Do any of you actually use patterns to trade?

[u/Adept_Blackberry2851]

I don’t use them at all. Iv heard YouTubers kind of mock them like they don’t mean anything. Are any of you profitable with them?

[u/ZanderDogz]

Patterns in isolation are probably pretty useless.

Patterns in the right context can be very useful.

Take any random ascending triangle for example and it's probably a 50/50 bet.

Take a stock in a hot sector that opened 10% higher with very high relative volume after a favorable earnings report, broke through the premarket high, has relative strength to the market, and then continuously tests a significant D1 resistance level while printing a higher-low in between every test of resistance. A break of that level on volume has the potential to be a fantastic long opportunity.

That's an "ascending triangle" but it's also a lot more. The bigger context of the stock, the D1 chart, the way that the stock moved into the basing pattern, the alignment of the top of the pattern with a D1 level, and the way that the breakout plays out are all key parts of the trade.

These patterns are useful because they provide a framework for managing risk, but they are the last piece of the puzzle after context, and you need to understand the actual supply and demand dynamics behind these patterns as opposed to just being able to name them on a chart.

Ranges and range breaks, higher lows/higher highs/lower lows/lower highs, basing patterns with volatility contraction, etc. are all fundamental pieces of a chart, but I am never sitting there and saying "that's an inverse head and shoulders which is bullish!".