As of 10/07/2024
  Indus: 41,954 -398.51 -0.9%  
  Trans: 15,783 -31.37 -0.2%  
  Utils: 1,027 -24.05 -2.3%  
  Nasdaq: 17,924 -213.95 -1.2%  
  S&P 500: 5,696 -55.13 -1.0%  
YTD
 +11.3%  
-0.7%  
 +16.5%  
 +19.4%  
 +19.4%  
  Targets    Overview: 09/30/2024  
  Up arrow43,500 or 41,600 by 10/15/2024
  Up arrow16,800 or 15,700 by 10/15/2024
  Up arrow1,125 or 1,025 by 10/15/2024
  Up arrow19,000 or 17,600 by 10/15/2024
  Up arrow5,900 or 5,600 by 10/15/2024
As of 10/07/2024
  Indus: 41,954 -398.51 -0.9%  
  Trans: 15,783 -31.37 -0.2%  
  Utils: 1,027 -24.05 -2.3%  
  Nasdaq: 17,924 -213.95 -1.2%  
  S&P 500: 5,696 -55.13 -1.0%  
YTD
 +11.3%  
-0.7%  
 +16.5%  
 +19.4%  
 +19.4%  
  Targets    Overview: 09/30/2024  
  Up arrow43,500 or 41,600 by 10/15/2024
  Up arrow16,800 or 15,700 by 10/15/2024
  Up arrow1,125 or 1,025 by 10/15/2024
  Up arrow19,000 or 17,600 by 10/15/2024
  Up arrow5,900 or 5,600 by 10/15/2024

Bulkowski on Time and Chart Pattern Width

Time vs Pattern Width: Summary, Methodology, and Results

This page examines the relationship between time to the ultimate high or low and pattern width.

$ $ $

My book, Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns Second EditionEncyclopedia of Chart Patterns 2nd Edition book., shown on the left, has statistics about pattern size for each of the chart patterns in the book.

If you click on the above link and then buy the book (or anything) while at Amazon.com, the referral will help support this site. Thanks.

-- Tom Bulkowski

$ $ $

I used 40 different chart patterns (such as a falling wedge, double bottom, and so on) and over a thousand stocks, starting from July 1991 to June 2008. I logged the pattern width and the time it took to reach the ultimate high or low. The ultimate high or low is the highest high or lowest low, respectively, before price changes trend by at least 20%. As an example for the ultimate high, that means a decline of at least 20%. I uncovered 23,342 chart patterns that qualified. I used them all and wish I hadn't. The spreadsheet was about 25 megabytes in size and when you changed one variable, it took between 20 and 40 minutes to recalculate it.

Time vs Pattern Width: Downward Breakouts

Frequency distribution of ratio between time to ultimate low vs pattern width

The chart shows a frequency distribution of the ratio of the time from the end of the pattern to the ultimate low divided by the pattern width. Values above 1 mean it takes longer to reach the ultimate low than the pattern is wide. I show 1.00 circled in red. The bar is off the chart because 55% of the patterns take less than the pattern's width to reach the ultimate low.

The two red bars include the Fibonacci values of 38% and 62% (the first column includes all ratios up to 1. The next column includes the ratios from over 1 up to and including 1.05. Thus the 38% and 62% values will appear in the 1.40 and 1.65 columns). The right-most column is a catch-all because it includes all ratios over 2.40.

I do not see anything significant here at all. I had hoped to see peaks at the Fibonacci extension levels, but they are not there.

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Time vs Pattern Width: Upward Breakouts

Frequency distribution of ratio between time to ultimate high vs pattern width

What about upward breakouts? A similar chart appears and I show that directly above. I used the same method as before only I compared the time to the ultimate high versus the pattern width. The red bars include the Fibonacci values of 38% and 62%, just as before. This time, however, fewer patterns flame out before exceeding the pattern width. Just 39% fall into the first category (every ratio up to 1.00). That means 61% of the patterns take longer to reach the ultimate high than the pattern's width.

-- Thomas Bulkowski

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See Also

 

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Hi ocifer. I'm not under the affluence of incohol.Smiley