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Forex Basic Strategies

Best Way of Trading The ‘Rectangle Chart Pattern’

Introduction

The ‘Rectangle’ is a classical technical analysis pattern described by horizontal lines showing support and resistance levels on the price chart. This pattern resembles the concept of buying at A significant support level and selling at a predominant resistance level. The price can stay between the Rectangle pattern for a long time, or the pattern can be very small.

The appearance of this pattern implies that the supply and demand of the currency pair are in balance for an extended period. The price action finds resistance at the top of a rectangle and support at the bottom of a rectangle. The pattern can easily be recognized and confirmed after the formation of two highs and two lows. These highs and lows form two parallel lines above and below the price action. These lines act as a strong support and resistance levels to the price action.

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Keep in mind that this pattern doesn’t have a bullish or bearish bias. It is a neutral pattern that shows both parties are holding an equal amount of power. Using this pattern, we can trade with the trend, or it can be used to trade the counter trend and reversals also. In short, the Rectangle chart pattern is both continuous and reversal as well. However, technical experts believe that using the Rectangle as a continuation pattern has higher odds of performing.

Trading The Rectangle Chart Pattern

Example 1

The Rectangle pattern can be easily found on the price charts, and it mostly appears on all the trading timeframes. The below chart indicates the formation of the Rectangle chart pattern on the AUD/NZD daily chart.

As discussed, there is no such thing as a bullish or bearish Rectangle pattern. When we find this pattern on any timeframe, all we need to do is to trade with the trend. We can also trade the Rectangle pattern, just like how we trade ranges.

The image below represents the same Rectangle chart pattern that is shown in the above figure but on the 240 Minutes timeframe. The orange box represents a couple of buy and sell opportunities, but we have decided only to trade this pattern with the trend. The green arrows represent our buying entry in the pair.

The below chart represents our entry and exit in the AUD/NZD Forex pair. The green arrow represents our entry in this pair, and the stop-loss is placed just below the orange box that represents the formation of this pattern. The placement of stop-loss depends on you. If you are an aggressive trader, place the stop-loss just below the entry, and the conservative traders must go for more profound stop-loss.

The take-profit placement is an art as we can exit our positions in many correct ways. You can make use of technical indicators to close the positions. When the trend loses its momentum, use the support, resistance area to close your positions. In the above example, we can see the reversed deeply as soon as we exited our position. This is because that is the place where the significant resistance line is.

Example 2.1

On the daily chart of the AUD/NZD, the below image represents the formation of two rectangle chart patterns in a downtrend.

The below image is the same rectangle pattern (1st) that is shown in the above chart but on a lower timeframe, which is 240 Minutes chart. Most of the time, we will find the Rectangle patterns in a trending market only. Also, this pattern represents the pullback phase of an ongoing trend. Another thing that a Rectangle pattern implies is that both of the parties hold equal power during the pullback phase. That is the reason for this pattern to form in the first place.

So be careful while trading this pattern because, in the consolidation phase, markets often throws a couple of spikes on the price chart. The safest way of trading this pattern is when the price action approaches at the upper area of the Rectangle. In the below chart, the Red arrow represents our selling trade in this pair.

The below chart represents our entry, exit, and risk management in this pair. The entry was at the top of the box. If you compare the stop-loss with take-profit, it clearly shows that we have opted for a smaller stop-loss, it was because the upper line of Rectangle acts as a primary resistance line. If the price action breaks the resistance line, the pattern by default gets invalid, and there is no need to hold our position. Around our take profit area, the price action started struggling, which indicates the power. Hence we decided to close our position.

Example 2.2

The below AUD/NZD Forex chart represents the formation of a Rectangle chart pattern on the 240 minutes chart. The pattern that you see below has appeared right after the previous trade that is discussed above. At times we will see these patterns consecutively, especially in a strong trending market. It is strongly recommended to go with the flow and trade them with confidence. The chart below shows that the price action spends some time in the rectangle box, and when it hits the bottom of the Rectangle, we activated our selling trade in this pair.

The chart below represents the entry, exit, and take-profit in this pair. As we can see, the entry was at the bottom of the Rectangle, and the stop-loss placement was above the Rectangle. For take-profit, we have waited for the sellers’ momentum to die out to close our trade.

Conclusion

For a Rectangle pattern to be valid, the price must have gone through at least two tops and two bottoms on the price chart. Always make sure to hold your trade till the market loses its momentum. You can also look for the formation of any candlestick patterns to exit the trades. If you activate your trade at the top of the Rectangle, make sure to place the stop-loss just above the Rectangle pattern. If the activation was after the breakout, place the stop-loss in the middle of the Rectangle range.

We hope you understood the trading of the Rectangle chart pattern. In case of any queries, let us know in the comments below. Cheers.

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By Reddy Shyam Shankar

I am a professional Price Action retail trader and Speculator with expertise in Risk Management, Trade Management, and Hedging.

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