The Bull Flag The first is the bull flag, or pennant. It starts with a sharp move higher (the flagpole), then consolidates for a short period. Once it breaks out of that consolidation, it typically moves higher by the same distance as the flagpole. Here's a chart of Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA). In early July, the stock jumped from about $216 to $285 in a matter of days (the flagpole). It took a breather for a few days, forming the flag, and then continued higher. The flagpole was 69 points high (285 - 216). To figure out a price target, you take the distance of the flagpole and add it to the breakout point. In this case, we'd expect the stock to reach $354 (285 + 69). The day after Tesla broke out, it reached $359. The Head and Shoulders The head and shoulders is another reliable pattern. It is bearish. It features three high points. The second, or the head, is the highest. The third, or the right shoulder, occurs on lower volume. Failure to hit a higher point than the head on lower volume suggests that buying interest is drying up. If you draw a line from the bottom of the left shoulder to the bottom of the right shoulder, that is called the neckline. Once the stock breaks the neckline, it usually slides lower. The flip side of that is called a reverse head and shoulders pattern, and it is bullish. The Reverse Head and Shoulders You can see on the chart below how CrowdStrike Holdings (Nasdaq: CRWD) had a small dip early in the year, a large drop (which was the head) in March and then another small decline in April on lower volume, which suggested the sellers were done. Once it broke the neckline, it went much higher. As I always say, charts aren't a guarantee that you'll make money. But they're an excellent starting point for finding stocks that are likely to go higher, and they help you reduce risk by knowing when to get in and when to wait. It's like having your own list of which stocks are naughty and which are nice... I hope your holiday season is filled with nice charts. Good investing, Marc P.S. Don't miss my latest training and offer, where I'll explain how to use the simplest and most effective chart pattern of all - Power Channels - to score big in 2021. Click here for all the details. |
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