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Pattern 11 of 18: all patterns
Classic reversals
  1. Double top and double bottom
  2. Triple top and triple bottom
  3. Head and shoulders
Consolidation breakouts
  1. Ascending triangle
  2. Descending triangle
  3. Symmetrical triangle
  4. Rising wedge and falling wedge
  5. Rectangle
  6. Bull flag and bear flag
  7. Bull pennant and bear pennant
Harmonic patterns
  1. AB=CD
  2. Gartley
  3. Bat
  4. Butterfly
  5. Crab
Smart money concepts
  1. Order block after a break of structure
  2. Liquidity sweep and fair value gap
Session patterns
  1. Opening range breakout
Harmonic patterns  ·  Pattern 11 of 18

AB=CD

Reversal at the D zoneAlso called: Measured move, equal legs

Two price legs of about the same length, AB and CD, with a pullback BC between them. When CD reaches the length of AB, the scanner expects the move to pause or turn.

What it shows

Markets often move in legs of similar size. The pattern turns that tendency into a price zone you can see in advance.

How the scanner finds it
  • Three confirmed swings A, B and C, with BC retracing 38.2% to 88.6% of AB.
  • The D zone is where CD equals AB, give or take 10%.
D zoneABCDTargetEntryStop134
An idealized drawing. The numbers are the alert stages; the shaded boxes are the textbook stop and target.

How the alerts work for this pattern

  1. 1
    Forming

    C is confirmed. The D zone is projected on the chart before price gets there.

  2. 3
    Close to signaling

    Price comes within a third of an ATR of the zone.

  3. 4
    Time to act

    Price touches the near edge of the zone (a limit-order style entry).

  4. x
    Cancelled

    Price closes beyond C first (the leg was not done), or takes more than twice the B to C time.

The textbook trade

Trigger
A touch of the near edge of the D zone.
Stop
Beyond the far edge of the zone, plus half an ATR.
Target
61.8% of the CD leg back.

Things to watch

  • AB=CD is the simplest harmonic pattern and appears very often. Many traders only act on it when the D zone lines up with another level.
  • Because the entry is a touch, price can fill and keep going. Decide in advance what you will do if the zone breaks.
Where it comes from

Equal legs are described by H. M. Gartley in Profits in the Stock Market (1935). Larry Pesavento developed the Fibonacci ratio version in the 1990s, including Fibonacci Ratios with Pattern Recognition (1997).

On our charts

Real detections by the scanner on our own price data (2026-08-01 to 2026-10-19), with the alerts it sent. Times are New York time. Some worked and some did not.

US50015-minute chart2026-10-19Bearish AB=CDReached the target
7677.37692.77708.17723.57738.910-19 07:0010-19 08:1510-19 09:3010-19 10:4510-19 12:0010-19 13:15ABCT 7704.7E 7722.5S 7733.8145
The alerts it sent
  1. 1Forming2026-10-19 11:15 NYA, B and C are in; D should end in 7722.5 to 7728.9
  2. 4Time to act2026-10-19 11:30 NYtouched 7722.5: entry 7722.5, stop 7733.8, target 7704.7
  3. 5Result2026-10-19 12:15 NYtarget (+1.58R)
WTI15-minute chart2026-10-19Bearish AB=CDHit the stop
96.3297.2098.0898.9699.8410-19 01:0010-19 03:3010-19 06:0010-19 08:3010-19 11:0010-19 13:30ABCT 97.64E 98.70S 99.281345
The alerts it sent
  1. 1Forming2026-10-19 10:45 NYA, B and C are in; D should end in 98.70 to 99.08
  2. 3Close to signaling2026-10-19 12:15 NYclose to the zone at 98.70
  3. 4Time to act2026-10-19 12:45 NYtouched 98.70: entry 98.70, stop 99.28, target 97.64
  4. 5Result2026-10-19 13:15 NYstop (-1.00R)

Education, not advice. A pattern describes what many traders watch for; it does not predict what price will do. The textbook stop and target are reference levels, not instructions. Trading involves risk.

Put it to work

Trade your way. The Desk backs the move.

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Trading involves risk. This page is education, not advice; examples come from past data.