M & W Wave Patterns │ Arthur A. Merrill

In 1971, Robert A. Levy made the first attempt to systematically classify price patterns. He categorized five-point patterns, defined by price swings influenced by stock volatility, and tested their significance. Although he was unable to identify any substantial forecasting power, he introduced a valuable concept: the five-point categorization of time-price patterns.

» Pick any five consecutive turning points. If the first of the four swings is upward, 

the pattern forms an M. If the first swing is downward, the pattern is a W. «

Arthur A. Merrill, 1984.

 

This method remained dormant for a decade until Arthur A. Merrill revived it and published applicable results in the early 1980s: He employed the same five-point pattern approach, but instead of Levy's volatility filter, he used a rather large 8-percent swing filter in his research study. (Of course, since time and price are fractal, Merrill's patterns are too; they appear on every price swing scale across all timeframes.)

 

Merrill's 16 M and 16 W wave patterns, and their statistical occurrences: Are some of these patterns bullish? 

Are some bearish? When a certain pattern occurred in the past, what happened to prices after the pattern?

Merrill organized five-point patterns based on the sequential order of points from high to low, creating a structured taxonomy of "Ms" and "Ws". He identified 32 distinct patterns, grouping them into two categories: 16 resembling a capital M and 16 resembling a capital W. He then highlighted six subcategories, based on classical chart pattern names used by market technicians:

Uptrends                                            M15, M16, W14, W16
Downtrends                                      M1, M3, W1, W2
Triangle                                               M13, W4
Head and Shoulders                      W6, W7, W9, W11, W13, W15
Inverted Head and Shoulders    M2, M4, M6, M8, M10, M11
Broadening                                        M5, W12 

For example, an M1 is a strongly descending pattern, while the middle patterns, M8 and M9, are flat. An M16 is a strongly ascending pattern. Similarly, a W1 is a descending pattern, the middle Ws are flat, and a W16 is an ascending pattern.

 

So, what is the practical application and benefit of Merrill's weird-looking M & W Wave Patterns in trading? They can be used to identify support/resistance levels, determine areas of interest, anticipate market direction and reversals, project extensions, define entry and exit points, and manage risk. 

 

» There are only two ways a short-term high or low is broken. «

Larry Williams,  2000.

How? You may want to watch the following video, as well as review the references and recommendations provided below.

 

M & W Patterns: A Complete Guide to Market Structure, 

Change of Trend, Entries & Targets.

 

Reference:

Arthur A. Merrill (1984) - Behavior of Prices on Wall Street (2nd Ed.).

Arthur A. Merrill (1980) - M and W Wave Patterns.

Arthur A. Merrill (1977) - Filtered Waves - Basic Theory.

 

See also: 

Larry Williams (2000) - Swing Points as Trend Change Indication. 

Larry Williams (2022) - How Markets Move: The Natural Cycle of Range Change.  

Andrey Emelyanov (2014) - Evolution and Mutation of Dynamic Five-Point Wave Patterns. 

Michael J. Huddleston (2022) - Trading Market Reversals. (video) 

Aksel Kibar (2024) - The 8 Most Common Chart Patterns & How to Trade Them.

Price Action Patterns & Entries at High and Low of the Day | Cameron Benson

Our focus is on price action trading at key levels: daily high and low, and the previous day's extremes. We examine how price reaches these levels — through Stair-Stepping or Ramping — and its subsequent behavior. The price action patterns include M's, W's, Double Tops/Bottoms, and Pin Hammers at daily highs and lows. 

 

 Stair-Stepping and M Patterns: These indicate potential reversals at daily highs or lows, 

with detailed entries and exits often managed through lower time frames.

Ramping is characterized by parabolic price movements and often leads to swift reversals. Observing tight candle patterns with minimal overlap helps identify strong trends and potential breakouts. We also look for specific patterns like Stair-Stepping and Three Pushes, with Peak Formations signaling possible reversals.

 

 Ramping Behavior: Recognized by tight, parabolic moves followed by rapid reversals. 

The ramp into extremes usually signals significant price shifts.

The following 5 minute charts of the NASDAQ are from last week (September  9-13, 2024). They show Entry and Exit Strategies, using Pin Hammers and Engulfments for Entries, and managing stops based on price action, with adjustments for larger, more volatile bars.

Monday, September  9 (Day 1 of 3 Day Cycle):

 

 Identified an M pattern at the high of the day with a pin hammer and engulfment, suggesting a strong short entry.

Tuesday, September  10 (Day 2):

 

Despite a promising setup, a large entry bar resulted in a stop-out. 

Emphasis on avoiding large entry bars and managing risk.

 

Wednesday, September 11 (Day 3/1): 

 

 Similar to previous days with M patterns and engulfments, also highlighting entry points and risk management.

Thursday (Day 2) and Friday (Day 3), September 12-13:

 

 Charts show patterns like descending triangles and W formations, 

with a focus on understanding price behavior relative to session timings.

 

Successful short-term trading relies on recognizing and acting upon the above presented price action patterns, managing entries and exits based on contextual behavior, and adapting strategies according to the specific market conditions within the 3 Day Cycle.

 

Reference:
Cameron Benson (September 14, 2024) - Price Action High And Low Of The Day (Day Trading Entries)(video) 
Cameron Benson (September 14, 2024) - Price Action High And Low Of The Day (Day Trading Entries)(pdf)
Cameron Benson (June 16, 2024) - The Complete 3 Day Cycle Short-Term Trading System.

Stacey Burke (December 5, 2023) - The Three Day Cycle & Parabolic Trade Setups.
Cameron Benson (August 20, 2023) - Three-Push Reversal Patterns.

 Richard D. Wyckoff (August 30, 2024) - Re-Accumulation & Re-Distribution Range Patterns.

Richard D. Wyckoff (December 21, 2022) - Accumulation & Distribution Schematics.  

Toby Crabel’s "Bull Hook" Trading Strategy Tested | Ali Casey

As an algo trader, I value patterns for their ease of programming and testing, which allows for the development of robust trading strategies. Today, we'll explore bull and bear hooks, patterns that can vary in details but generally serve to catch traders on the wrong side. Toby Crabel, Joe Ross, and Thomas Bulkowski, among others, have variations of these patterns.

Toby Crabel's original definition of the Bull Hook pattern:

» A Bull Hook occurs on Day 2. A Bull Hook is defined as a day with a higher open than the 

previous day's high followed by a lower close with a narrowing daily range. The next day (Day 1), 

a trade is taken on the initial move off the open, preferably to the upside. «

 

Toby Crabel's original definition of the Bear Hook pattern:

  » Bear Hook is a day in which the open is below the previous day's low and the close 

is above the previous day's close with a narrow range relative to the previous day. As implied by 

the name there is a tendency for the price action following a Bear Hook to move to the downside. «

The Bull Hook pattern has two main forms:

Bull Hook 1: In a downtrend, the pattern is identified when today's bar is an up bar with a smaller range than the previous day and is an inside day (high lower, low higher than the previous bar). We buy with a stop order above the high of this bar.
Bull Hook 2: Here, today's bar is a down bar with a smaller range than the previous day, opening above the previous high and closing below the previous close. This pattern involves just two bars.

For testing, I used TradeStation with S&P 500 e-mini futures data. The backtest for Bull Hook 1 was disappointing, showing a loss with only 15 trades, which seemed unusual given its pullback nature. A deeper analysis suggested that the specific conditions, particularly the inside day and green bar requirements, were limiting trades. By removing some conditions, like the inside day and green bar, and focusing on a simpler pullback strategy, the results improved significantly with about 200 trades and positive performance metrics. 

 

For Bull Hook 2, the test also yielded fewer trades than expected, which might be attributed to its breakout nature, not performing well on the S&P 500. Simplifying the conditions here also improved the results somewhat, though it remained less effective. The Bear Hook pattern, when flipped for long trades, performed better but still had a low trade count. Removing some conditions and simplifying it increased the trade count and improved performance. 

 

While both Bull Hook patterns had potential, their effectiveness was highly dependent on specific conditions and the number of trades generated. Simplifying the patterns often led to better results.

