Bulkowski’s Eve & Adam Double Bottom

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Eve & Adam double bottoms do better in a bear market than in a bull market according to the performance rank. Failure rates are lower in a bull market though. For more information see pages 244 to 258 of the book Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns, Second Edition and the following...

Eve & Adam double bottom chart pattern

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Important Bull Market Results

Overall performance rank (1 is best): 11 out of 23
Break even failure rate: 4%
Average rise: 35%
Throwback rate: 57%
Percentage meeting price target: 66%

Identification Guidelines

Characteristic Discussion
Price trend Downward leading to the pattern
Shape Two distinct valleys that look different. Eve bottoms appear first and are wider and more rounded looking. Adam bottoms appear after Eve and are narrow, V-shaped, sometimes with one long price spike. Spikes that appear tend to be more numerous and shorter on Eve bottoms.
Peak The rise between bottoms should measure at least 10%, but allow variations. See the figure to the right.
Bottom price The price variation between bottoms is small, usually between 0% and 4%. The two valleys should appear to bottom near the same price. See the figure to the right.
Separation The twin valleys are several weeks apart with most falling in the 2 to 7 week range; wider than 7 weeks and performance deteriorates. See the figure to the right.
Confirmation The double bottom confirms as a true double bottom once price closes above the peak between the two valleys. That is the top red line on the figure to the right.
Volume Evenly split between the right and left bottom showing heavier volume.

Trading Tips

A trading setup related to double bottoms and throwbacks is located here.

Trading Tactic Explanation

Measure rule

See the figure to the right. Compute the height from the highest peak (A) to the lowest valley (B) in the pattern then multiply it by the above “percentage meeting price target.” Add the result to the breakout price (the highest peak in the pattern, A) to get the target, C.
Price reversal Price must have something to reverse, so if the decline leading to the double bottom is small, expect a small rise.

Big W

Look for a double bottom with a tall left side, one with a steep decline and few or no price consolidations along the way. Expect price to return to near where the downtrend began.
Confirmation Wait for confirmation – price to close above the peak between the valleys. If you don’t wait, there’s a 64% chance that price will continue lower without confirming the double bottom.
Handle See the figure to the right. Sometimes price will confirm the double bottom then waffle up and down, forming a handle. When price breaks out of this region, it often moves up in a strong trend.
Flat base Expect a large rise if the double bottom appears after a long, flat base. Use the weekly scale to find the flat base – the double bottom will look like a pothole in a road.
Trends A short-term decline leading to the double bottom results in the best postbreakout performance.

Yearly low

Double bottoms within a third of the yearly low perform best.

Volume trend

A downward volume trend suggests good postbreakout performance.
Throwbacks Throwbacks hurt postbreakout performance.

Double bottom setup

Eve and Adam double bottom measure rule
Measure Rule
Eve and Adam double bottom chart pattern with handle
Handle
Flat base followed by any chart pattern
Flat Base

Example

Eve & Adam double bottom chart pattern example

The above figure shows an example of an Eve & Adam double bottom chart pattern. The Eve bottom has three days at about the same price level. Adam bottom has a long, single price spike. The two bottoms look different. Eve is wider than Adam and more rounded looking. The Eve & Adam double bottom chart pattern confirms when price closes above the high between the two bottoms, shown here as the breakout point.

Copyright © 2005-2006 by Thomas N. Bulkowski. All rights reserved. If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished.