V-Bottom
A steady, straight decline that reverses sharply without a pause; completes on a close above the 38.2% retracement.
Bulkowski's V-bottom: a straight-line drop into a single low and an equally fast recovery. He uses a close above the 38.2% retracement of the drop as the breakout.
V-turns are hard to tell from a bounce in a continuing decline; there is no base to lean on.
How we define it
- Drop: at least 8 ATR and 20% (1D) / 10% (4H) / 30% (1W), over 10-60 candles on 1D (18-150 on 4H, 3-13 on 1W), close to a straight line
- The low is not a single-candle spike; the recovery is no longer than the drop and already above 20% of it
- Boundary: the 38.2% retracement level; no earlier close above it
- 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
No recent breakout or breakdown
No v-bottom has completed recently. See all patterns.
Nothing on the watchlist
No mature v-bottom is close to its breakout or breakdown level right now.