Patterns › Bull flag vs Bear flag
Look-alikes
Bull flag vs Bear flag
They look alike, so beginners mix them up. Here is what each one means, and how often each one worked on real charts.
Bull flag
A fast rise, a short calm pause, then price breaks out of the pause.
A bull flag has two parts: a pole, which is a fast, strong rise, and a flag, which is a short pause that drifts sideways or slightly down. The pause shows buyers resting, not giving up. The pattern completes when price closes above the top of the flag. Traders see it as a sign the rise may continue, but many flags fail, so the break is only a clue.
Calling any pause a flag, even when there was no fast, strong pole before it.
Bear flag
A fast fall, a short calm pause, then price breaks down out of the pause.
A bear flag has two parts: a pole, which is a fast, strong fall, and a flag, which is a short pause that drifts sideways or slightly up. The pause shows sellers resting, not giving up. The pattern completes when price closes below the bottom of the flag. Traders see it as a sign the fall may continue, but many flags fail, so the break is only a clue.
Calling any pause a flag, even when there was no fast, strong fall before it.
Real odds side by side
Counted by the Trading Class research engine on real past candles: entry at the signal candle's close, target 1.5 × ATR(14), stop 1 × ATR(14), 12 candles to decide, a candle that touches both counts as the stop. How we count. Past data, not a forecast and not advice.