Double top pattern
A double top is two peaks at about the same height after a rise. See the exact rules, the triple top, what it gets mixed up with, and tap the second top.
A double top is two peaks at about the same height, with a sharp dip between them. It shapes an "M", and the dip's low is the neckline (on this site: two swing highs within 1.5% of each other, at least 5 candles apart, a dip of at least 3% between them, and no third peak at that level).
Practice: tap the second top
How to identify it (the exact rules)
These are the rules this site uses to build and grade every chart. Traders do not all use the same numbers; ours are published so you can check every answer (see the methodology).
- Swing high: a candle whose high is above the highs of the 3 candles before it and not below the highs of the 3 after it, so a tie counts once, at the first candle (swing low: the mirror).
- Double top or bottom: two peaks within 1.5% of each other, at least 5 candles apart, with a 3% trough between.
- A double top's trough is sharp: at most 4 candles in its bottom quarter.
- Exactly two tops: a third top at the same level makes a flat top (a range or a triangle), not a double top.
- Price came up from below the trough in the 8 candles before the first top.
What it shows
Buyers carry price up to a high, and sellers push it back. Price dips, then buyers try again. The second attempt reaches about the same level and stalls there too. Two failures at the same height suggest a ceiling: there is enough supply around that price to stop the advance, at least for now.
The low of the dip between the peaks is the line that matters. While price stays above it, the shape is only two peaks. Most chart readers wait for a close below it before treating the pattern as complete. In the chart above, you tapped the second top: the peak that formed after the dip and stalled at the first one's level.
The parts of a double top
| Part | What it is | Rule on this site |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | The rise into the first top | In the 8 candles before it, price traded below the dip's low |
| First top | A swing high | Higher than the 3 candles on each side |
| Dip | The pullback between the tops | At least 3% deep, and sharp: at most 4 candles in its bottom quarter |
| Second top | The next swing high, 5 or more candles later | Within 1.5% of the first top |
| Neckline | The low of the dip | The level traders watch for a close below |
Triple top
A triple top adds a third attempt at the same ceiling: three peaks at about the same height, with two dips between them. It tells the same story with one more failure. On this site, a third peak at the same level means the shape is not a double top. Three equal highs make a flat ceiling, which the site reads as a range or the top line of a triangle. A separate triple top exercise is not built yet.
Most often confused with: head and shoulders
Count the peaks and compare their heights. A double top has two peaks at the same level. A head and shoulders has three, and the middle one sticks up clearly above the other two. Three equal peaks are a triple top, not a head and shoulders. A second confusion is with an ordinary pause in a rise. Two highs at the same height happen all the time in an uptrend. The sharp dip rule exists for a reason: a slow, rounded dip between two equal highs looks more like a cup than an M.
What it does not tell you
A double top does not tell you that the high is in for good. Until a candle closes below the dip's low, nothing has reversed; the market has paused twice at one price. Even after such a close, the pattern does not say how far price will drop. The measured move convention takes the height from the tops to the neckline and projects it below the neckline. That is a reference drawn on the chart, not a forecast. Nor does the pattern explain why sellers appeared at that price: news, profit taking and broad market moves all look the same on a chart.
How reliable is it?
Lo, Mamaysky and Wang (2000) included double tops in their automated, kernel-regression study of US stocks from 1962 to 1996. Across the patterns they tested, they reported that several carried some incremental information about later returns. They did not show that trading double tops is profitable, and we do not quote any success rate for it. Percentages found online usually come from charts chosen after the fact.
Where the idea is proven wrong
The pattern's logic is that the old high is a ceiling. If price rises clearly above the higher of the two tops, the ceiling gave way, and the M becomes one more step in a climb. If price keeps holding above the dip's low for a long time, the shape is not reversing either; two peaks with no break are a range. Both cases leave the double top as a story that did not play out.
Volume
Some descriptions note lighter volume on the second peak than on the first. The exercise does not use volume: the second top is found from the highs alone.
Frequently asked questions
Is a double top bearish?
It is read as bearish because it shows buyers failing twice at the same price after a rise. Most chart readers treat it as complete only once a candle closes below the low between the two peaks. Before that close, two equal highs are just two equal highs, and price can still break above them.
How far apart should the two tops be?
On this site, at least 5 candles apart, with a dip of at least 3% between them. Two highs side by side, with barely any pullback, are not two separate attempts. The gap and the dip are what make the second peak a real retest of the first.
What is the difference between a double top and a triple top?
A double top has two peaks at about the same height; a triple top has three. Both come after a rise and both are usually treated as complete on a close below the support between the peaks. On this site, a third equal peak means the shape is no longer graded as a double top. Neither tells you how far price will fall.
Do the two peaks have to be exactly the same height?
No. They rarely are. This site accepts peaks within 1.5% of each other. If the second peak is clearly higher, the first ceiling did not hold. If it is clearly lower, the shape may be part of a different pattern, such as a series of lower highs.