Harmonic Pattern Example: Alternate Bat Bullish
The Alternate Bat Pattern
The Alternate Bat Pattern is another pattern by Scott M. Carney. This pattern comes from his second Volume Two in his Harmonic Trading series of books. He discovered this pattern roughly two years after (2003) his discovery of the Bat Pattern (2001). Carney wrote that ‘the origin of the alternate Bat pattern resulted from many frustrated and failed trades of the standard framework. The standard Bat pattern is defined by the B point that is less than a 0.618 retracement of the XA Leg.’ Essentially, with the Alternate Bat Pattern we observe an extension beyond the 88.6% level at D, where D moves slightly below X (in a bullish Bat) or above X (in a bearish Bat). I view Alternate Bats as classic and powerful bear traps and bull traps. And they are just plain nasty if you find yourself thinking that a new low means further downside movement and a continuation lower – but instead to you get whipsawed by a massive reversal.
Alternate Bat Elements
- Whereas the 88.6% retracement is nearly singular to the Bat Pattern, the Alternate Bat Pattern utilizes the 113% retracement of XA to determine the endpoint.
- B must be a 38.2% or less retracement of XA.
- Minimum projection of 200%
- The AB=CD pattern must be an extended AB=CD and often is a 161.8% level.
- The pattern is potent when using a form of divergence detection, such as the Composite Index, to confirm the pattern.
Sources: Carney, S. M. (2010). Harmonic trading. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Gilmore, B. T. (2000). Geometry of markets. Greenville, SC: Traders Press. Pesavento, L., & Jouflas, L. (2008). Trade what you see: how to profit from pattern recognition. Hoboken: Wiley.
