A head and shoulders chart pattern is one of the most common and popular chart patterns in technical analysis. This pattern contains three peaks at roughly the same level on the graph and looks like the head, neck, and shoulders of the human body (or an inverted triangle if you’re looking at it on a chart).
In this article, we’ll go over how to identify this pattern on your stock charts, as well as what it can tell you about the current state of that stock and how to use it to make smart trades in both directions.
Introduction
The head and shoulders pattern is a reversal pattern that can be found on the charts of many assets, including stocks. It’s made up of three peaks that are roughly the same size, with two smaller peaks connecting them at their shoulders.
The head and shoulder pattern is also known as a reversal or inverse head and shoulder pattern. The first peak, which corresponds with the left shoulder, represents a major decline in price. The second peak, corresponding with the right shoulder, represents an interim period where prices stabilize or even rise again.
What Is a Head and Shoulders Chart Pattern?
The Head and Shoulders pattern is created when the price breaks out of a range and then starts trading sideways. The pattern consists of three peaks with two equal lows, a right shoulder peak that is taller than the left, and finally a head peak. When you look at the chart, it looks like someone is looking over their right shoulder. The pattern usually signals that the uptrend is coming to an end.
The key to trading a head and shoulders chart pattern is timing. The reversal point of a head and shoulders pattern can be defined by measuring between the neckline (the bottom of each peak) that connects all three peaks, or measured from top-to-bottom along each peak. While these are different ways to calculate entry points, we prefer using neckline support or resistance for two reasons. First, it allows you to use other indicators alongside your analysis. Second, measuring from top-to-bottom forces you into jumping in before prices reverse, which increases risk without increasing reward.
How to Use a Head and Shoulders Chart Pattern
The Head and Shoulders Chart Pattern is a chart pattern that can be used to predict if a security will go up or down based on the formation of the chart. The head and shoulders chart pattern is made up of two shoulders that are connected by a head.
The slope of the neck (the line between the two shoulder peaks) points to where the next peak will be and at what angle it will occur.
The slope of the neck points to whether you should buy or sell based on which direction it slopes towards.
If the head and shoulders pattern forms while prices are trending upwards, then it is likely that prices will continue to trend upwards after forming this pattern.
If prices are heading downwards after a head and shoulders pattern has formed, then prices will continue to trend downwards. That being said, a head and shoulders chart pattern is not foolproof because there are scenarios where a neckline doesn’t slope down.
As with any other technical analysis tool, it is important to use a head and shoulders chart pattern as part of a larger technical analysis plan. You should not rely on only one indicator. To get a complete picture, you should look at multiple indicators on many different timeframes. These could include volume or trendline breakouts among others.
Advantage of Head and Shoulders Chart pattern
Head and Shoulders Chart pattern has some advantages when compared with the standard Head and Shoulders Chart pattern. First, instead of requiring two false breakouts below the neckline, it requires only one false breakout.
This decreases the risk of a failed trade since one bad trade is all it takes for a normal Head and Shoulders Chart pattern to turn into a complete loss. Second, the shorter distance between the head and shoulders peaks is more likely to lead to an eventual breakout.
Lastly, because this pattern develops over a much shorter time period than a regular Head and Shoulders Chart pattern, the reversal’s amplitude will be greater since it does not have as much time to retrace its losses and find support or resistance levels.
Disadvantage of Head and Shoulders Chart pattern
The disadvantage of this chart pattern is that not all Head and Shoulders Chart patterns are successful because some break down before reaching their target prices. A head and shoulders breakout can also be followed by a head or shoulder failure, which makes it hard to predict where the price will go from there. To make matters more complicated, sometimes the highs may form a potential double top rather than a head and shoulders pattern.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a head and shoulders chart pattern is when the price of an asset rises from a low point to a high point, then falls back down again before rising again. This pattern is mostly seen in commodities. The head represents the first rise from the low point, the left shoulder represents the second rise from that low, and the right shoulder represents the third rise.
The three points are also where many traders base their entries on this particular chart pattern. A head and shoulders chart pattern can be used as an indicator for timing entry points into trades or exits based on what stage of development it’s at within its cycle.
As always, we hope you’ve enjoyed our take on how a head and shoulders chart pattern works. This is just one of many different chart patterns we’ve taken a look at, so be sure to let us know if there are any other kinds you’d like us to cover in future articles!
If there are any topics you think would be useful for understanding these types of charts or anything else, feel free to let us know that as well. Our goal is always going be to bring great contnt with interesting pieces like these!