Bull Flag Pattern What It Means and How to Identify It?

Notice how on this 30-minute chart, AMC has been mostly range-bound for a few days, bouncing between support and resistance. Nonetheless, for a pennant pattern to be bullish, you want it to have similar characteristics to a bull flag with regard to volume. The only real difference is that the pattern will be creating higher lows and lower highs into the apex. For a more detailed tutorial on bear flags, be sure to check out our tutorial here. HowToTrade.com takes no responsibility for loss incurred as a result of the content provided inside our Trading Room. By signing up as a member you acknowledge that we are not providing financial advice and that you are making the decision on the trades you place in the markets.

After a stock has an initial bull run, then consolidates on lower volume, you expect the initial demand to return and force a new breakout in the stock. A bear flag should resume the downtrend in a stock’s price markdown. In other words, the rally in a bear flag should be higher highs and lows with lower volume — a weak rally. Then, during the flag formation, we get the pullback on lower volume and tighter range red candles. Lastly, the trend resumes as volume/demand returns and price breaks to a new 30-minute candle high. In this article, we’re going to dive into the fine details of the bull flag patterns.

Types of bull flags: bull flag vs bullish pennant

In contrast, the bear flag pattern is formed when the price consolidates after a sharp price decrease, also forming a flag-like pattern. The price action during the consolidation phase is characterized by lower trading volumes and a range-bound price movement. It is important to note that many traders believe the bull flag pattern is a reliable pattern but it is not infallible. It is always a good idea to use other technical analysis tools such as trendlines, moving averages, and oscillators to confirm your trading decisions. The Bull Flag Pattern is a continuation pattern that occurs when there is a sharp price increase (known as the flagpole) followed by a period of consolidation (the flag). The pattern is considered bullish because it suggests that there is a strong buying pressure in the market, and traders are only taking a break before continuing to push the price higher.

Many security price forecasters use technical analysis, sometimes referred to as charting. However, they opt to reject the efficient markets hypothesis (EMH) altogether. The efficient markets hypothesis (EMH), also called the Random Walk Theory, is the idea that current securities prices accurately reflect the information about the firm’s value. Therefore, it is impossible to make excess profits using this information, or gains that are greater than the overall market. As a result, do not expect to see a well-formed flagpole followed by a consolidation that forms a smooth range and then a continuation. The description is only perfect on paper; in reality, you need trained eyes that can read these patterns when they occur in different market conditions.

Backtesting is one way you can know a trading strategy’s strength. A thorough backtesting process will also help you see the best way to use a strategy and the type of result to expect from it in a real market situation. In conclusion, the bullish flag pattern is a powerful tool that can provide traders with valuable insights into market trends and help them make profitable trading decisions. This pattern is characterized by a period of consolidation following a strong uptrend, forming a flag-like shape, and is often accompanied by lower trading volume. Bullish flag formations are found in stocks with strong uptrends and are considered good continuation patterns. They are called bull flags because the pattern resembles a flag on a pole.

In this article, we will discuss what is a bull flag pattern and how to identify it, with examples. Bull flags and bear flags can serve as valuable tools in technical analysis to determine target prices in trending markets. However, they do not guarantee the projected return, as false breakouts can occur. A false breakout happens when a crypto asset breaks through the critical boundary of the flag but then quickly retraces.

Bull Flag Pattern FAQs

Once the price breaks out of the consolidation phase, it signals that the uptrend is likely to continue. As such, bull flag patterns can be used by traders to enter long positions. Trading using the bull flag patterns is not difficult and can spur the rise of profitable traders — we know that this is a trend continuation pattern.

During this period of consolidation, buyers and sellers are in a state of equilibrium, and neither side has enough strength to push the price significantly higher or lower. This creates a coiled spring effect, and when the price eventually breaks out of the flag, it tends to do so with a lot of momentum. In the world of finance, trading is considered as highly volatile in nature, and making the right trading decisions can be challenging. However, understanding different patterns in the market can help traders make better decisions.

These pullbacks usually have shallow retracement as not many traders want to trade against the strong momentum. In my experience, the best time to trade the Bull Flag Pattern is when it occurs just after a breakout. We introduce people to the world of trading currencies, both fiat and crypto, through our non-drowsy educational content and tools. We’re also a community of traders that support each other on our daily trading journey.

Because it would tell us that the level isn’t sustaining pretty well, and it might be a false breakout instead. Now since this is a trend reversal strategy, you’d want to look for downtrends. Again, you must be already familiar when it comes to plotting support and resistance. That’s why I suggest taking your profits below the next area of resistance you’ve plotted on the chart. At this point, you should be a pro at plotting support and resistance.

