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Forex Basic Strategies

A Brand New Forex Trading Strategy By Combining The ‘Flag & Pennant’ Patterns

Introduction

Until now, we discussed a bunch of trading strategies that were based on numerous technical indicators. In today’s article, we discuss a strategy that is based on a candlestick pattern. Flags and Pennants are short-term continuation patterns where the market tends to continue moving in the same direction after the formation of the pattern on the chart. These patterns are found on both short-term and long-term charts.

In the case of Flag, the initial move is a sudden, sharp directional move. It is doesn’t matter where the move is formed on the chart; what matters here is the velocity of the move. If the movement is not sharp and large, the reliability of the pattern will be under question. However, it will also use the volume indicator to confirm the strength of the Flag and pattern. Let us understand all the specifications of the strategy in detail.

Time Frame

As mentioned earlier, the Pennant-Flag strategy can be traded on time frames varying from 15 min to ‘Daily.’

Indicators

The only indicator we will be is the ‘Volume’ indicator. The rest of all is based on candlestick and price action patterns.

Currency Pairs

The strategy can only be used on major currency pairs listed on the broker’s platform. Few preferred pairs are EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, GBP/JPY, EUR/JPY, etc.

Strategy Concept

The strategy is based on the concept of the Pennant Candlestick Pattern. A sharp thrust creates a flagpole, and then when the market begins to consolidate into an asymmetric triangle, we wait for a breakout or breakdown. The consolidation is a brief pause before a potential break on either side. If the price clears the top of the ‘Pennant,’ we look for ‘long’ trades, and if breaks below the bottom of the ‘Pennant,’ we look for ‘short’ trades.

After a large vertical flagpole and a triangular consolidation, the market might be getting ready for a further continuation. The odds of a breakout increase when this pattern is accompanied by high volume. In a bullish flagpole, we place our ‘entry’ order above the ‘high’ of the flagpole, and in a bearish flagpole, we place our order below the ‘low’ of the Flag. Of course, when we enter, we’ll need to place a stop.

The stop is calculated by measuring the number of pips that is equivalent to 35-40 percent of the flagpole. For example, if the height of the flagpole is 100 pips, the stop will be placed 25 beneath the entry point.

Finally, we will need to define exits for our trade. Our first target will be equal to the number of pips that we are risking on the trade. Another strategy is to trail the stop-loss trade and exit when the market shows signs of reversal. Let us look at the specifics of the pattern and technique to make winning trades.

Trade Setup

In order to explain the strategy, we have considered the 4-hour chart of EUR/USD, where we will be illustrating a ‘long’ trade. Here are the steps to execute the strategy.

Step 1: The first step of the strategy is to wait for a sharp, sudden, and strong candle to show up on the chart. This usually happens after a major news announcement or after the release of economic data. This candle should compulsorily be with high volume as it indicates that big players of the market created this move. If the candle is not with high volume, the move cannot be trusted upon. We could use the economic calendar to find out the exact time of news release and the event.

In the below image, we can see a large candle that popped up after a news announcement that took the prices sharply higher.

Step 2: After the sudden move, prices should necessarily move in a triangular pattern, which is shrinking in nature. Few traders also refer to this as ‘squeeze.’ This pattern should be formed on the lower time frame. Market moving in this ‘squeeze’ pattern is very important for the strategy to work at its best. This leads to the formation of a Pennant candlestick pattern. Pennants involve two parts – a vertical flagpole and a triangular consolidation. The consolidation is usually for a shorter duration of time. Once the pattern has been formed along with the necessary conditions, let us see how to enter a trade.

The below image shows the formation of a Pennant candlestick pattern on the 1-hour chart.

Step 3: The rules of ‘entry’ are pretty simple. In a bullish setup, we place a ‘long’ entry order just above the ‘high’ of the ‘flagpole’ candle formed on the higher time frame. In a bearish setup, we place a ‘short’ entry order just below the ‘low’ of the ‘flagpole’ candle. As and when the market continues to move in the direction of the ‘flagpole,’ the order will automatically be executed.

In the case of our EUR/USD example, our ‘buy’ order gets executed as soon as prices start moving higher.

Step 4: Now, let us define the exit rules for the strategy. The stop-loss is calculated by the number of pips equal to 35-40 percent of the ‘flagpole.’ Stop-loss is placed below the entry price equivalent to the pips obtained by calculation. The ‘take-profit’ is set a price where the resultant risk to reward of the trade is 1:1. Therefore, the take-profit is determined by the stop-loss. Another exit strategy is to trail the stop loss and exit after we witness a reversal pattern in the market.

Strategy Concept

The idea behind this technique is not to place most trades but to place the best trades. The most crucial aspect of the trade is the ‘Flagpole’ candle. We need to ensure that this candle is a consequence of a major news announcement and not just a normal candle. Many traders become impatient and enter even though all criteria have not been met. Patience and discipline will help us to avoid falling into this trap and keep us on the course.

Categories
Crypto Videos

Using Pennants Correctly In Crypto Trading! How Is It Different To Forex?

 

Using pennants correctly in Crypto trading – spotting the difference between flags, pennants, and triangles

 

The pennant formation is a formation that looks much like a flag pattern but is triangular in shape. These formations tend to appear at the halfway mark of a trend. When a pennant forms, the trading volume tends to contract, while increasing only after the breakout. To simplify it even further, pennants look like a small triangle sitting on a long pole.

