Studio note ·
Double tops and the second failure
Two peaks of similar height are common. A double top, in the way we teach it, also requires a valley and a leave that valley will not forgive.
Beginners circle any two neighboring highs. That habit produces a gallery of almost-patterns and a lot of frustration. We require a valley that is obvious on the same timeframe, peaks that are near in height without being twins by force, and then a close through the valley that does not immediately reclaim it.
The second peak is allowed to be slightly lower or slightly higher. Obsessing over identical prints is a way to avoid deciding. What we watch is whether the second attempt showed less willingness to stay at the high, and whether the later leave of the valley was a decision or a nick.
Inverse double bottoms follow the same manners, flipped. Chart Pattern Foundations spends a full evening on these turns because they are the shapes students over-call on every wiggle of a Georgian trading evening at home.