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High and tight flags are the best performing chart pattern in both bull and bear markets. Even
though the break even failure rate is 0%, this pattern does fail. Don't count on making a 69% average rise either.
That’s an average of hundreds of perfectly traded trades, something no one can do. For more information see pages
350 to 361 of the book Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns, Second Edition and the following...
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 High and tight flag
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Important Bull Market Results
Overall performance rank (1 is best): 1 out of 23
Break even failure rate: 0%*
Average rise: 69%
Throwback rate: 54%
Percentage meeting price target: 90%
* None of the 253 patterns
I looked at failed to rise less than 5%. However, this pattern does fail, I
just didn’t find any when I did the statistical analysis.
Identification Guidelines
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Characteristic |
Discussion |
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Price trend |
Upward leading to the pattern.
The price should rise by at least 90% in less than 2 months. |
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Shape |
A consolidation pattern forms
after price doubles. It usually doesn’t look like a flag or pennant, just a pause in the price rise. |
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Volume |
Recedes for best performance |
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Confirmation |
The pattern confirms as
valid when price closes above the highest peak in the
pattern. |
Trading Tips
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Trading Tactic |
Explanation |
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Measure rule |
Compute the height from the start of the price swing
(point A in the measure rule figure to the right) to
the end of the price swing (B) and then take half of
it. Add it to the bottom of the flag (C) to get the
target (D). |
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Breakout |
Only buy when price closes above
the highest peak in the chart pattern (including the flagpole). That is point
B in the Measure Rule figure to the right. Buying
sooner risks price never confirming the pattern (in other words, price drops or
moves horizontally for months). |
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Tight patterns |
Trade tight flags, not loose
ones. Tight flags perform better than loose ones. A loose flag is one in which
price meanders, pokes outside the trendline boundary, contains white space, or
looks jagged. See the figure to the right. |
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Trends |
An intermediate-term (3 to
6 months) drop leading to the start of the price upswing results in the best postbreakout performance. |
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Retrace |
Keep the flag retrace (see BC
in the Measure Rule figure to the upper right) of the prior up move
(AB) less than the 36% median retrace for the best
performance. |
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Slope |
Price trends of 45 degrees
or so in the flagpole mean a better postbreakout rise than ones that go nearly vertical leading to the flag. |
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Width |
Flags (excluding the flagpole)
less than the median 15 days wide tend to do better postbreakout. This is the
horizontal distance from B to
C in the Measure Rule figure to the upper right.
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Trendline |
Flags with a down-sloping
top trendline tend to outperform. |
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Trendline Trade |
For steep price trends, use a volatility stop and draw a trendline
beneath price. If price closes below the trendline, then consider selling. For an
example, look at IIIN from January to April 2006. The HTF starts in January and
price more than doubles in less than 2 months, eventually rounding over at the top.
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 The Measure Rule
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 Tight v. Loose
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Example
The above figure shows an example of a high and tight flag chart pattern. Price begins the rise in October at 9.36
and rises to 17.80, a climb of 90% in less than 2 months. Then price moves sideways, forming an ascending triangle.
When the breakout occurs, it confirms the high and tight flag chart pattern as a valid one and price resumes the up
trend. Price tops out at 23.72 less than 2 months later, a rise of 33%.
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