Intermediate · Candlestick & chart patterns
Head & Shoulders
What it means
Three peaks form with the middle one highest and the outer two level, then price breaks the line joining the troughs between them, completing a potential reversal downward.
At a glance
- Directional bias
- Bearish reversal
- Sessions to form
- 21 consecutive sessions
- Curriculum tier
- Intermediate
- Pattern family
- head and shoulders
Practise this pattern in the Simulator
Reading a definition is not the same as spotting one. Run Head & Shoulders on real historical NSE daily bars in the Pattern Arena — the chart pauses and explains the formation each time it completes. Virtual capital only.
Practise Head & Shoulders in the SimulatorRelated patterns
Inverse Head & Shoulders
bullishThree troughs form with the middle one lowest and the outer two level, then price breaks the line joining the peaks between them, completing a potential reversal upward.
Tweezer Top
bearishTwo consecutive sessions peak at almost exactly the same high, showing buyers repeatedly failing at one price and indicating a potential reversal downward.
Tweezer Bottom
bullishTwo consecutive sessions bottom at almost exactly the same low, showing sellers repeatedly failing at one price and indicating a potential reversal upward.
Three Inside Up
bullishA small up session is contained by the prior down session and a third session then closes above both, confirming selling momentum has stalled and a potential reversal is forming.
Three Inside Down
bearishA small down session is contained by the prior up session and a third session then closes below both, confirming buying momentum has stalled and a potential reversal is forming.
Three Outside Up
bullishAn up session completely covers the prior down session and a third session closes higher still, confirming buyers have taken control and indicating a potential reversal upward.
Educational reference only. This describes what traders conventionally read into the Head & Shoulders formation. It is not a trading signal, a prediction or investment advice, and no pattern is reliable on its own. Finance Onyx is a simulated educational platform: all practice uses virtual capital and no order is ever routed to a broker or an exchange.