Reference:
Ali Casey (July 28, 2024) - The Secrets of Toby Crabel’s Bull Hook Trading Strategy Exposed. (video)
 Toby Crabel (1990) - Day Trading With Short Term Price Patterns And Opening Range Breakout.
MyPivots.com (2024) - Scanner for Toby Crabel Price Patterns in the E-mini S&P 500 Futures. 

 

See also:

Thomas Bulkowski (2013) - Hook Reversal, Uptrend.

 Thomas Bulkowski (2013) - Hook Reversal, Downtrend.

Joe Ross (1991) - Trading the Ross Hook.

Slava Loza (2021) - How to Trade the 1-2-3 Reversal and the Ross Hook Patterns.

Thomas Bulkowski on Hook Reversals in an Uptrend and in a Downtrend.

The 8 Most Common Chart Patterns & How to Trade Them | Aksel Kibar

I've simplified classical chart patterns to the most basic/common 8 patterns. I think most new patterns are derived from those basic ones. Our brains' pattern recognition is not that advanced to focus on so many derivatives. In fact better success can be achieved by narrowing down the below to select few.

 

 

There are 3 Types of Triangles: The symmetrical triangle, the ascending triangle and the descending triangle. Between those three I favor ascending and descending triangles for couple of reasons. One of them is, both ascending and descending triangles have horizontal boundaries. Breakouts through the horizontal boundaries are the chart pattern signal. The other reason is that, both ascending and descending triangles have directional bias due to their upward and downward sloping lower and upper boundaries. I find symmetrical triangles difficult to trade as price usually finds resistance at the minor highs following the breakout. Pause around minor resistance usually hampers the momentum and can result in more frequent failures. A symmetrical triangle has both boundaries converging towards an apex. It is a neutral chart pattern and doesn’t have a directional bias.

 

 » The Head and Shoulder Continuation (H&S Continuation) is one of my favorite chart pattern. «

 

There are 4 Types of Breakouts:

Type 1 Breakout = Breakout without any Re-Test/Pullback.
Type 2 Breakout = Breakout with a Re-Test/Pullback.
Type 3 Breakout = Breakout followed by hard Re-Test of Pattern Boundary.
Type 4 Breakout = Failed Breakout  - Price fails to continue in the breakout's direction and instead reverses. 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakout Type 1, Type 2, and Type 3 Summary.

 

 

 Head & Shoulder Top Failure acting as Bullish Continuation.

 

Cup & Handle as a Continuation Pattern in an Uptrend.

 

Rectangle as a Continuation Pattern in an Uptrend.

Symmetrical Triangle as a Continuation Pattern in an Uptrend.

 

Several Bullish Chart Patterns in an Uptrend.

Rectangle Bullish Reversal.

 

Rectangle Bullish Continuation.
 

The latest stats on pattern reliability: Rectangle continues to lead. With good risk management Type 1 & Type 2 breakouts offered edge with pattern signals.

 

 

Reference:

Aksel Kibar @ X

Aksel Kibar - YouTube Channel.

Aksel Kibar - Tech Charts Blog.
Richard Schabacker (1934) - Technical Analysis and Stock Market Profits.
Robert D. Edwards & John Magee (1948) - Technical Analysis of Stock Trends.
Peter L. Brandt & Bruce Babcock Jr. (1990) - Trading Commodity Futures with Classical Chart Patterns.

Peter L. Brandt (2011) - Diary of a Professional Commodity Trader: Lessons from 21 Weeks of Real Trading.

Stacey Burke (2015-2024) - Best Chart Patterns & Trading Setups for End-of-Day, Short-Term-, and Day-Trading. (videos)

 

 

 From Peter Brandt's foreword to the 2021 Harriman House re-edition of 

Richard Schabacker's 'Technical Analysis and Stock Market Profits'.

There Are Only 8 Possible Range Patterns in Any Bar Chart | Larry Williams

At the November 2014 Las Vegas Traders Expo, Larry Williams discussed 8 possible Range Patterns. He demonstrated that for any given bar, there are only 4 possible outcomes to the next:

1. Down Range: Last Bar's high is lower than prior Bar's high; and last Bar's low is lower than prior Bar's low.
2. Up Range: Last Bar's high is higher than prior Bar's high; and last Bar's low is higher than prior Bar's low.
3. Inside Range: Last Bar's high is lower than prior Bar's high; and last Bar's low is higher than prior Bar's low. On a Daily S&P500 Chart this occurs approximately 12% of the time.
4. Outside Range: Last Bar's high is higher than the prior Bar's high; and Bar's low is lower than the prior Bar's low. On a Daily S&P500 Chart this occurs approximately 12% of the time.
   

