Gartley

[Michael97]

What is a Gartley pattern and how shall I trade it?

[Elise Cubb]

Hi Michael, thanks for asking this question.

Gartley is the most popular version of the harmonic pattern. It is based on the Fibonacci sequences and it aims to identify levels of potential interest on both sides. 

We make a distinction between the bullish and bearish versions of Gartley, with both helping the overall trend to extend. For this reason, Gartley is considered to be a continuation chart pattern.

As other harmonic patterns, Gartley has five points - X, A, B, C, D. The rules for verifying a Gartley pattern are:

XA - The XA leg initiates an uptrend or a downtrend and everything starts from here. 

AB - The mark B should end around the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement. 

BC - The point C is expected to end at either on the 38.2% Fibonacci level, or on the 88.6% Fibonacci level of the AB leg. 

CD - If the BC leg is finished at 38.2% of AB, the CD leg should end at 127.2% extension of BC. If the BC leg ended at 88.6% of AB, then CD should be the 161.8% extension of BC.

XD - Finally, the XD retracement should end at 78.6%. 

The last point, D, is a buy/sell signal for us. This is where you should place your order with a stop below/above it. You can calculate the profit-taking order by involving other technical indicators.