Reversal patterns
Rising wedge
Usually bearish
Price grinds higher between two upward-sloping lines that converge — the highs rise more slowly than the lows.
What a rising wedge tells you
Rising price with shrinking range is a warning, not strength. The market is running out of room. Rising wedges most often break downward, including inside uptrends.
Why it forms
Buyers keep paying up but each push covers less ground. The last buyers in have very little cushion.
How traders enter it
Traders wait for a close below the lower boundary and often target the level where the wedge began.
How it fails
In a powerful trend a rising wedge can simply keep rising for far longer than the geometry suggests. Shorting inside the wedge before the break is where most damage is done.
That last section is the one worth rereading. A pattern is only useful because it comes with a level that proves you wrong — without one you have a shape and a hope.
People also ask
Is a rising wedge bullish or bearish?
A rising wedge is usually read as bearish, but only once it confirms. Before the confirming break it is a shape, and shapes fail. Context decides more than the label does.
How do you trade a rising wedge?
Traders wait for a close below the lower boundary and often target the level where the wedge began.
When does a rising wedge fail?
In a powerful trend a rising wedge can simply keep rising for far longer than the geometry suggests. Shorting inside the wedge before the break is where most damage is done.
Can ChartLens spot a rising wedge for me?
Yes. Photograph or screenshot any chart and ChartLens names the pattern if it is clearly formed, with a confidence level and whether it is forming, confirmed or failed — and says nothing if it is not there.
Last updated .