Complex Head and Shoulders Bottom
An inverse head and shoulders with two or more shoulders on a side under one flat neckline; completes on a close above it.
The bottom version of the complex head and shoulders: several shoulder lows around one lower head, all capped by the same horizontal neckline.
Rare; extra shoulders make the pattern wider, so it needs the full minimum length.
How we define it
- 7 or 9 alternating swings of at least 2 ATR: one head (the lowest low) and at least three shoulders, two on at least one side
- Neckline: all rally highs within 3% (or 15% of the depth) of each other, at least 3 on the line; no close above it before the breakout
- Shoulders at 30-85% of the head depth and within 25% of each other; the prior trend is down or sideways
- Minimum length: 2 months on 1D, 3 months on 1W, 10 days on 4H
- Breakout (up) / breakdown (down): the first candle close beyond the boundary by at least 3% on 1D and 1W (1.5% on 4H)
- Failed breaks: a breakout or breakdown that closes back inside the boundary within 6 candles on 4H, 5 on 1D or 3 on 1W is removed from the list
- Trend filter: breakouts only above the 200-period EMA (40-week EMA on 1W), breakdowns only below it
- Watchlist: the pattern is complete but unbroken and price is within 3% (or 1 ATR, at most 6%) of the boundary
Recent breakouts & breakdowns (2)
Nothing on the watchlist
No mature complex head and shoulders bottom is close to its breakout or breakdown level right now.