Time Stop in Trading: When a Breakout Stalls Too Long

Picture a breakout from a seven-week base with the pivot at 48.20. The stock closes the breakout day at 48.95 on volume running 1.6 times its 50-day average, and the…

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Adam Grimes: Testing Chart Patterns, Trading Edge and Risk

A breakout clears resistance, looks convincing for two sessions, then falls back into the range. The losing trade alone tells you very little about whether the setup was worth taking.…

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Eight-Week Hold Rule: Holding a Fast Post-Breakout Leader

A growth stock clears a seven-week base with a pivot at 50.00 and closes the breakout session at 51.20. On session 12 it closes at 60.40, which is 20.8% above…

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Quarterly Earnings Acceleration: Reading the EPS Sequence

Two growth stocks report in the same week. Both show earnings per share up about 57% from the same quarter a year earlier, and on a screen they look interchangeable.…

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New Highs and New Lows: Breadth Context for Breakouts

The index closes at a fresh high, the headlines call it a strong market, and my breakout list has three names on it. Two of them reverse back into their…

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Volatility Contraction Pattern: Reading Shrinking Swings

Picture a growth stock that ran from 40.00 to 72.50 in about four months and then stalled. The first pullback took it down to 58.00, a drop of 20.0%. Weeks…

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Three Weeks Tight: Reading Clustered Weekly Closes

A growth stock clears a base at 54.80, runs for six weeks, and then the weekly chart goes quiet. Three Friday closes land at 61.20, 61.65 and 61.05. On the…

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7-8% Stop Loss Rule: An Entry-Based Loss Ceiling Explained

A stock clears its base, a trader enters at 100.00, and three sessions later the price is sitting at 95.40. The breakout volume has faded. Nothing on the chart says…

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Cup With Handle Pattern: Prior Trend, Handle and Pivot

A growth stock runs from 32.00 to 60.00, pulls back to 44.40, works its way back up to 58.90, then drifts for two weeks inside a narrow range just under…

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Read more about the article UPST +92%: the post-IPO base breakout ahead of earnings, August 2021
UPST on the 2021-08-02 breakout entry, from my chart archive

UPST +92%: the post-IPO base breakout ahead of earnings, August 2021

On 2 August 2021, Upstart Holdings closed at 133.41, up from 120.76 the session before and above a 130.9 high that had capped it since 12 July. Six sessions later…

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