Top Swing Trading Patterns to Know & How to Trade Them!
Swing trading is a popular style of trading the financial markets. Essentially, swing traders aim to trade the swings that can develop in the price of a security, usually on a higher timeframe such as the daily chart.
Discover some of the top swing trading patterns to know below that can be used on stocks, forex, commodities, indices and other markets. You will also learn how to access a swing trading pattern screener that will scan thousands of markets for you!
Table of Contents
Top swing trading patterns to know
There are many types of chart patterns that are used by swing traders. Typically, these chart patterns are used in conjunction with swing trading indicators. Trading the financial market is about putting probabilities in your favour. Having enough tools in your trading arsenal is essential to swing trade successfully.
Below are just a few of the top swing trading patterns to know:
- Ascending triangle
- Descending triangle
- Range consolidations
- Head and shoulders
- Inverted head and shoulders
- Double bottom
- Double top
Let’s take a look at the first few and explore how traders could trade them. You can also expand your trading knowledge by registering for your free spot on the Zero To Hero trading course below.
The break and retest triangle pattern
Triangle patterns include ascending, descending and symmetrical triangles. It is important for swing traders to have visible price levels to analyse if buyers or sellers could potentially turn up and drive the market in a particular direction.
Ascending and descending triangle patterns are ideal as they provide horizontal levels of support and resistance. These are price levels that traders will use to identify potential turning points in the market.
1. Break and retest ascending triangle pattern
An ascending triangle pattern is formed with at least:
- Two swing higher lows which create an ascending trend line
- Two swing highs rejecting the same price level creating a horizontal resistance line
The break and retest element is when the price breaks through the top of the ascending triangle pattern and then comes back down to retest the horizontal resistance line which could now turn into a horizontal support line.
In strong trending markets, there is a chance that the price could break through the ascending triangle pattern and breakaway and not come back to retest. However, trading this is more challenging as it could result in a false breakout in a low-volatility market.
The example above is of the AUDJPY daily chart from MetaTrader 5. It shows an ascending triangle pattern in which the price has broken through the horizontal resistance line and retested (the green circle).
The higher lows suggest bullish momentum is building and the break of resistance highlights the potential strength of buyers.
Traders would typically look for more bullish clues at the retest of the horizontal line by analysing different indicators and price action patterns.
Stay up to date with the latest market analysis and trends by registering for your free spot on the Admiral Markets live trading webinar series which occurs three times a week.
2. Break and retest descending triangle pattern
A descending triangle pattern is formed with at least:
- Two swing lower highs which create a descending trend line
- Two swing lows rejecting the same price level creating a horizontal support line
The break and retest element is when the price breaks through the bottom of the descending triangle pattern and then comes back up to retest the horizontal support line which could now turn into a horizontal resistance line.
In strong trending markets, there is a chance that the price could break through the descending triangle pattern and breakaway and not come back to retest. This can happen in a market condition that is a ‘sell-off’ rather than an actual downtrend.
The example above is of the GBPAUD daily chart. It shows a descending triangle pattern in which the price has broken through the horizontal support line and retested (the green circle).
The lower highs suggest bearish momentum is building and the break of support highlights the potential strength of sellers.
In this example, the first breakout from the horizontal support line failed and was met with a strong reversal candlestick pattern known as a bullish engulfing. After this false breakout, the price did eventually break through and retested which led to a move lower.
This highlights the importance of using other tools to build more probabilities on price moving in a certain direction, as well as risk management. For example, stop losses are essential to managing risk and controlling how much we could lose on a trade.
The MetaTrader 5 platform allows users to access multiple order types to ensure solid risk management. You can also view multiple timeframes and a large range of technical trading indicators.
The range consolidation pattern
Markets do not trend all the time and, in fact, range trade more of the time. Therefore, swing traders may also consider adding techniques on trading ranges.
A trading range or consolidation is a situation where price cycles have traded in between a horizontal resistance line and horizontal support line creating a rectangular chart pattern.
A horizontal support and resistance line can only be identified once there are two price cycle rejections off the same price level.
Once a range consolidation chart pattern has formed there are several methods to trade it. A few include the options to:
- Trade within the range using reversion to the mean trading patterns. This involves trading price action at the top and bottom of the range in anticipation of a move towards the middle (or mean).
- Traders may opt to trade within the range and in line with the preceding trend. For example, if the preceding trend was down traders would only trade at the top of a range. If the preceding trend was up, traders would only trade at the bottom of the range.
- Wait for the price to break outside of the trading range and utilise either:
- Breakout trading strategies. This involves trading price as it breaks out of the trading range. This is more susceptible to false breakouts.
- Break and retest strategies. This involves waiting for the price to retest the horizontal lines but may involve missing a breakout move.
Does a chart pattern screener work?
With many different types of swing trading patterns, across thousands of markets and multiple timeframes, it can be very challenging to identify patterns to trade on. This is where a chart pattern screener could become useful.
In the Admiral Markets Premium Analytics section of the Traders Room, users get access to the Featured Ideas section. This provides trading ideas based on chart patterns that have formed on a selection of markets.
It details what pattern was found, the market and the timeframe.
Users can also use the Technical Insight Lookup indicator which allows you to search for technical events such as chart patterns that are developing on thousands of markets covering stocks, commodities, indices, currencies and more.
How to use swing trading patterns with Admiral Markets
A great way to get started with swing trading chart patterns is to use a demo trading account. This allows you to trade in a virtual environment and hone your skill set of identifying patterns in real time.
Trading in a virtual environment can help to build the confidence and skills required to eventually trade live. Open a free demo trading account below.
FAQs on swing trading patterns
Which pattern is best for swing trading?
There are a variety of swing trading patterns which include ascending and descending triangle formations, range consolidations, head and shoulders patterns, and double top and double bottom patterns.
Is a 1-hour timeframe good for swing trading?
Swing trading is typically done on higher timeframes such as daily and weekly charts. However, traders could use the 1-hour timeframe to enter daily swing positions using multiple time frame trading strategies.
Is 4-hour chart good for swing trading?
Many traders would use the 4-hour chart to enter daily swing positions. Stock market cash sessions are usually open for 8 hours so the 4-hour chart has two bars for the day. There are six four hours bars in the forex market.
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