A bull is an investor who invests in a security expecting the price will rise. Discover what bullish investors look for in stocks and other assets. Technical traders using this indicator should place a stop buy order slightly above the upper trendline of the handle part of the pattern. The Cup and Handle pattern is where the price initially declines, then levels off and begins to rise again, thus resembling a cup with a handle.

Firstly we want the stock to have attained a strong relative strength when compared to all other stocks, so we require an RS of 70 on a scale from 1-99. We also want the pivot to be approaching the left cup level, so we require the pivot price to be at least 60% of the left cup. Thirdly, there must have been sufficient time for a shakeout of holders during stage 2, and sufficient time for institutions to notice and take an interest in the stock during stage 3.

• The beginning of the formation will be the left side of the cup.
• Cup handle To the right of the cup there should be a handle.
• Therefore, arriving at an accurate volume figure is extremely difficult.
• The one thing to point out is that on the breakout, the stock used a lot of gas just to work its way through the cloud.
• Next, it’s necessary to compare the two values that are obtained.
• If the pattern is bullish, the signal should be a bullish breakout through the handle.

There is the bullish Cup with Handle and the bearish Inverted Cup with Handle. This article considers why a cup with handle forms, the desirable features of the pattern and how we select them. We will also look at an example of one of the best performing cup-with-handle formations recently. When you are day trading cup and handle patterns, you must realize that not all handles are created equally. The funny thing about the formation is that while the handle is the smallest portion of the pattern, it is actually the most important.

The breakout should occur on high trading volume and continue above the trendline drawn from the left to the right side of the cup to provide confirmation. The pattern forms during as a result of consolidation a bullish movement and indicates a continuation of that bullish trend after its completion. The image above displays the standard cup and handle pattern. To trade this formation correctly, a trader should place a stop by order slightly above the upper trendline that makes up the handle. This way, the buy order will only execute if the price breaks above the upper resistance level.

On the rally portion of the cup, you want to see increasing volume. Then, during the formation of the handle, trading volume will ideally shrink as both buyers and sellers are shaken out. If the trend is up, and the cup and handle forms in the middle of that trend, the buy signal has the added benefit of the overall trend. In this case, look for a strong trend heading into the cup and handle. For additional confirmation, look for the bottom of the cup to align with a longer-term support level, such as a rising ​trendline or moving average. A stop-loss order gets a trader out of a trade if the price drops, instead of rallying, after buying a breakout from the cup and handle formation.

How To Trade When You See The Cup And Handle Pattern

They are thankful that prices have rebounded back to the old high, but nervous about another selloff. Hence, selling the asset gradually, creating the handle (#4). A cup and handle pattern occurs when the underlying asset forms a chart that resembles a cup in the shape of a U, and a handle represented by a slight downward trend after the cup. Above is an example of two cup and handles that formed in the Big Tech share basket on our Next Generation trading platform.

The shape is formed when there’s a price wave down, which is then followed by a stabilization period, followed again by a rally of approximately the same size as the prior trend. This price action is what forms the identifying cup and handle shape. This includes drawing trendlines for the handles to highlight the breakout points, notes to mark important areas, or arrows to highlight potential entry and exit points.

A diamond top formation is a technical analysis pattern that often occurs at, or near, market tops and can signal a reversal of an uptrend. The cup is in the shape of a “U” cup and handle pattern and the handle can be sideways or even have a slight downward drift that occurs near the “lip” of the cup. The Cup and Handle pattern is often considered a bullish signal.

The Head And Shoulders Pattern: How To Trade Tops And Bottoms

The price rejects forming a double top as a bull flag reversion forms the handle. When the bull flag triggers spiking the price through the lip, the cup and handle pattern is triggered the trend resumes the next leg higher with new highs. Usually cup and handles are considered bullish patterns.

Rather than trying to define what a cup and handle pattern is in words, it’s best to use a picture to illustrate the pattern. Traders take a long position once the top of the cup breaks and holds. As with any pattern, it’s important to capture the essence of the pattern more so than the particulars. The cup and handle may not capture the particulars but the essence. That could be a problem if you’retrading options for a living.

This is no easy feat to accomplish but is there a way to get into a small company before it becomes a household name? One just has to notice the cup and handle base and a… Feature Discussion Rounded turn Look for a smooth, rounded curve , but allow exceptions. Cup rims The two cup rims should reach the bottom at close to the same price.

