Triangle chart pattern: ascending, descending and symmetrical
A triangle chart pattern is price squeezed between two converging lines. Learn how to tell ascending, descending and symmetrical triangles apart, then name two.
A triangle chart pattern forms when price swings between two lines that move toward each other. The flat line names the type: ascending (flat top, rising lows), descending (falling highs, flat bottom) or symmetrical (both slope inward) (on this site: the gap narrows to 75% of its starting width or less; "flat" means moving under 1%).
Practice on two charts
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).
- The upper line runs through the first and the last swing high of the pattern, the lower line through the first and the last swing low.
- Every swing point of a triangle, wedge or channel is within 1.2% of its line.
- Triangle and wedge lines count as flat when they move less than 1% across the pattern.
- Triangles and wedges narrow to at most 75% of their starting width.
- Ascending triangle: flat top, rising bottom. Descending: falling top, flat bottom. Symmetrical: falling top, rising bottom.
- Rising wedge: both lines rise. Falling wedge: both lines fall. Lines that stay parallel instead make a channel.
What it shows
A triangle is a squeeze. Price keeps swinging up and down, but each swing covers less ground than the one before. Buyers and sellers are both active, yet neither side is pushing the other out of the way. The shape of the squeeze tells you which side is giving up ground and which side is holding still.
In the two charts above, you named each triangle. The trick is to ignore the middle of the pattern and look only at its edges. This site draws the upper line from the first swing high to the last one, and the lower line from the first swing low to the last one. Every swing point in between must sit within 1.2% of its line.
The three types at a glance
| Type | Upper line | Lower line | The story |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ascending | Flat | Rising | Sellers hold one price; buyers step in higher each time |
| Descending | Falling | Flat | Buyers hold one price; sellers step in lower each time |
| Symmetrical | Falling | Rising | Both sides give ground at about the same pace |
Ascending triangle
The highs keep stopping at the same price, which forms a flat ceiling. The lows keep rising, so each dip is bought sooner than the last. Supply sits at one level, and demand is getting more eager underneath it. The classic reading is a break upward, through the ceiling, but that is the pattern's tendency in textbooks, not a rule price follows.
Descending triangle
The reverse: a flat floor where buyers keep showing up at the same price, and a falling ceiling as sellers accept lower prices on each rally. Demand is fixed and supply is getting more insistent. Textbooks read it as leaning downward, toward a break of the floor.
Symmetrical triangle
Both lines slope toward each other at similar angles: lower highs and higher lows. Neither side has an obvious edge. Many guides treat it as a pause in whatever trend came before it, but the shape itself carries no direction. Traders usually wait for the first close outside the lines to see which way it resolved.
Most often confused with: the wedge
A wedge also has two converging lines, but both slope the same way: both up, or both down. In a triangle, either one line is flat, or the two lines slope in opposite directions. Measure each line on its own. If both move more than 1% in the same direction, it is a wedge. Two other shapes get mixed in. A rectangle has two flat lines that do not converge, and a channel has two sloped lines that stay parallel (on this site, a width between 80% and 125% of where it started). A pennant is a tiny symmetrical triangle that comes right after a sharp move, the way a bull flag does.
What it does not tell you
A triangle does not tell you when price will break out, and for the symmetrical type it does not even hint at the direction. Many triangles end with price drifting out of the apex with no clear break at all. The measured move convention takes the height of the triangle at its widest point and projects it from the breakout. It is a reference drawing, not a forecast.
How reliable is it?
Lo, Mamaysky and Wang (2000) included triangle tops and bottoms among the patterns they detected with kernel regression on US stocks from 1962 to 1996. They reported that several of the patterns carried some incremental information about returns. That is not evidence that trading triangles is profitable, and their definitions differ from the ascending, descending and symmetrical split used here. We have no reliable success rate for any of the three types.
Where the idea is proven wrong
Each type carries its own idea, and each idea has a clear point where it stops making sense. An ascending triangle is about rising lows: a close below the rising line says buyers stopped stepping in higher. A descending triangle is about falling highs: a close above the falling line says sellers stopped leaning lower. A symmetrical triangle has no lean to disprove; traders usually wait for the first close outside either line to see how the squeeze ended. And if a swing point sits more than 1.2% away from its line, the site does not call the shape a triangle at all, because the lines are not doing their job.
Volume
Textbook descriptions say volume tends to dry up as the triangle narrows. The practice charts here do not include volume yet, so you classify each triangle from its two lines.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an ascending and a descending triangle?
Look at which line is flat. An ascending triangle has a flat top and a rising bottom: highs stop at one price while lows climb. A descending triangle has a falling top and a flat bottom: lows stop at one price while highs fall. On this site, a line counts as flat if it moves less than 1% over the pattern.
Is a symmetrical triangle bullish or bearish?
Neither on its own. Both lines slope toward each other at similar angles, so the shape shows balance rather than a lean. Many guides read it as a pause in the trend that came before it, but only a close outside one of the lines shows how the squeeze resolved.
How many touches does a triangle need?
This site needs at least two swing highs and two swing lows. The upper line runs from the first swing high to the last, the lower line from the first swing low to the last, and every swing point in between must sit within 1.2% of its line. More touches make the lines easier to trust, but two on each side is the minimum.
How is a triangle different from a wedge?
In a wedge, both lines slope the same way, both up or both down, while still closing in. In a triangle, one line is flat or the lines slope toward each other from opposite directions. A pattern with two rising lines is a rising wedge, not an ascending triangle.