Stock FAQs

in stock charting what is a cup

by Candido Schultz Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
image

Key Takeaways. A cup and handle is a technical chart pattern that resembles a cup and handle where the cup is in the shape of a "u" and the handle has a slight downward drift. A cup and handle is considered a bullish signal extending an uptrend, and it is used to spot opportunities to go long.

Full Answer

What is a cup and handle pattern on a chart?

A cup and handle price pattern on bar charts resembles a cup and handle where the cup is in the shape of a "U" and the handle has a slight downward drift. A cup and handle is considered a bullish continuation pattern and is used to identify buying opportunities.

How to tell if stock is at the bottom of Cup?

Besides, there's no way you can tell for sure if a stock is at the bottom of a cup until the pattern is complete. As with most chart patterns, it is more important to capture the essence of the pattern than the particulars. the cup and handle is no different.

Should you trade Cup and handle charts?

If the handle is too deep, and it erases most of the gains of the cup, then avoid trading the pattern. A cup and handle chart may signal either a reversal pattern or a continuation pattern.

What is a Cup in trading?

The cup forms after an advance and looks like a bowl or rounding bottom. As the cup is completed, a trading range develops on the right-hand side and the handle is formed.

image

What are cup and handle stocks?

Key Takeaways The cup and handle pattern resembles a U shape with a horizontal line, generally drifting downward. The cup and handle pattern is a bullish pattern followed by a breakout. The cup and handle can take weeks or months to form. Traders use this indicator to find opportunities to go long.

What does cup base mean?

This is a base that traces a "U" shape on its daily or weekly chart. Like other bases, it usually appears after a stock has advanced 20%, 25% or more and needs some time to consolidate. Many of history's top stocks formed what's known as a cup-with-handle base.

Is a cup and handle bullish?

William O'Neil's Cup with Handle is a bullish continuation pattern that marks a consolidation period followed by a breakout. There are two parts to the pattern: the cup and the handle. The cup forms after an advance and looks like a bowl or rounding bottom.

Is cup and handle bearish?

A Cup and Handle is considered a bullish continuation pattern and is used to identify buying opportunities. Almost the exact opposite happens in the inverse Cup and Handle pattern, which occurs in a downtrend and is considered a bearish continuation pattern by those who like to go short on the market.

What Is the Cup and Handle Pattern?

It’s a technical chart pattern made popular by William O’Neil in his book “ How to Make Money in Stocks .”

Cup and Handle Pattern Recognition

Cup and handle chart patterns can last anywhere from seven to 65 weeks.

How Does the Cup and Handle Work?

After the initial stock runup of the pattern, the price drops as investors sell their shares. This drop in price forms the left side of the cup.

Examples of the Cup and Handle Pattern

This pattern can happen in different time frames. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Limitations of the Cup and Handle

Remember what I said earlier about O’Neill — the man who made the cup and handle pattern famous? Even he admitted that this pattern isn’t an exact science.

How to Trade the Cup and Handle Pattern

It’s important to note that the cup should be round rather than V-shaped.

Awesome Charting With StocksToTrade

No big secret here — I love charts. I often tell new traders to study charts until their eyes bleed. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I want every trader to understand how much a chart can tell you.

How to Enter and Exit This Powerful Pattern

Cory Mitchell, Chartered Market Technician, is a day trading expert with over 10 years of experience writing on investing, trading, and day trading for publications including Investopedia, Forbes, and others.

The Cup and Handle

The cup and handle pattern occurs in both small time frames, like a one-minute chart, and in large time frames, like daily, weekly, and monthly charts. It occurs when there is a price wave downward, followed by a stabilizing period, followed by a rally of approximately equal size to the prior decline.

Entering a Cup and Handle Trade

Wait for a handle to form. The handle often takes the form of a sideways or descending channel or a triangle. Buy when the price breaks above the top of the channel or triangle. When the price moves out of the handle, the pattern is considered complete, and the price is expected to rise.

Setting a Stop-Loss

A stop-loss order gets a trader out of a trade if the price drops, instead of rallying, after buying a breakout from the cup and handle formation. The stop-loss serves to control risk on the trade by selling the position if the price declines enough to invalidate the pattern. 2

Picking a Target or Profitable Exit

Whatever the height of the cup is, add it to the breakout point of the handle. That figure is the target. For example, if the cup forms between $100 and $99, and the breakout point is $100, the target is $101.

Considerations

Traditionally, the cup has a pause, or stabilizing period, at the bottom of the cup, where the price moves sideways or forms a rounded bottom. It shows the price found a support level and couldn't drop below it. It helps improve the odds of the price moving higher after the breakout.

What happens after a cup and handle pattern?

If a cup and handle pattern is confirmed, it will be followed by a bullish price move upward. You can pick a price target based on the size of the cup, but it becomes much less clear what will happen after the initial breakout from the cup and handle pattern.

What is Cup and Handle Pattern?

Trading using technical analysis software has become necessary to make informed trading decisions. Technical Analysis Software for the Indian stock market was made to improve the trader’s experience. Technical analysis is not only for professional traders. In fact, it is more helpful for newbie traders than experienced traders.

How Do You Spot a Cup and Handle Pattern?

A cup and handle model is formed during price rise and fall. When the price goes back and started dropping, the “U” shape or cup shape will form. Price then makes the handle, which is a small trade limit that should be less than a third size of the cup. It can be horizontal or angular or use the form of a triangle or wedge.

How to trade effectively with the Cup and Handle pattern?

Let’s discuss how to trade effectively with the Cup and Handle, but before that, you must choose the best Technical Analysis Software.

Stock Chart Pattern Depth, Length

Knowing the depth and time length of the cup without handle, you can now go seeking stocks with this formation.

AMD Stock Chart Led To Big Gains

AMD's earnings report that October fanned the stock's recovery. On Nov. 4, 2019, shares rose past the 35.65 buy point in a day of sharp gains (3). Volume was 67% above average, well above the 40% minimum for a breakout (4).

Chart Patterns: Cup With Handle

From IBM ( IBM) in 1926 and Walmart ( WMT) in 1980 to Nvidia in 2016 and again in 2020, countless big winners have made large gains from a cup with handle in every market cycle for decades.

Chart Patterns: Double Bottom

The double bottom is another pattern that repeats in every market cycle. It resembles a W, and has a choppy, seesaw look to it. Not surprisingly, double bottoms typically form when the general stock market is showing similarly volatile, roller-coaster behavior.

Chart Patterns: Flat Base

As the name implies, a flat base is shallower than a cup with handle or double bottom. It's also shorter, taking just five weeks to form. You'll often find stocks will form a flat base after breaking out of a cup with handle or double bottom. Think of it like a brief resting period after a quick sprint.

Stock Market History Repeating

As noted earlier, these patterns — the cup with handle, double bottom and flat base — repeat themselves in every market cycle. Facebook, Nvidia and Netflix have all flashed these telltale bases multiple times over the years.

image
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9