Chart Patterns
Chart patterns are names for shapes that price sometimes draws. A falling wedge, a bull flag, and a head and shoulders pattern are three of the shapes swing traders ask about most. The name is a label for structure. It is not a forecast, and it is not a reason to skip the candle that is still open.
This page is a teaching hub. The diagrams are schematic. They do not use live market data, and they are not a setup from the Swing Trade Pros desk. The falling wedge is the pattern that desk talks about most often. You can see how those notes show up in the community on the swing trade Discord guide.
How to use a pattern without turning it into a promise
Start with the timeframe written next to the idea. A bull flag on a five-minute chart and a bull flag on a daily chart share a shape and almost nothing else about holding period. Then mark the lines in your own notes: which highs or lows define the boundaries, and which candle has to finish before you would even call the shape confirmed.
Swing Trade Pros uses a simple status for that last step. Forming means the candle is still open or the break has not happened. Confirmed on the close means the stated candle finished beyond the line. Over means price crossed the level that would weaken the idea, or the setup has ended. Confirmation is not success. A pattern can fail on the next candle.
Do not attach a win rate to these drawings. This page does not publish one. Two people can outline the same pattern differently, and both outlines can be neat and still be wrong. If a pattern discussion cannot say what would weaken it, it is not finished.
Falling wedge
A falling wedge is a tightening area where both the upper line and the lower line slope down, and those lines converge. Highs are lower. Lows are often lower too, but the range between them narrows. Traders study it because a squeeze can end with a close above the upper line. That close is the evidence people wait for. A close back inside the wedge is a common way the idea weakens.
The diagram below is educational. The upper and lower lines are illustrations, not prices. The marked point is an illustrated close above the upper line, not a recommendation and not a real candle from a real market. Professor Node has described the falling wedge as the pattern at the center of how Swing Trade Pros reads a chart. That history explains why the community talks about it. It does not make the next wedge work.
You will also see falling-wedge language in crypto trading alerts and in stock alerts. The shape does not change the rule: read the timeframe, wait for the candle that was named, and write down the close that would put the idea over.
Bull flag
A bull flag is a sharp advance, often called the pole, followed by a smaller drift that slopes down or sideways. The drift is the flag. People study it as a pause inside an existing move, and they look for a close above the top of that pause before they treat the pause as finished. If price closes through the bottom of the flag instead, the pause interpretation is weak.
Flags are easy to see after the fact and easy to force in real time. A drifting channel with parallel lines is not a wedge, and a wedge is not a flag. If you cannot point to the pole and the pause separately, you do not have a flag yet. The drawing on this page keeps those two parts apart on purpose.
Nothing in the flag diagram is an entry instruction. There is no order type, no position size, and no target price. The only lesson is the shape and the candle that would change how you label it.
Head and shoulders
A head and shoulders pattern is three pushes. The middle push, the head, trades beyond the other two, which are the shoulders. A line under the two reaction lows is the neckline. Traders study a close below that neckline as evidence that the pattern has completed. A close back above the right shoulder is a common way that reading weakens. The inverse version flips the shape and is a different conversation; this diagram shows the standard form.
The shoulders are rarely identical. Forcing symmetry is how people invent the pattern on a chart that is just three random swings. Name the three pushes in order, left to right, before you draw the neckline. If you cannot, wait.
Head and shoulders shows up in both day trading chat and swing chat. The day trading Discord guide explains why the timeframe changes the trade even when the drawing looks familiar. A neckline break on a one-minute chart can be gone before you finish reading the message.
Practice the label, then stop
A good exercise is to annotate a chart you are not allowed to trade. Pick one pattern. Mark only the lines that define it. Write one sentence for confirmation and one sentence for what would weaken it. Then close the chart. If the exercise turns into an order, you skipped the point of the exercise.
Members talk through that kind of review in Discord, a community of more than 8,000 people. The Sunday stream is on YouTube, which has more than 4,000 subscribers. Premium Alerts may name one of these patterns when an analyst sees it on a stock or a crypto chart. The alert is still educational. Node AI can restate the structure in plain language if you want a second explanation of the lines. It does not complete the pattern for you, and it does not know your risk.
When you are ready to see how the community uses this vocabulary, go back to the swing trading community guide. Use the comparison below to decide whether the trial or a monthly plan suits the workflow you want.
- One pattern at a time. Do not stack three names on one chart.
- Write the timeframe in the same note as the pattern name.
- Require a finished candle before you use the word confirmed.
- Write the invalidation in words, not as a feeling.
- Treat the diagrams on this page as drawings, not as data.
Put the explanation into practice
Meet the people behind STP alerts through the published profiles of Professor Node, Pat Lex, and Chaselin.
Use the falling-wedge lesson to practice naming a timeframe, confirmation and invalidation. Then choose a published market review on the Swing Trade Pros YouTube channel, pause at a chart and write those same three facts. Compare the explanation with your notes instead of treating the video as a trade instruction.
Compare the trial, Premium and Elite
The advertised trial is a one-time $7 for 14 days, including everything in Premium and Elite. It is non-refundable and does not auto-renew. Check the current offer and checkout availability on the pricing page. The trial ends unless you choose a monthly plan.
Premium is $67 per month for analyst alerts, Discord and the member dashboard. Elite is $97 per month and includes everything in Premium, plus Node AI on the dashboard. Elite members see the same Discord channels as Premium. Monthly memberships renew until canceled; cancel before the next renewal.
If you subscribe during the active trial, one $7 credit applies to your first paid month: Premium is $60 or Elite is $90 for that month, then the regular monthly price applies. A first-time member can request a refund within 72 hours of the first paid monthly charge. Renewals and the trial fee are non-refundable, and a refund voids the trial credit.
Compare plans and check availability on the pricing page. Your trade decisions remain your own; membership never places a trade.
- A public Discord community invite does not include Premium Alerts. Alert channels require an active trial or a paid membership.
- You choose and place every trade. This is education, not financial advice.
Keep reading
Questions
What is a falling wedge?
A falling wedge is a narrowing price area between two downward sloping lines. Traders watch for a close above the upper line. A close back inside the lines can weaken that reading. The diagram on this page is schematic, not market data.
What is a bull flag?
A bull flag is a sharp advance followed by a smaller downward or sideways pause. A close above the pause is what people study as completion. A close through the bottom of the pause weakens that idea. It is not an instruction to buy.
What is a head and shoulders pattern?
It is three pushes, with the middle push beyond the other two, and a neckline under the reaction lows. A close below the neckline is the completion people study. A close back above the right shoulder can weaken the reading.
Do these patterns have a win rate?
This page does not publish a win rate. Patterns fail, two analysts can draw the same name differently, and a finished candle is only one piece of evidence.
Are the diagrams live charts?
No. They are simple educational drawings with no market prices. They are not alerts and not recommendations.
Where do these patterns show up at Swing Trade Pros?
Analysts may name them in Discord Premium Alerts and in published education. The falling wedge is the pattern the desk discusses most. Alerts still require a trial or a paid plan, and you decide every trade.
Is this financial advice?
No. Chart pattern education is not financial advice. You make every trading decision, and trading can result in loss of capital.