The Blog
Plain-English guides to the chart patterns behind the daily lists — what they are, how to read them, and the mistakes to avoid.
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Downtrend Rips: Why Sharp Bounces in a Downtrend Are Different
A downtrend rip is a violent rally against an established downtrend — the move that tempts people to call the bottom. Here's why it's its own setup, and why it isn't an uptrend pullback.
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What Is a Breakout? How to Trade the Pattern
A breakout is price clearing a level it kept failing to pass — here's what that actually means, how traders tell a real break from a fakeout, and why the level matters more than the move.
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What Is Mean Reversion? Trading a Range Extreme
Mean reversion is the opposite instinct to a breakout — betting a stretched price snaps back toward the middle of its range instead of running. Here's when that idea applies and when it's a trap.
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What Is a Breakdown? When Support Gives Way
A breakdown is a breakout pointed downward — price losing a floor it kept bouncing off. Here's what that means, how it differs from an ordinary down day, and how traders read a level that fails.
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Breakouts vs. Breakdowns: Reading Both Sides of a Range
A breakdown is just a breakout to the downside. Here's the one mental model that covers both, and how traders think about false breaks.
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Buying Pullbacks in an Uptrend: A Beginner's Guide to Trend Continuation
Not every dip is a buy. Here's how traders separate a healthy pullback inside an uptrend from a trend that's actually breaking — and how that differs from mean reversion.
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What Is a Bull Flag? How to Spot the Pattern
A bull flag is a sharp run-up followed by a tight, orderly pause — here's how to recognize the chart pattern and tell it apart from its lookalikes.