Technical Analysis
Chart patterns, indicators, oscillators, and price action frameworks.
89 terms
A
Accumulation/Distribution Line
intermediateA volume-based indicator that measures the cumulative flow of money into and out of an asset to confirm trend direction.
ADX
intermediateAverage Directional Index — an indicator that measures trend strength on a scale of 0-100, where values above 25 indicate a strong trend regardless of direction.
Aroon Indicator
intermediateA trend-identification indicator that measures the time elapsed since the most recent high and low to determine trend strength and direction.
Ascending Triangle
intermediateA bullish chart pattern formed by a horizontal resistance line and a rising support trendline, indicating accumulation before a breakout.
ATR (Average True Range)
intermediateA technical analysis indicator that measures market volatility by decomposing the entire range of an asset price for a given period.
ATR Stop
intermediateA stop-loss method that uses a multiple of Average True Range to set dynamic exit levels that adapt to current market volatility.
B
Bearish Engulfing
intermediateA two-candle reversal pattern where a large red candle completely engulfs the previous green candle, signaling potential downside.
Bollinger Bands
intermediateA technical analysis tool consisting of a moving average with upper and lower bands set at standard deviations, used to measure volatility and identify overbought/oversold conditions.
Bollinger Bandwidth
intermediateThe percentage width between the upper and lower Bollinger Bands, measuring volatility contraction and expansion to identify breakout potential.
Bollinger Squeeze
intermediateA pattern where Bollinger Bands contract to their narrowest width, signaling extremely low volatility that often precedes a major breakout move.
Break of Structure
intermediateA price action event where the market breaks a prior swing high or low, confirming a change in the prevailing trend direction.
Breakout
beginnerA price movement through an identified level of support or resistance, typically accompanied by increased volume, signaling a potential trend continuation.
Bullish Engulfing
intermediateA two-candle reversal pattern where a large green candle completely engulfs the previous red candle, signaling potential upside.
C
Candlestick
beginnerA chart element that displays the open, high, low, and close price for a given time period, with the body showing the open-close range and wicks showing the full price range.
Chaikin Money Flow
advancedAn oscillator that measures buying and selling pressure by combining price and volume data over a specified period.
Change of Character
intermediateA Smart Money Concepts term for the first break of market structure opposite to the prevailing trend, signaling a potential trend reversal.
Channel
intermediateTwo parallel trendlines containing price action, creating a defined range within which price oscillates between support and resistance.
Consolidation
beginnerA period of sideways price action where an asset trades within a defined range, typically following a strong move and preceding the next directional breakout.
Cup and Handle
intermediateA bullish continuation pattern resembling a teacup shape followed by a small downward drift, typically preceding a breakout.
D
Death Cross
beginnerA bearish technical signal that occurs when the 50-day moving average crosses below the 200-day moving average, suggesting potential for prolonged downside.
Delta Volume
advancedThe difference between buying and selling volume at each price level, revealing the net aggression of buyers versus sellers in real-time.
Demand Zone
intermediateA price area with concentrated buying interest where previous demand overwhelmed supply, likely to act as support on retest.
Descending Triangle
intermediateA bearish chart pattern formed by a horizontal support line and a descending resistance trendline, indicating distribution before a breakdown.
Divergence
intermediateA condition where price and a momentum indicator move in opposite directions, signaling weakening trend strength and potential reversal.
Divergence
intermediateA condition where price moves in one direction while a technical indicator moves in the opposite direction, signaling weakening momentum and potential trend reversal.
Doji
beginnerA candlestick pattern where the open and close prices are virtually equal, creating a cross-like shape that signals market indecision and potential reversal.
Donchian Channel
intermediateA volatility indicator that plots the highest high and lowest low over a specified period, creating a channel that identifies breakouts and trend direction.
Double Bottom
intermediateA bullish reversal pattern where price tests the same support level twice, forming a W shape, before breaking out to the upside.
Double Top
intermediateA bearish reversal pattern where price fails to break above the same resistance level twice, forming an M shape, before declining.
E
Elliott Wave Theory
advancedA technical analysis framework proposing that market prices move in predictable 5-wave impulse and 3-wave corrective patterns driven by crowd psychology.
