An ascending triangle has a flat upper boundary and a rising lower one: price tests the same resistance repeatedly while the pullbacks between tests get shallower. The compression resolves when the flat level breaks, most often upward.
- 1Rising lows compressing into resistance
- 2Break of the flat level
No instance passed the hard criteria in the last 7 days. This one is 12 days old and is dated as such rather than re-presented as current.
Run this ascending triangle pattern read yourselfWhat the engine actually checks
“Looks like one” is not a rule. Detection requires every hard criterion and scores the confluences — fail a hard criterion and it is not this setup, it is a hope with a nickname.
Hard criteria — all required
- ▪At least two touches of a flat upper boundary within a 1% band.
- ▪At least two rising lows forming an ascending lower boundary.
- ▪Contracting range across the formation.
Confluences — weighted, not required
- ▫Prior uptrend into the formation — this is usually a continuation, not a base.
- ▫Volume declining through the compression and expanding on the break.
- ▫Break before the final third of the triangle.
Trading it
- 1Where you are wrongA close below the most recent higher low. The ascending lower boundary is the pattern; the moment price closes beneath the last of those rising lows, the compression has resolved downward and the thesis is done regardless of how the flat level looked.
- 2EntryThe break of the flat resistance. Because that level is obvious to everyone watching, the first break frequently overshoots and pulls back — the retest variant trades worse prices for a cleaner invalidation, and the scoreboard is where that choice gets decided.
- 3ObjectiveProject the height of the triangle at its widest from the breakout. Ascending triangles inside strong trends often exceed this target; ones forming after extended runs frequently do not reach it, which is what the extension confluence is scoring.
Worked example — real numbers
triangle height 11.50 projected from the break at 226.50. A valid formation offering under about 1.5R is still a valid formation and still not worth taking — valid and worth it are different questions.
Size this trade against your account →The scoreboard
Resolution by grade, market and timeframe — because a single blended number would let strong contexts carry weak ones, which is how every invented “success rate” in this category is constructed.
| Grade | Market | Timeframe | Resolution | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Equities | 4H | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| A | Equities | 1D | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| A | Crypto | 4H | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| A | Crypto | 1D | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| A | Indices | 4H | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| A | Indices | 1D | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| B | Equities | 4H | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| B | Equities | 1D | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| B | Crypto | 4H | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| B | Crypto | 1D | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| B | Indices | 4H | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| B | Indices | 1D | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| C | Equities | 4H | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| C | Equities | 1D | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| C | Crypto | 4H | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| C | Crypto | 1D | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| C | Indices | 4H | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
| C | Indices | 1D | collecting | no resolved sample yet |
Where this traps people
Drop your chart and the engine checks it against the same hard criteria listed above — the ones it uses on every scan. First read is free and needs no account.
Questions traders actually ask
- Is an ascending triangle always bullish?
- It resolves upward more often than down, but it is a compression rather than a promise. A close below the most recent rising low resolves it bearishly, and that outcome is common enough that the stop belongs there rather than at the flat level.
- How many touches does the pattern need?
- At least two on each boundary. Two touches define a line; one is a point. More touches of the flat level are not stronger — repeated tests without a break signal absorption failing rather than pressure building.
- What is the difference from a symmetrical triangle?
- A symmetrical triangle has both boundaries converging toward each other, so it carries no directional bias. An ascending triangle has flat resistance and rising support, which is what supplies the upward lean.
- When should you enter an ascending triangle?
- On the break of the flat resistance, or on the retest of that level from above. Entering inside the triangle on a bounce off the rising boundary is a different trade with a worse expectancy and a stop that has not been established.
- Does the pattern work on intraday charts?
- Yes, and it forms constantly there — which is the problem. On a 5-minute chart nearly any consolidation can be drawn as one, so the minimum touch counts and the contraction requirement do most of the filtering work.
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