The ChartRead Blog

A strong move up, a tight pullback, then a breakout. The bull flag is one of the cleanest continuation setups in trading. Here's how to read it and when to actually pull the trigger.

Not all insider buys are equal. Grants, 10b5-1 plans, and open-market purchases are three completely different things. Here's how to tell the difference and which ones actually matter.

One of the most reliable breakout setups in the market. William O'Neil called it out decades ago and it still prints. This is how the pattern forms, what volume should look like, and how to set your entry.

Three peaks, two troughs, and a neckline. The head and shoulders is one of the most reliable reversal patterns in all of technical analysis. Here's how to trade it with a clear entry, stop, and target.

Most traders have MACD on their chart but don't fully understand what it's measuring. Here's what the three components do, when the signals are reliable, and where it falls apart completely.

A stock hits the same level twice and fails. Simple to spot, consistent to trade. Here's how the double top and double bottom patterns work, what the neckline does, and how to set the trade up.

RSI is everywhere, but most traders misuse it. The 70/30 levels aren't the whole story. Here's what RSI actually measures, why the 50 line matters more, and how divergence gives you real signals.

Candlestick charts have been used since the 17th century. You don't need to memorize 50 patterns. Here's how to read a candle, the key formations worth knowing, and why context is everything.

Triangles form when price gets squeezed between two converging trendlines. The breakout that follows is usually sharp. Learn how to tell the three types apart and how to measure the target.

Congress members are required to publicly disclose their stock trades. Here's how the STOCK Act works, where to find the data, and how to use congressional trading as one signal without reading too much into it.

Earnings reports move stocks. But trading them is harder than it looks. Here's why options buyers get burned by IV crush, what post-earnings drift is, and how to approach earnings without unnecessary binary risk.

The most fundamental indicator in trading. Here's the difference between SMA and EMA, the 20/50/200 levels every trader should know, golden crosses, and how to use MAs as dynamic support and resistance.

Price gets all the attention, but volume is what gives price moves meaning. Learn how to confirm trends, spot distribution, identify high-conviction breakouts, and read On Balance Volume before price moves.

Before you learn any pattern or indicator, you need to understand support and resistance. These are the price levels the entire market watches — and where the most reliable trade setups form.

The 38.2%, 50%, and 61.8% levels show up again and again on charts. Here's why they work, how to draw them correctly, and how to build a trade around them with confluence.

Fakeouts kill most breakout traders. Here's how to tell a real breakout from a trap — volume confirmation, closing prices, and the retest entry that gives you the best risk/reward.

The bear flag is the mirror image of the bull flag — a sharp drop, a tight relief bounce, then continuation lower. Learn the structure, volume pattern, and how to trade the breakdown.

A rising wedge in an uptrend is a warning. A falling wedge in a downtrend is an opportunity. Here's the critical distinction between wedges and flags, and how to trade both.

Not all gaps are the same. Breakaway gaps change the trend. Common gaps fill the same day. Here's how to identify which type you're looking at and build the right trade around it.

Order blocks, fair value gaps, liquidity sweeps — explained without the hype. What SMC actually describes, what's genuinely useful vs. overfitted noise, and how to apply it practically.

Percentage-based stops get hit by normal volatility. Structure-based stops put the exit where the trade is actually wrong. Here's how to place stops correctly and size your position around them.

When someone drops $2M on short-dated calls, that's not a hedge. Learn what call sweeps, golden orders, and unusual put activity actually tell you — and how to combine flow with chart analysis.

Before every major trend, large operators quietly build positions. Wyckoff's 100-year-old framework shows you how to see it before the breakout — the four phases, the Spring setup, and why it still works.