EMA
beginnerExponential Moving Average — a weighted moving average that gives more importance to recent prices, reacting faster to new data than a simple moving average.
Engulfing Pattern
intermediateA two-candlestick reversal pattern where the second candle completely engulfs the body of the first, signaling a shift in momentum from buyers to sellers or vice versa.
F
Fair Value Gap
advancedA price imbalance on a chart where a candle's range doesn't overlap with the candle two bars prior, creating an unfilled zone that price tends to revisit.
False Breakout
intermediateA price movement that temporarily breaches a support or resistance level but quickly reverses, trapping traders who entered on the breakout.
Fibonacci Extension
intermediateHorizontal levels projected beyond the prior price range using Fibonacci ratios to estimate potential profit targets for trending moves.
Fibonacci Retracement
intermediateHorizontal lines drawn at key Fibonacci ratios (23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8%, 78.6%) between a swing high and low to identify potential support and resistance levels.
Flag Pattern
intermediateA short-term continuation pattern where price consolidates in a small channel against the prior trend before resuming the original directional move.
Fractal
advancedA recurring price pattern that appears across all timeframes, suggesting that market behavior is self-similar regardless of the time horizon being analyzed.
G
Gap Fill
intermediateThe price action that occurs when a market returns to trade at prices where a gap previously existed, completing the unfilled zone.
Golden Cross
beginnerA bullish technical signal where the 50-day moving average crosses above the 200-day moving average, suggesting potential for sustained upside.
H
Hammer
beginnerA bullish reversal candlestick pattern with a small body near the high and a long lower wick, indicating rejection of lower prices.
Head and Shoulders
intermediateA bearish reversal pattern consisting of three peaks — the middle (head) highest — with a neckline connecting the two valleys between them.
Heikin-Ashi
intermediateA modified candlestick charting technique that averages price data to smooth out noise and more clearly display trend direction and momentum.
Hidden Divergence
advancedA continuation signal where price makes a higher low but an oscillator makes a lower low (bullish) or price makes a lower high but oscillator makes a higher high (bearish).
I
Ichimoku Cloud
advancedA comprehensive indicator system that displays support, resistance, momentum, and trend direction in a single view using five calculated lines and a shaded cloud.
Ichimoku Cloud
advancedA comprehensive trend indicator combining five lines and a shaded cloud to simultaneously identify trend direction, momentum, support, and resistance.
Implied Volatility Rank
advancedA percentile measure comparing current implied volatility to its historical range, indicating whether options are relatively cheap or expensive.
K
Keltner Channel
intermediateA volatility-based envelope indicator that plots bands above and below an EMA using the Average True Range to define expected price ranges.
Kumo Cloud
advancedThe shaded area between Senkou Span A and Senkou Span B in the Ichimoku system, providing dynamic support/resistance and trend direction.
L
Lagging Indicator
beginnerA technical tool that confirms trends after they have already begun, providing reliable but delayed signals based on historical price data.
Leading Indicator
beginnerA technical tool that generates signals before price actually changes direction, providing early but sometimes premature trade entries.
M
MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence)
intermediateA trend-following momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two exponential moving averages, used to identify trend direction, strength, and potential reversals.
Momentum
beginnerThe rate of acceleration of an asset's price or volume, measuring the strength behind a price move rather than the price level itself.
Money Flow Index
intermediateA volume-weighted RSI that incorporates both price and volume data to identify overbought/oversold conditions with volume confirmation.
Morning Star
intermediateA three-candle bullish reversal pattern consisting of a bearish candle, a small-bodied candle, and a bullish candle, signaling a bottom.
Moving Average
beginnerA technical indicator that smooths price data by calculating the average price over a specified number of periods, used to identify trend direction and dynamic support/resistance.
O
OBV
intermediateOn-Balance Volume — a cumulative indicator that adds volume on up days and subtracts it on down days to measure buying and selling pressure.
On-Balance Volume
intermediateA cumulative volume indicator that adds volume on up days and subtracts volume on down days, confirming trends through volume flow direction.
Order Block
advancedA price zone where institutional orders were executed, identified by the last opposite candle before a strong impulsive move, acting as future support or resistance.