Learn To Trade Stocks, Futures, And Etfs Risk

We hope that this candlestick pattern will take a worthy place in your toolkit for trading. Cup and handle pattern’s advantage is a high probability of its working out, naturally, if all criteria of the truth of the pattern formation are observed. Pattern’s disadvantage is that an ideal pattern can be met rarely in Forex due to the large number of indicators necessary for its validation.

The cup has a soft U-shape, retraces the prior move for about ⅓ and looks like a bowl. After forming the cup, price pulls Financial leverage back to about ⅓ of the cups advance, forming the handle. The handle is a relatively short period of consolidation.

Once prices penetrate the low of the right lip of the cup, then a sell signal is triggered and in the chart above prices fall thereafter. The inverted cup and handle is the opposite version of bullish cup and handle. The formation starts with at the lows as price recovers to form a rounding top like an upside U shape Credit default swap before selling off to form a bear flag. The longer it lasts, the stronger the trend continuation is. It only actually materializes once the price breaks through the resistance level of the handle. The most important condition for the formation of the trend continuation pattern is the bullish trend presence.

As the price on the right side approaches the left cup level, the last holders will finally decide to cut their losses and there will be a large volume sell-off. This is the point at which the pivot forms, and marks the end of the recovery stage. When you are looking at this type of formation, the bottom of the cup could form as quickly as seven weeks and can take as long as 65 weeks.

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Inverse Cup And Handle Sell Signal

The full pattern is complete when price breaks out of this consolidation in the direction of the cups advance. First is the cup, which is a rounded bottom extending over time. As the shape of the cup is completed, expect the handle to emerge. As the handle declines and concludes, price reverses, moving again to the upside and setting up as a breakout from previous resistance. Cup and handle patterns form as the result of consolidation after an uptrending stock tests its previous highs.

At this point, price fails to break resistance and retraces down the side of the cup, thus forming the handle. Watch our video on how to identify and trade cup and handle patterns. The second example is another classic cup and handle pattern that develops over three to four months, with the handle forming over approximately two weeks. The cup retraces slightly more than half the preceding movement, which is relatively mature prior to the cup and handle pattern’s formation. The right side of the handle rises higher than the left and the pattern slightly overestimates the extent of the bullish continuation after the breakout.

As a result, once this post-recovery trading has finished an investor can expect the stock to resume its previous growth. This is useful when trading both the cup and handle and the inverted cup and handle, because you can speculate on upward or downward price movements. Knowing how to read and interpret charts is one of the most important aspects of trading.

Trading Cup And Handle Patterns

The second time it is a lack of sellers that propels the stock upwards, as seats on the bull bus get more expensive because no one wants to give them up at that point in time. The cup and handle chart pattern does have a few limitations. Firstly, it does not occur within a specific timeframe. Sometimes it forms within a few days, but it can take up to a year for the pattern to fully form.

The risk and stop loss on the trade will be set at the low of the handle. This way, if the breakout fails and falls back below the handle’s low, then you can close out the trade at a small loss and move on to the next opportunity. Both sets of buyers exit the market; as a result of this entrapment, these buyers are nervous and slowly sell out, creating the handle of the pattern. This is used in conjunction with the Stocks Over Coffee Podcast on Technical Education Cup with Handles. Apple is the largest company in the world with a market cap of 2 trillion.

Plan Your Trading

If you trade a bearish Cup with Handle your stop loss order should be placed above the upper level of the handle. The Cup with Handle formation has a very specific signal. When we get this indication, we can buy or sell the Forex pair depending on the potential of the pattern. As we said, the classic cup and handle pattern has its bearish equivalent – the bearish Cup & Handle, which is a mirror image of the standard Cup & Handle.

He has reported from more than a dozen countries, with datelines that include Sao Paolo, Brazil; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and Athens, Greece. A former attorney, before becoming a journalist Eric worked in securities litigation and white collar criminal defense with a pro bono specialty in human trafficking issues. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and can be found any given Saturday in the fall cheering on his Wolverines.

When To Buy The Best Growth Stocks: How To Analyze A Stock’s Cup With Handle

The intraday pattern operates similarly but concludes more quickly. In the Bitcoin example above, we are using a 4-hour chart. All of the necessary ingredients are present, including the volume spikes. During the retracement portion, you want to see increasing down in volume.

The Cup and Handle pattern target maximizes the potential profit and it gives us the chance to capture the entire trend. The strength and the longevity of the prevailing trend is important as it will determine the success of the trade. How deep the rounded bottom goes will also influence our potential profit. Now, let’s see how you can effectively trade with the Cup and Handle trading strategy and how to make some profits. The handle portion is a retracement downwards from the right side of the cup.

Author: Tammy Da Costa