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Academy ·  Chart Pattern Library ·  Consolidation breakouts
Pattern 8 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
Consolidation breakouts  ·  Pattern 8 of 18

Rectangle

Breakout, either directionAlso called: Trading range, box

Price moves between a flat ceiling and a flat floor. The range ends when a candle closes outside it.

What it shows

Inside the box, buyers and sellers agree on value. A close outside the box shows that one side is willing to trade at new prices.

How the scanner finds it
  • Both lines move less than 0.6 ATR across the pattern.
  • At least two touches on each side, with every close inside the box.
12345TargetEntryStop1234
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

    Four swings fit a flat box.

  2. 2
    Complete

    A fifth swing still fits.

  3. 3
    Close to signaling

    A close comes near the ceiling or the floor.

  4. 4
    Time to act

    A candle closes outside the box.

  5. x
    Cancelled

    One more pattern length passes without a break.

The textbook trade

Trigger
A close outside the box.
Stop
Beyond the last swing on the other side.
Target
The height of the box, projected from the break.

Things to watch

  • Ranges often fake out once before the real move. Some traders wait for a second close or a retest of the broken edge.
  • Wyckoff traders read the same box as accumulation or distribution. See the liquidity sweep entry for the "spring" idea.
Where it comes from

Edwards and Magee (1948) call it a rectangle; Richard D. Wyckoff's method (1930s) studies the same trading ranges as accumulation and distribution.

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.

ETHUSD15-minute chart2026-10-18Rectangle, broke downReached the target
2354.92375.52396.12416.72437.310-17 19:0010-17 22:0010-18 01:0010-18 04:0010-18 07:0010-18 10:001234T 2374.1E 2399.1S 2430.4145
The alerts it sent
  1. 1Forming2026-10-18 07:15 NY4 swings fit between 2407.3 and 2429.2; watching for a close beyond either line
  2. 4Time to act2026-10-18 09:30 NYclosed through 2407.8: entry 2399.1, stop 2430.4, target 2374.1
  3. 5Result2026-10-18 10:45 NYtarget (+0.80R)
GBPUSD15-minute chart2026-10-19Rectangle, broke downHit the stop
1.33021.33131.33241.33351.334510-18 19:0010-18 21:3010-19 00:0010-19 02:3010-19 05:0010-19 07:301234T 1.3305E 1.3319S 1.333613345
The alerts it sent
  1. 1Forming2026-10-19 03:00 NY4 swings fit between 1.3323 and 1.3335; watching for a close beyond either line
  2. 3Close to signaling2026-10-19 03:00 NYclose to the trigger at 1.3335
  3. 3Close to signaling2026-10-19 03:15 NYclose to the trigger at 1.3323
  4. 4Time to act2026-10-19 03:30 NYclosed through 1.3323: entry 1.3319, stop 1.3336, target 1.3305
  5. 5Result2026-10-19 07:15 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

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