Descending Trianglepattern.
A mixed structure that combines flat support with falling resistance. One side defends a fixed level while the other presses with steadily lower highs.
- Flat support, falling resistance.
- Pressure builds against the defended floor.
- Wait for a decisive close below the flat level.
- A return above the floor weakens the read.
Idealised outline. The dashed yellow line is the support or resistance the book asks you to draw before naming the pattern.
How the book reads it
- 01
Structure — how to draw it
Draw the horizontal support that buyers keep defending, then the falling resistance line through the lower highs. As the highs fall, the space above the flat floor narrows.
- 02
Psychology — who is in control
Buyers defend a fixed level while sellers appear at progressively lower prices. In the book’s framework, the repeated pressure against the defended level gradually weakens the defending side.
- 03
Confirmation
Consistent with the book’s general rule, the structure is treated as confirmed only after a decisive close below the horizontal support, ideally with volume expansion, not on a brief intraday dip.
- 04
Risk — where the idea is wrong
As with every structure in the book, the idea is proved wrong beyond the same support and resistance that formed the pattern — a return inside the triangle after the breakout weakens the read.
- 05
Common trap
The book’s general warnings apply: a breakdown without volume is a question mark, not weakness, and a quick return above the support level suggests the move has not been accepted.
On real charts
Annotated by Mr. Chartist for the book: the structure, the breakout, the pattern's height and the level that proves the idea wrong. Historical charts for education — not a view on any stock today.
More diagonal patterns
Rising or falling boundaries that reveal changing momentum, participation, pressure, and direction.
From the book · Diagonal support & resistance
The full Descending Triangle chapter — in the book.
Development stages, volume behaviour, breakout quality, traps and more annotated case studies.
