What is the triple top pattern?
The triple top is a bearish reversal pattern. Three attempts at the same ceiling, three rejections. Rarer than a double top and slower to build.
How to spot a triple top
- 1Find three highs at roughly the same price after an advance.
- 2Mark the lows of the dips between them as the floor of the range.
- 3The pattern completes when price closes below that floor.
How does the triple top form?
Three attempts at the same ceiling, three rejections, with pullbacks in between.
How do you confirm a triple top?
Each failed retest leaves fewer buyers willing to try again. The level matters more than the exact shape of the peaks.
When does the triple top fail?
A level tested three times is obvious to everyone watching, which is precisely why the eventual break is so often upward instead.
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 triple top, cut off where the pattern completed. Make your call, then see what happened.
The shaded area is a triple top. Where did price go next?
Triple Top: common questions
Is the triple top bullish or bearish?
The triple top is bearish. Each retest that fails leaves fewer buyers willing to try again.
How do you spot a triple top?
Find three highs at roughly the same price after an advance. Mark the lows of the dips between them as the floor of the range. The pattern completes when price closes below that floor.
What is the difference between the triple top and the triple bottom?
The triple top: Three attempts at the same ceiling, three rejections. Rarer than a double top and slower to build. The triple bottom: Three tests of the same floor that all hold. The base is wide, and the level is obvious to everyone watching.
How reliable is the triple top?
No chart pattern works every time. A level tested three times is obvious to everyone watching, which is precisely why the eventual break is so often upward instead. 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 triple top?
Use the real charts on this page: each one stops where the triple top completed, so you can make a call and then see what happened. The free Chartle app mixes the triple top 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.
