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1988issue C031-7

Three-point curved trend channel construction

A curved boundary is treated as valid for later reading only after it is drawn through at least three price points. Fit a high-side curve, a low-side curve, or an inside-out curve, then let a later touch confirm that same bend or break it.

  • A curved boundary is treated as valid for later reading only after it is drawn through at least three price points, while a straight trendline is treated as valid from two.
  • Fit a high-side curve through successive highs as resistance and a low-side curve through successive lows as support, or use an inside-out curve that can later act as both.
  • Paired curving boundaries can keep a wedge-like advance intact as one curved price channel, whereas straight lines from the same lows would have required three redraws and would split the move into segments.
  • Treat a curve junction as a candidate reversal site, and leave earlier descending three-point curves on the chart as later resistance until a new construction indicates a structural turn.
Entries in this reading3 entries
Current trackPrice channel77 readingsTrendline128 readingsSupport and resistance170 readings

A curve is valid after three points

A curved boundary is treated as valid for later reading only after it is drawn through at least three price points. A straight trendline is treated as valid from two.

Each curve is traced with a drafting French curve. French-curve placement uses one of four documented orientations so the template can mark a smooth arc on the price chart.

Two ways to place the curve

One construction method fits a three-point curve through successive highs or successive lows in congestion, accumulation, distribution, or trending areas. The high-side curve is read as resistance. The low-side curve is read as support.

A second method fits an inside-out curve across related highs and lows, then extends it to mark later candidate support or resistance. The same curve can act as support at one location and resistance at another.

Later prices on the same curve

In the first gold sequence, a curve through three daily highs later restrained a fourth high. A curve through three rising lows later turned back two subsequent declines.

Paired curving boundaries are described as keeping a wedge-like advance intact as one formation. Straight lines from the same lows would have required three redraws and would split the move into segments. That pair is the curved price channel: a high-side curve and a low-side curve enclosing the sequence as one formation.

Breaks, role changes, and curve junctions

After a double top and an established downtrend, a new three-point curve first stalled a rally and, once broken, later served as support.

The worked examples treat a curve junction, the meeting of two or more independently drawn curves, as a historically important reversal location.

A break of a descending three-point curve is presented as a warning to watch for a change in the existing price sequence.

Curves left on a declining chart

In the declining Eurodollar example, three descending curves remain on the chart as candidate resistance on later rallies or deterioration until new curves indicate a structural turn.

Educational research material, not investment advice. Historical source context does not establish present-day performance.
2 of 55 in the Price channel track
19881-4 pp.Next on Price channelLeast-squares construction of channel trendlinesA trendline may be placed through successive highs, successive lows, or through the interior of the price series rather than only at the extremes.
All readings on this track · 55 readings
  1. 1988Constructing price channels from trendlines
  2. 1988Three-point curved trend channel construction
  3. 1988Least-squares construction of channel trendlines
  4. 1988Three-zone price channel from quadratic smoothing
  5. 1989A variable-sensitivity stochastic built on three-sigma bounds
  6. 1989Close-minus-average oscillator for channel extremes
  7. 1989The six-stage hunt as a critique of one-click heroics
  8. 1990Fair-value gaps and a copper moving-average channel
  9. 1990Diversify markets, not systems, to cut trend-system variance
  10. 1991Constructing trendlines, price channels, and close-based breakouts
  11. 1991Constructing seasonal-cycle overlays with channel confirmation
  12. 1993Lag-compensated exponential trend channel construction
  13. 1993Constructing a lead-lag filter and price channel as one stack
  14. 1993Three stochastic warnings still need price-channel confirmation
  15. 1993Lead-lag smoothing for weekly trend-channel construction
  16. 1993Constructing zero-net-lag price channels
  17. 1995From a downtrend-line break to a regression channel
  18. 1995Validated trendline and price channel construction
  19. 1995Constructing price envelopes from averages, volatility, and regression
  20. 1996Constructing trendlines and channels from explicit swings
  21. 1998Fifty percent retracement as a channel regime test
  22. 1998Close-based channel rails as daily scenario maps
  23. 1999Constructing support, resistance, trendlines, and price channels
  24. 2001Cycle composites, price channels, and two-sided signals
  25. 2001Testing horizontal price channels with stops and scale
  26. 2002A two-stage momentum-shift and price-channel process
  27. 2002Wave-by-wave channel construction for Elliott counts
  28. 2002Affine channels as reusable trade hypotheses
  29. 2004Stress-test seasonal windows across regimes, then add channels
  30. 2004Regime permission from trendlines, channels, and range edges
  31. 2004Weekly-average and price-channel states on sector depositary baskets
  32. 2005Oil services catch-up after channel resistance breaks
  33. 2005Constructing a volatility-normalized cycle index
  34. 2005How a Darvas channel becomes a complete entry and exit procedure
  35. 2005Clustered Fibonacci and channel levels in news-driven forex
  36. 2005Treat a consolidating currency market as a time-frame problem
  37. 2005Channel walls that flip roles or recapture price
  38. 2006Stacking candlesticks, crossovers, and price channels
  39. 2006Failed uptrend channel breakout left the euro rangebound
  40. 2006Constructing a Wilson relative price channel from a range-bound strength index
  41. 2007Range bars change when a Bollinger squeeze counts as a breakout
  42. 2009One testable SPY procedure for a price channel, a trend rule, and a seasonal overlay
  43. 2010A gold-miner channel plan from value to false breakouts
  44. 2010A multi-timeframe channel from value to an overvalued zone
  45. 2010Asymmetric price channel construction for congested markets
  46. 2011Phasing many cycles at once with nested envelopes
  47. 2012Constructing adaptive horizontal price channels
  48. 2014Confirming support with trendlines, channels, and retracements
  49. 2015News-sentiment confirmation for support, channel, and volume tests
  50. 2015A three-layer permission stack: moving averages, a price channel, and weekly levels
  51. 2016Entropy-diff as a regime switch between trend following and a price channel
  52. 2017Competing rulers on a pound chart after Brexit
  53. 2017Test consolidation channel breakouts as one procedure
  54. 2020Constructing late-trend longs with a price channel, gap breakout, and trailing stop
  55. 2025Using IBM's multi-year price channel as a breakout teaching case
By fieldTrend and channels181 readingsBy year198866 readings
All 77 readings tagged Price channel
Also on Price channel5 readings
1996Constructing trendlines and channels from explicit swings1998Close-based channel rails as daily scenario maps1999Constructing support, resistance, trendlines, and price channels2004Regime permission from trendlines, channels, and range edges2005Channel walls that flip roles or recapture price