Pennants are a variation of a flag pattern, which means that it is made up of a body and a pole, much like the flag. Just like with the flag pattern, the pole height can be used to create a price target after a five-wave breakout from the body of the formation.
They are associated with very mild volatility alongside limited price fluctuations, which differentiates them from flags and triangles.
Difference between a triangle and a pennant
While pennants are most similar to flag formations, it is quite easy to distinguish one from another. On the other hand, triangles and pennants can be mistaken for one another due to the similarity of the pattern if we are not careful. However, they have some key differences which can be used to determine which one is which.

Difference 1 – the Flagpole

The symmetrical triangle and the pennant both have conical bodies which are formed during a period of consolidation. The price consistently fluctuates between higher lows and lower highs, therefore creating two converging trendlines. However, the part which many people know but tend to miss during a live trading session is that the pennant includes a flagpole at the start of its pattern, which is not the case with the symmetrical triangle. The flagpole is a sharp move accompanied by heavy volume, which marks the beginning of an aggressive move to the upside or downside. Price then pauses and forms the body of the pennant, before breaking out.

Difference 2 – the Duration

Another difference between the symmetrical triangle and the pennant would be the difference in their durations. The pennant is considered a short-term pattern that forms over a period of hours, days, or weeks. A triangle pattern, on the other hand, can take much longer, sometimes months or years. If a pennant pattern lasts for several weeks, it can be considered as a triangle as the flagpole is no longer important.

Difference 3 – the Breakout

The breakout after a pennant formation should occur at or near the point of trendline converging, which is called the apex. However, symmetrical triangles usually break above or below the trendlines a bit sooner, namely one half to three-quarters of the way through the pattern. Therefore, triangles almost never reach its apex.

Using patterns in Crypto trading

Pennants are a universal formation, which means that trading using this formation should be no different than using it to trade other assets. However, due to the volatility of the crypto market, one has to consider the duration of the formation itself. As the crypto market is much more volatile, the pattern formations tend to resolve quicker. Pennant formations, when trading regular assets, are not considered important on extremely short time frames, while that is not the case with the crypto market. They also grow into a triangle only after 12-13 weeks of not breaking out with traditional asset markets, rather than just a few weeks with the crypto market.

Conclusion

Recognizing pennants while trading cryptocurrencies can, just like with any other formations, be an effective way to improve your odds of profiting on a trade by determining the direction of the trend as well as the profit target.

Categories
Chart Patterns

Chart Patterns: Flags and Pennants

Flags and Pennants

If you’ve ever traded a chart and you’ve seen what looks like a reversal in the trend, but as soon as you enter the trend seems to continue, odds are you were trading against a continuation pattern. Flags and pennants are titles given to patterns that show up as small countertrend moves that ultimately trap participants and then use their momentum to keep the price moving in the direction of the trend. Flags are represented as rectangular channels, and pennants are represented as triangles.

Before a flag or pennant can be identified, we first need a flag pole. A flag pole is any clear trending price action that, well, looks like a pole. See below:

Flags and Pennants
Flags and Pennants

 

The images above show examples of bearish flags and bearish pennants, as well as bullish flags and bullish pennants. If you are unfamiliar with how to trade triangles or rectangles, refer to the articles that discuss the various triangle patterns. But we can review the basics of entering these great continuation patterns.

Bearish Pennant
Bearish Pennant
Bear Flag
Bear Flag
Bullish Pennant
Bullish Pennant
Bull Flag
Bull Flag

 

Learning how to trade flags and pennants is one of the most useful and enjoyable things that you can learn – especially as a new trader. Flags and pennants help train your brain to get used to buying dips during bull runs and shorting rallies during bear moves. If you get to a point where you can profitably trade flags and pennants, then you have transitioned into a trader who is very near outperforming the vast majority of your peers. It may seem like an easy thing to do – but it is an entirely different thing to execute. Analyzing and identifying a flag or pennant is easy; trading it is difficult.

I can not stress enough how profitable these patterns can be – and how easily you can miss them even in plain sight. The problem resides with your brain – that ‘lizard’ part that kicks in when you are are fearful of your account. When you begin to feel the fear of your account losing money, that triggers a powerful part of your brain known as the limbic system. The limbic system controls fear and pleasure. And when your fear sense is triggered, it hyper focuses the synapsis across your brain. Things that you would passively identify like flags and pennants are tertiary in their importance when the limbic system is acting in your defense. You need to find ways to ‘pause’ the process with things like alerts. On the images above, you saw horizontal lines above prior swing highs and below prior swing lows. Placing alerts at those points may be enough to interrupt your primary fear response and allow you to make money on your emotions.

Because if you are feeling it, so is everyone else.

 

Sources:

Kirkpatrick, C. D., & Dahlquist, J. R. (2016). Technical analysis: the complete resource for financial market technicians. Upper Saddle River: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.

Bulkowski, T. N. (2013). Visual guide to chart patterns. New York, NY: Bloomberg Press.

Bulkowski, T. N. (2008). Encyclopedia of candlestick charts. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons.

Bulkowski, T. N. (2002). Trading classic chart patterns. New York: Wiley.