Bull Flag Pattern – Benefits and Risks

As you’d expect, the pennant looks like an elongated triangle with the 2 sides of the pennant equal and meeting at the tip. The formation of both the flag pattern and the pennant may take weeks to form. Here are a few more examples of intraday bull flag patterns that work. Notice how each one appears clean and orderly no matter the time frame of the chart. Although flags are very simple classical chart patterns, they provide an extremely accurate prediction of the next price movement.

You want to see a strong move upward in prior days to form the “pole” of the flag. Then you want a tight consolidation where the price begins to move downward or countertrend on lower volume. Lastly, when the volume returns, you’ll buy the break of the previous candle’s high.

Wait for a Breakout

The price chart from Answers Corp. below is a nice example of a bullish flag that may be breaking out. While the flag is not a perfect rectangle, what is more important is the basic premise behind the overall pattern. Note the strong https://trading-market.org/ rise in the stock as it forms the flag pole, and the tight consolidation that follows. Bulls are not waiting for better prices and are buying every chance they get. Now that we’re in a trade we need to establish our profit targets.

Alternative Assets purchased on the Public platform are not held in an Open to the Public Investing brokerage account and are self-custodied by the purchaser. The issuers of these securities may be an affiliate of Public, and Public (or an affiliate) may earn fees when you purchase or sell Alternative Assets. For more information on risks and conflicts of interest, see these disclosures. No offer to buy securities can be accepted, and no part of the purchase price can be received, until an offering statement filed with the SEC has been qualified by the SEC. An indication of interest to purchase securities involves no obligation or commitment of any kind. The bear flag starts with a significant fall in prices, followed by a period when the price remains between 2 lines.

• But, not only that, your profit potential is multiple return of your risk.
• Bullish and bearish flags are both strong continuation flag patterns.
• One such example is the flag pattern that formed on the Bitcoin chart in early 2021.
• If you would like to learn more about chart patterns and trading strategies, please check out our free educational resources here at TradingSim.

A break below the flag will automatically invalidate the bullish flag pattern structure. This is quite obvious because the flag structure won’t look any more like a flag. Suppose you’re trading ETH USDT on the daily chart, and you notice a bear flag pattern forming. It’s crucial to be careful when identifying the bullish flag in the chart and when you trade the bull flag — several important factors must be present to form this pattern. Together these charts illustrate the favourable volume patterns traders will be looking to identify into a bull flag, which assumes continued price gains to follow. The bull flag pattern closely resembles the shape of a flag on a pole.

Every trader has a specific way of executing trades; consequently, how the bull and bear flag patterns are traded differs from one trader to another. However, there is a more common identification method, which we will describe below. The bull flag formation has proven to be a reliable trade signal when found in an up trend. Traders who use technical analysis will study chart patterns such as the bull flag formation when looking for a long trade set-up.

The period of consolidation is followed by a breakout and then a continuation of the ongoing bullish trend. The bullish flag pattern forms when the market undergoes a significant price move-up, followed by a period of consolidation. During this consolidation period, the market typically forms a flag, which resembles a rectangle or pennant. The flagpole is formed by the initial price move, and the flag forms as the market consolidate.

Before we start covering in depth don’t forget to take notes because writing down the steps of the best Flag pattern strategy will cement the  rules in your mind. HPQ provides an example of a flag that forms after a sharp and sudden advance. Additionally, you should always bull flag formation manage your risk by using stop-loss orders and only trade with money that you can afford to lose. Cryptocurrency derivative products may be restricted in certain jurisdictions or regions or to certain users in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Because when the market is in a range, it will have to break out eventually and form a bullish flag pattern. Unlike a bullish flag, in a bearish flag pattern, the volume does not always decline during the consolidation. The reason for this is that bearish, downward trending price moves are usually driven by investor fear and anxiety over falling prices. The further prices fall, the greater the urgency remaining investors feel to take action. Investors like the flat top breakout pattern because there is no real pull back in the overall price trend.

It is thought that the bear flag suggests the price will continue to move downward once it leaves the area between the 2 lines. Volume may increase first and then decrease as the formation reaches the endpoint. There may be an uptick in volume during the breakout, although it may be minimal. The trend ends with the price moving in the same direction as the breakout.

Now, what you want is for the price to be above the 50-period moving average. Therefore telling you that an uptrend is about to occur potentially. But for the sake of consistency, master trading one type of trend first by having trades clocked in.