Constructing flags, pennants, and triangles from swing pivots

Swing pivots as pattern corners

Swing-line geometry is used to construct chart patterns by anchoring pattern edges at swing pivots where price reversed. A swing-line connects successive swing pivots so overlapping swings and pattern boundaries are easier to see.

A swing pivot is a reversal high or low. It anchors a pattern edge and can serve as a candidate support or resistance level. Overlapping swings are paired upswings and downswings that occupy a shared price zone and signal congestion rather than a clean one-way move.

Construction from smallest to largest

In a trend, pattern construction is ordered from smallest to largest as one-swing flags, two-swing pennants, two-swing flags, two-swing ABC corrections, and three-swing triangles or wedges.

One-swing and two-swing flags

A one-swing bull flag is constructed as the first retracement after a breakout, with a typical search constraint of a pullback no longer than four bars. The one-swing flag is the smallest pattern in that sequence: a compact continuation shape whose first pullback is a single swing against the prior impulse.

A two-swing bull flag is constructed when two pairs of swings overlap after a breakout, marking congestion rather than a single clean pullback. The two-swing flag is the larger flag built from those overlapping swings.

Former resistance at a breakout level can be retested as candidate support once price returns above that level after the flag swings.

Two-swing pennants

A pennant is constructed by comparing two overlapping swing pairs and finding a lower second swing high together with a higher second swing low. That contracting continuation shape is a two-swing pennant.

When that contracting geometry appears after an advance out of a multiyear decline, it can be treated as consolidation inside a larger uptrend rather than a new trend change.

Three-swing triangles and wedges

A three-swing overlapping structure can be constructed either as a rising or ascending wedge that sets up a reversal or as a running triangle that precedes continuation. Both belong with the three-swing triangle: a larger consolidating geometry formed from three overlapping swing pairs, including wedges and running triangles.

Name the geometry before positioning

Naming the constructed geometry first is used to exclude other pattern hypotheses before choosing how to position for the remaining possibilities.