Price action cannot occur in any other way. Within these 4 Range Patterns each last bar can either be an up bar or a down bar. So there are actually 8 possible Range Patterns: 

1. Down Range, Down Day
2. Down Range, Up Day
3. Up Range, Down Day
4. Up Range, Up Day
5. Inside Range, Down Day
6. Inside Range, Up Day
7. Outside Range, Down Day
8. Outside Range, Up Day

Using these 8 patterns some powerful strategies can be created. Larry Williams presented back-tested statistics associated with trading these patterns using a simple entry and exit technique. He stressed that they were not the best entry or exit techniques but shown because they were easy to understand and program. This strategy is intended only to show where we have a bias or advantage in the marketplace.

 

Entry: At market close.
Stop Loss: Based on $ Stop.
Exit: First Profitable Opening.

 

His message was that we could go home and verify using our own software. His results for testing this on the e-mini S&Ps from 2002 forward [to 2015] were as follows:

So, the Down Range, Down Close day [1.] offers the best potential short term 'long' setup based on net profit. This was the take-home message of the presentation.

 

Larry Williams further dug into the Down Range, Down Close setup to uncover which day of the week offered the best trade: The stats support the 'Turnaround Tuesday' concept.

And further investigating by Trading Day of Month revealed that 1, 17, 19, 22 and 23 were the best days, showing 92% winners and $47,500 net profits with 107 trades.

It was also found that a Down Range Larger Range day was better than a Down Range smaller Range day. $205 Avg 80% Win, vs $33 Avg 85% win,

Also naked close was better than a covered close (naked close meaning that the close was outside of the previous day’s range). $155 Avg 83% Win vs $30 Avg 83% Win. And combining these two concepts:

Down Range, larger range, Covered close: $60 Avg, 83% Winners
Down Range, larger range, Naked close: $215 Avg, 85% Winners

 

References:

Chris White (2015) - Range Type Scanning and Backtesting in EdgeRater.

Larry Williams (2015) - Presentation in Moscow.

 Robert F. Smith (2019) - What Do We Know to Be True About Price Action? 

TPR (2018) - Contraction > Breakout > Expansion | Toby Crabel's Price Patterns.  

Six Million Pageviews

Thank you for your interest in Snippets from the Diary of a Trader. Six million pageviews. Amazing. Who would have thought? I created this blog in 2012, initially as a personal online backup for notes on what I picked up and developed from posts in Yahoo! Groups.

 

 

I first became aware of the potential of the stock markets in the 1990s, when I made some considerable gains, driven by a combination of hearsay and pure luck. It was nice, but I had better things in mind. I was eager to start working as a young geologist across all continents. Being on missions, often facing poor or no internet access and working in time zones far removed from London and New York, I didn’t seriously start trading until 2018.

I quickly realized that most of my earlier musings and ventures into Gann, Bayer, and various financial astrology concepts weren’t particularly helpful in achieving my practical goal of making real money in the markets. I started with automated trading systems; the drawdowns and returns made me sick. That chapter came to an end the moment I lost all my hardware, software, files, and backups. During the COVID-19 plandemic, I shifted my focus back to patterns, market structure, price action, timing, and short-term trading setups and techniques.

 

» The three traits that speculators must learn to manage within
themselves are confidence, fear, and aggressiveness. «

GOAT trading teacher.

 

Studying the works of Toby Crabel, Larry Williams, Richie Naso, Steve Mauro, Michael Huddleston (ICT), Stacey Burke, Jevaunie Daye, D'onte Goodridge, Frank Ochoa, Jeff Hirsch, and others has been instrumental in my progress. They blew away all the retail-trader instruction crap I had previously gathered. Forever grateful. Snippets of their teachings are featured on this page: no indicators; reading naked bar charts; knowing average, small, and large ranges; understanding the logic and precision of patterns; accumulation, manipulation, and distribution phases; ICT lingo, concepts, setups, and more.
 
