What is the head and shoulders pattern?
The head and shoulders is a bearish reversal pattern. Three peaks: a higher middle one (the head) between two lower ones (the shoulders), joined underneath by the neckline.
How to spot a head and shoulders
- 1Find three peaks after an advance, with the middle one the highest.
- 2Draw the neckline through the two lows between the peaks.
- 3The pattern completes when price closes below the neckline.
How does the head and shoulders form?
Three peaks: a higher middle one (the head) between two lower ones (the shoulders), joined underneath by a neckline drawn through the lows between them.
How do you confirm a head and shoulders?
The head must make a clear higher high while the shoulders do not. This difference shows momentum building and then fading.
When does the head and shoulders fail?
The neckline break is where most of these fail: price closes below it, then reclaims it within a bar or two, and the shape becomes a range.
No chart pattern works every time. The examples on this page were chosen because they show the pattern clearly, and in real markets patterns fail often.
Practice on real charts
3 real examples of the head and shoulders, cut off where the pattern completed. Make your call, then see what happened.
The shaded area is a head and shoulders. Where did price go next?
Head and Shoulders: common questions
Is the head and shoulders bullish or bearish?
The head and shoulders is bearish. The head makes a higher high, but the shoulders do not. This shows momentum building and then fading.
How do you spot a head and shoulders?
Find three peaks after an advance, with the middle one the highest. Draw the neckline through the two lows between the peaks. The pattern completes when price closes below the neckline.
What is the difference between the head and shoulders and the inverse head and shoulders?
The head and shoulders: Three peaks: a higher middle one (the head) between two lower ones (the shoulders), joined underneath by the neckline. The inverse head and shoulders: The same shape upside down: a deeper middle trough between two shallower ones, with the neckline above.
How reliable is the head and shoulders?
No chart pattern works every time. The neckline break is where most of these fail: price closes below it, then reclaims it within a bar or two, and the shape becomes a range. That is why it helps to wait for confirmation and to practice on many real examples before relying on it.
How can I practice spotting the head and shoulders?
Use the real charts on this page: each one stops where the head and shoulders completed, so you can make a call and then see what happened. The free Chartle app mixes the head and shoulders in with 48 other patterns in short daily sessions.
Keep learning
- Chart pattern gameGuess where price goes next on real charts, all 49 patterns mixed.
- All 49 chart patternsEvery bullish and bearish pattern, with a printable cheat sheet.
- How to read candlestick chartsBodies, wicks and colors explained from the start.
- Cheat sheet PDFAll patterns on two printable pages.
