What qualifies
- Swings: swing highs and lows (3 days on each side) in the last 90 days, at least two of each, spanning at least 20 days.
- Lines: a least-squares line through the last 2–4 swing highs (upper line) and another through the last 2–4 swing lows (lower line).
- Converging: the gap between the lines today is under 70% of the gap where the wedge starts, and at least 85% of daily closes since the start sit between the lines (with a margin of half an ATR).
- Rising wedge: both lines rise, the lower one faster. Falling wedge: both lines fall, the upper one faster. Each line moves at least 25% of the wedge’s starting height over its length.
- Status: Breaking out when the latest close is above the upper line, Breaking down when below the lower line, otherwise Inside. A break counts only in the first 5 days after it. Touches counts swings within 1× ATR of their line.
Reading wedges
A rising wedge shows higher highs and higher lows with less and less progress, and is usually read as bearish: the classic signal is a break below the lower line. A falling wedge is the mirror image and is usually read as bullish, with a break above the upper line. For flat-topped or flat-bottomed patterns, see the triangle pattern screener.
About this setup
- What it is
- Wedges are narrowing ranges where both trendlines slope the same way: rising wedges up, falling wedges down.
- How traders use it
- Rising wedges are usually traded as bearish on a break below the lower line, falling wedges as bullish on a break above the upper line.
- Caveats
- Wedges can extend for a long time before breaking, and the classic direction isn’t guaranteed.
Patterns are found mechanically on daily candles from the data provider. Not investment advice.
Frequently asked questions
What does the quality score mean?
It’s a 0–100 score of how cleanly the pattern fits the rules above (for example, how tight the flag is, how round the cup is, or how closely the two lows match). It isn’t a probability and says nothing about what price does next. Use it to sort the list, then look at the chart: click a symbol to open it on FreeCharting.
Are these patterns reliable?
Chart patterns are a way to describe price action, not a prediction. Many fail, and they work differently in different markets. The detection is mechanical: a pattern can qualify on the numbers and still look wrong to your eye, and a pattern you’d draw by hand may miss one rule. Nothing here is investment advice.
Which markets can it scan?
Four, picked with the Market buttons above the table. Crypto (the default) scans the 250 busiest USDT pairs on Binance. Crypto perps scans the 200 busiest USDT perpetual futures on OKX. Both are free public data and need no key. US stocks scans about 600 US stocks and ETFs with your own free Alpaca key, and CME futures scans about 25 front-month CME Group contracts (stock indexes, Treasuries, oil, gas, metals, grains, livestock, currencies and CME bitcoin) with your own free Massive key.
Why do stocks and futures need a key?
Stock and futures prices are licensed data, so a website can’t hand them out for free. Alpaca (for stocks) and Massive (for futures) give anyone a free data key. Your key is saved only in your browser and sent only to that provider. See how to get a free Alpaca key and how to get a free Massive key for futures.
Is the data real-time?
Crypto and crypto perps are live from Binance and OKX, on daily candles that start at 00:00 UTC (today’s candle is still forming). Alpaca’s free stock data is 15 minutes behind the market, and Massive’s free futures plan is 8 hours delayed. Turn on auto-refresh next to the results to update the table in place every 30 seconds, minute or 5 minutes.