Short-term patterns in the financial markets are governed by timed market-maker algorithms. They repeat over and over again. Price always moves from liquidity to inefficiency and vice versa, or from internal liquidity to external liquidity and vice versa. And there are only three things price action can do: break out of a range and trend, break out of a range and reverse, or range between previous highs and lows. Hence, there are three main patterns: range, breakout-and-trend, and reversal patterns. Pump-coil-dump and dump-coil-pump—or no trade. At first, I didn’t really notice or understand these patterns, order blocks, imbalances, and liquidity levels, until it became impossible not to see them. They are everywhere, precise to the pip.
 

» Think like a criminal. «
Veteran Wall Street Trader Richie Naso. 

It’s been quite a journey; one never stops learning. While I’m aware that there are myriad other, perhaps smarter and more efficient, ways to make more money, more quickly, in the markets, my approach works just fine for me. I primarily trade the S&P 500, the NASDAQ, Gold, and Crude Oil. Peace of mind, health, endurance, discipline, patience, and risk management are what matter most. Never bet the farm. Greed is not good. Have a coat for rainy weather. I hope you find value, inspiration, shortcuts, and benefits in my snippets. Spread the love, and may peace and God’s blessings be upon you.

The Principle of Contraction/Expansion | Toby Crabel

Price always moves from Consolidation to Expansion, never from Consolidation to Reversal or from Consolidation to Retracement. 

 

After an Expansion, two possible scenarios can occur: either a Retracement or a Reversal, followed by another Expansion or Consolidation. That’s it—it happens over and over again. 

» The principle of Contraction/Expansion is defined as the market phenomenon of change from a period of rest to a period of movement back to a period of rest. This interaction between the phases of motion and rest are constantly taking place, with one phase directly responsible for the others' existence. «

 

Toby Crabel, 1990
 

In his study 'Day Trading with Short Term Price Patterns and Opening Range Breakout' Toby Crabel defined the following range contraction and expansion patterns:

NR4 - The narrowest daily range relative to the previous three day’s daily ranges compared individually.
NR7 - A day with a daily range that is narrower than the previous six day’s daily ranges compared individually.
WS4 - (Widespread 4) A day with a daily range that is larger than any of the previous three day’s daily ranges.
WS7 - (Widespread 7) A day with a daily range that is larger than any of the previous six day’s daily ranges

             compared individually.

His key findings were: A cumulative total of Gross Profits for the contraction patterns vs expansion patterns on trades in the direction of the move off the open showed $710,000 for contractions on 7,313 trades and $102,000 for expansions on 7,524 trades. Profits were seven times larger for ORB (Opening Range Breakout) trades after contractions than expansions.

» Clearly something is going on here. The suggestion from these results is that one should be looking to go with a forceful move off the open after a contraction and not willing to do so after an expansion. In fact, fading price action off the open, with trend, after an expansion is a consideration. Other patterns can help with the decision on whether to fade a move off the open along with previously mentioned market context. If nothing else, one should be aware of the dangers of ORB trades the day after a big directional day. Caution is necessary after expansions. This is when the most attention is given to the market by the novice trades who invariably get caught in whipsaws and trendless markets. «  

 The more defined the congestion area, the better the chances for a Trend Day activity the following day.

Bitcoin - Inside Bar Narrow Range 4 (ID/NR4) in monthly, weekly, daily and 4 hour bar charts.

» An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed 

and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. «
Isaac Newton's 'First Law of Motion', 1687

 

Reference:
Toby Crabel (1990) - Day Trading With Short Term Price Patterns And Opening Range Breakout.

Jack Corsellis (2023) - Toby Crabel - Secret Trading Strategies of Billionaire Trader Revealed. (video)

Jarrod Goodwin (2023) - Testing Toby Crabel's Narrow Range NR4 Breakout Strategy on Daily and 4 Hour Time Frames. (video)
Ali Casey (2023) - Toby Crabel's Narrow Range NR4 Pattern. (video)