reversal pattern is a cluster of prices cut off by two gaps at one level. What it requires, what ends the read, and what its measured record says. Read the article
- market specific October 23, 2026 · 7 min read Forex candlestick patterns: what changes when the market only closes on Friday Forex candlestick patterns read the same shapes on a market that trades 24 hours a day, five days a week. Which carry over, which lose their gap, and why. Read the article
- pattern roundup October 21, 2026 · 7 min read Three-candle patterns: what the third candle adds, and the price that ends each one Three candlestick patterns build the confirmation into the shape. The six worth knowing, the context each needs, and the close that invalidates each one. Read the article
- read the chart October 19, 2026 · 7 min read What is volume in stocks? What the bar under the candle is telling you, and what it is not Volume in stocks is the number of shares that changed hands. What that bar under each candle actually measures, what it cannot tell you, and how to read it. Read the article
- chart pattern entity October 16, 2026 · 8 min read Symmetrical triangle pattern: the shape with no built-in direction A symmetrical triangle pattern is lower highs meeting higher lows. What qualifies one, why its direction is not built in, and what confirms or breaks it. Read the article
- chart pattern entity October 14, 2026 · 8 min read Rounding bottom: the slowest reversal on the chart A rounding bottom is a low made with no single decisive session, which is why no candlestick marks it. What confirms it, what breaks it, where it misleads. Read the article
- honest limits October 12, 2026 · 7 min read Does technical analysis work? What the evidence on candlestick patterns actually supports Does technical analysis work? The published candlestick tests, each with market, period and sample named, and why their results genuinely disagree. Read the article
- read the chart October 9, 2026 · 6 min read Higher highs and higher lows: the whole definition of a trend Higher highs and higher lows define an uptrend once you fix what a swing point is: the rule, its timeframe dependence, and the low that ends it. Read the article
- pattern roundup October 7, 2026 · 7 min read Candlestick patterns PDF: the one-page cheat sheet, and how to actually use it A free candlestick pattern PDF: all 18 drawn to proportion with their invalidation levels, plus the order to read it in so the shape comes last. Read the article
- chart pattern entity October 5, 2026 · 9 min read Triple bottom pattern: the rules, and why most of them are not one The triple bottom as rules you can check, the three checks that disqualify most charts given the name, and the close that turns a range into the pattern. Read the article
- market specific October 2, 2026 · 10 min read Candlestick patterns for intraday trading: which ones survive a 5-minute chart A 5-minute candle is a slice of order flow, not a session. Which pattern definitions carry over to intraday charts, and which quietly stop existing. Read the article
- pattern roundup September 30, 2026 · 8 min read Reversal candlestick patterns: the ones that need a trend, and the price that ends each A reversal candlestick pattern is a shape in a location, not a shape. How to tell reversal from continuation from nothing, with the invalidation close for each. Read the article
- read the chart September 28, 2026 · 9 min read Support and resistance: how to draw levels that are actually there Why a level exists, a numbered procedure for drawing one, and a falsifiable test that tells a real support or resistance level from a wished-for one. Read the article
- honest limits September 25, 2026 · 9 min read The confirmation candle: the step everyone skips, and what it costs What a confirmation candle actually tests, why it has to be a close and not a wick, and the honest two-sided cost of waiting for it versus not waiting. Read the article
- chart pattern entity September 23, 2026 · 8 min read Triple top pattern: what it is, what confirms it, and what breaks it The triple top as rules you can check: what counts as one level, why it is only a range until the neckline breaks, and the price that ends the read. Read the article
- pattern roundup September 21, 2026 · 8 min read Bearish candlestick patterns, and the context each one needs The bearish candlestick patterns worth knowing, what must have happened before each one means anything, and the exact close that ends the read. Read the article
- read the chart September 18, 2026 · 8 min read How to read a candlestick: what the body, the wicks and the colour actually record A candle records four prices and discards everything in between. How to read the body, the wicks and the colour without reading more into them than is there. Read the article
- market specific September 16, 2026 · 4 min read Do candlestick patterns work on crypto? The 24/7 problem Crypto never closes, and several classic candlestick patterns quietly depend on a market that does. Which ones still hold up, and which stop existing. Read the article
- pattern roundup September 14, 2026 · 6 min read Bullish candlestick patterns: the seven worth actually knowing The bullish candlestick patterns that earn their place, what each one requires before it means anything, and the exact price that ends the read. Read the article
Start with the guides
The articles assume the basics. If a term above is new, these three pages are where the blog's vocabulary comes from.
- Candlestick patterns All 18 patterns drawn to their real proportions, with the rules and the caveats.
- How to read a stock chart The four prices in a candle, the trend, the levels, and the timeframe question.
- AI chart analysis What an automated chart read contains, and the honest account of where it stops.