A Channel pattern - Educational

21 may 2022

A channel is a chart pattern. And uses trendlines. A channel indicates an entry and a possible exit. It can also control the risk.
A channel consists of two parallel lines, between which the price moves.

Drawing a channel:
Ascending channel
- During an uptrend, draw the basic up trendline along the lows. Then you draw a line from the first peak which runs parallel to the basic up trendline, these lines now form a channel. If the 2nd peak reaches the upper line of the channel a channel can be said to exist, but a third test of the trendline is always needed to see if the trendline is really accepted.

Descending channel
- During a downtrend draw the basic down trendline along the highs. Then draw a line from the first bottom which runs parallel to the basic down trendline, these lines now form a channel. If the 2nd bottom reaches the bottom trendline a channel can be said to exist, but a third test of the trendline is always needed to see if the trendline is really accepted.

Horizontal channels are like rectangles, they are called trading ranges.

How to profit from this pattern?

Short term (uptrend)
A long position could be opened when the price is at or near the basic up trendline. One could even open a short position when the price is at the top of the channel, but beware! Going against the trend can have negative consequences.

Short term (downtrend)
A short position could be opened when the price is at or near the basic down trendline. A long position can even be opened when the price is at the bottom of the channel, but beware! Trading against the trend can have negative consequences.

Try to take profits the moment the price, comes close to the trendline on the other side, you could thus switch your position from Long to short and visa versa.

Remember, the higher the timeframe you use the more reliable the trendlines become, also a trendline is more reliable if the trendline has been tested often.

Trading the channel breakout
The failure to reach a channel line is often an early warning that the channel line on the other side will be broken. Once a channel is broken a move of around the width of the channel can be excepted. So a larger channel usually have bigger profit potential. You can use certain technical indicators with a channel, for example 'volume', pay attention to whether the volume increases the moment the price breaks out of the channel, if this is not the case it means that the channel is probably still intact.

Profit targets and a Stop-loss
As I already mentioned the intention is to take profit the moment the price is on the other side of the channel. Imagine this: There is an ascending channel, the price is moving around the basic up trendline (base line), then you can enter a long position. Then the price is moving towards the upper trendline of the channel and you can take your profit. If you like you can take a short position here, but beware! Trading against the trend can be dangerous.

But where is your stop-loss?
I already said it many times: always place a stop-loss before you forget it and before you start doing other things! In the preceding example you place this stop-loss just below the base line at the long position, keep a little space between the base line and your stop-loss! It could happen that the price breaks through the channel lines on an intra-day basis, but only when the price closes outside the channel line this could be a sign of a breakout. For the short position from the above example, place your stop-loss just above the upper trendline, with some distance in between.

Here are more examples:





I wish you all the best!

This is no financial advice.
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