P
Parabolic SAR
intermediateA trend-following indicator that places dots above or below price to indicate potential reversal points and provide trailing stop levels.
Pennant
intermediateA small symmetrical triangle that forms after a strong move, representing a brief consolidation before the prior trend resumes.
Pivot Points
intermediateCalculated price levels derived from the previous period's high, low, and close that serve as potential support and resistance for the current period.
Point of Control
advancedThe price level with the highest traded volume in a Volume Profile, acting as a strong magnet for price and equilibrium reference point.
Price Action
intermediateA trading methodology that makes decisions based purely on raw price movement, candlestick patterns, and chart structure without relying on indicators.
R
Rectangle
intermediateA consolidation pattern where price bounces between parallel horizontal support and resistance, eventually breaking out to resume the prior trend.
Renko Chart
intermediateA price-only chart type that filters out time and minor price movements, creating uniform bricks that only appear when price moves by a specified amount.
Resistance
beginnerA price level where selling pressure historically exceeds buying pressure, causing price to reverse downward. The ceiling that price struggles to break above.
Reversal
beginnerA change in the overall direction of a price trend — from uptrend to downtrend or vice versa — typically confirmed by pattern completion and volume.
RSI (Relative Strength Index)
intermediateA momentum oscillator that measures the speed and magnitude of price changes on a scale from 0 to 100, indicating overbought conditions above 70 and oversold below 30.
RSI Divergence
intermediateA condition where the RSI indicator moves in the opposite direction of price, signaling weakening momentum and a potential trend reversal.
S
Shooting Star
beginnerA bearish reversal candlestick pattern with a small body near the low and a long upper wick, signaling rejection of higher prices.
SMA
beginnerSimple Moving Average — the arithmetic mean of closing prices over a specified number of periods, smoothing price data to identify trends.
Standard Deviation
intermediateA statistical measure of how spread out price data is from its average, used in trading to quantify volatility and set probability-based targets and stops.
Stochastic Oscillator
intermediateA momentum indicator that compares an asset's closing price to its price range over a defined period, identifying overbought and oversold conditions.
Supply Zone
intermediateA price area with concentrated selling interest where previous supply overwhelmed demand, likely to act as resistance on retest.
Support
beginnerA price level where buying pressure historically exceeds selling pressure, causing price to bounce upward. The floor that price struggles to break below.
Symmetrical Triangle
intermediateA neutral chart pattern with converging trendlines of equal slope, representing indecision that resolves with a breakout in either direction.
T
Three White Soldiers
beginnerA bullish reversal pattern of three consecutive large-bodied green candles, each closing progressively higher, signaling strong buying momentum.
Trend
beginnerThe overall direction in which price is moving — uptrend (higher highs and higher lows), downtrend (lower highs and lower lows), or sideways (no clear direction).
Trendline
beginnerA straight line drawn across swing highs or swing lows on a chart to define the direction and slope of a trend, serving as dynamic support or resistance.
Triple Bottom
intermediateA bullish reversal pattern where price tests the same support level three times, building a strong base before a breakout to the upside.
V
Value Area
advancedThe price range containing 70% of the volume in a Volume Profile, defining the zone where most market participants agreed on value.
Volume Oscillator
intermediateAn indicator measuring the difference between a fast and slow volume moving average to identify whether volume trends are bullish or bearish.
Volume Weighted Average Price
intermediateAn intraday benchmark that calculates the average price an asset has traded at throughout the session, weighted by volume.
VWAP (Volume-Weighted Average Price)
intermediateA trading benchmark that calculates the average price weighted by volume, showing the true average price at which an asset traded during a session.
W
Wedge
intermediateA chart pattern where price converges between two angled trendlines, with rising wedges being bearish and falling wedges being bullish.
Williams %R
intermediateA momentum oscillator that measures the current closing price relative to the high-low range over a period, similar to an inverted Stochastic.
Wyckoff Method
advancedA century-old market analysis framework that identifies accumulation and distribution phases through the study of price, volume, and market structure.
Wyckoff Method
advancedA framework for understanding market cycles through the lens of institutional supply and demand, identifying accumulation and distribution phases through price and volume analysis.