TradingCharts

Flat Top/Bottom

Map ascending triangles (rising lows into flat resistance) — repeated tests of the flat top with higher lows favor an upside breakout.

What it draws

Draws a channel with one sloped trend line and one horizontal line, the shape of ascending and descending triangle patterns. It frames setups where one side is a fixed horizontal level while the other side shows trending pressure into it.

How to draw it

  1. Pick Flat Top/Bottom from the left toolbar (Channels group).
  2. Three points: click the start and end of the sloped line, then a third point to place the horizontal boundary. Drag the third handle to move the flat side.

How traders use it

  • Map ascending triangles (rising lows into flat resistance) — repeated tests of the flat top with higher lows favor an upside breakout.
  • Map descending triangles (falling highs into flat support) — the mirror setup favoring a downside break.
  • Trade the breakout of the flat side, with a measured target roughly equal to the pattern's height at its widest point.
  • Place stops beyond the sloped line, since a break of the rising-lows structure invalidates the pattern before the flat side breaks.

Settings reference

Double-click the drawing (or use its floating toolbar → gear) to open settings:

Setting Control Possible values Default Effect
Color color any color (theme color picker) #05B878 Outline color of the shape.
Line Width select 1px | 2px | 3px | 4px 2px Stroke thickness of the drawing’s lines and outlines.
Line Style select Solid | Dashed | Dotted Solid Dash pattern used for the drawing’s lines.
Fill Color color any color #05B878 Interior fill color of the shape/zone.
Fill Opacity slider 0–100 10 Opacity of the interior fill (0 = invisible, 100 = solid).
[Tab] Text — Text checkbox + textarea on/off, with a multiline text box for the label content off (on when the drawing already carries text) Enables an attached text label on the drawing; typing in the box auto-enables it and updates the label live.
[Tab] Text — Text Color color any color same as the drawing’s line color Color of the attached text label.
[Tab] Text — Font Size select 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 48, 64, 72 14 Point size of the attached label text.
[Tab] Text — Bold checkbox on/off (B toggle button) off Renders the label in bold.
[Tab] Text — Italic checkbox on/off (I toggle button) off Renders the label in italics.
[Tab] Text — Word Wrap checkbox on/off off Wraps long label text onto multiple lines instead of one long line.
[Tab] Text — Text alignment (vertical) select Top | Middle | Bottom Top Vertical placement of the label relative to the drawing.
[Tab] Text — Text alignment (horizontal) select Left | Center | Right Center Horizontal placement of the label relative to the drawing.
[Tab] Coordinates number + datetime one row per anchor point: price (number, step 0.05) and local date/time the drawing’s current anchor values Edits anchor geometry numerically — changing a point’s price or time moves the drawing live on the chart.
[Tab] Visibility checkbox + number range interval buckets: Ticks; Seconds 1–59; Minutes 1–59; Hours 1–24; Days 1–366; Weeks 1–52; Months 1–12; Ranges (each bucket has an on/off checkbox, most also a from–to range) visible on all intervals Per-timeframe visibility rules — untick a bucket to hide the drawing on those chart resolutions, or narrow the from–to range within a bucket.

Editing & managing

  • Move / adjust: drag the drawing or any anchor handle; magnet mode snaps points to OHLC values.
  • Clone / lock / hide / delete from the floating toolbar or right-click menu.
  • Templates: save the current style from the settings dialog and reapply it to new drawings.
  • Every action is undoable (⌘Z / Ctrl+Z).

Watch out for

  • Triangles break against the 'expected' side often enough that anticipating the break before it happens is a common way to get trapped — wait for the actual break or a confirmed retest.