How to Trade Bullish and Bearish Technical Divergences

The indicator in this case is indicating that investors are becoming less bullish and therefore the market is overextending itself or “overbuying” to the upside. There are two things that a technician can do once a divergence forms and prices start to drop. First, it is an opportunity for long traders to be proactive about their risk control.

Hidden divergences are mainly used when the market is consolidating and you want to know when the main trend will resume. As you can see, the difference with regular divergences is best forex brokers in the world 2021 small, but you can find them at the end of the consolidation phases. This type of divergence is called “hidden” because, most of the time, you don’t immediately see the divergence.

To confirm the potential breakout of resistance levels, traders may analyze trading volume and other indicators. Once you have connected two or more bottoms with a line, you can use a preferred indicator to see whether a price action differs from your technical analysis tool. In most cases, traders use momentum oscillators, while the relative strength index could be the most popular choice.

If there is a reading over 80, the market would be considered overbought, and if the stochastic oscillator is below 20, it would be considered oversold. If there is a discrepancy between what is shown on the oscillator, and what is shown on the price chart, this is a divergence. The stochastic is formed of an indicator line and signal line, which are bound on a scale from zero to 100. The scale represents the asset’s trading range over 14 days, and the percentages tell a trader where the most recent closing price sits in relation to the historical prices. A divergence is what happens when the price of an asset is moving in the opposite direction to a momentum indicator or oscillator.

How to trade bullish and bearish divergences

The faster EMA is called the signal line, while the slower line is called the MACD line. If the MACD line is above zero, it is seen as confirming an uptrend, while if it is below zero it is believed to show a downtrend. It is important to note that if you end up missing the divergence, and the price has already changed direction, you shouldn’t rush into a position. In fact, it can be great to look at a longer timeframe and gather data on how a market behaves after a divergence before you enter a position. Hidden bullish divergences are usually found at the end of a consolidation phase and indicate that the main uptrend is about to resume. As the word suggests, divergences occur when the behavior of a price is opposite to what we expect from the observation of a technical indicator.

Although the indicator moves down, a lack of lows on the price chart signals bears’ weakness. In the EUR/USD 1H chart below, we can see how the pair creates lower bottoms while the RSI is moving in the other direction with higher bottoms. In this case, the bullish divergence pattern is confirmed and a trend reversal eventually occurs. Divergences can be an important warning signal that a bullish trend is ending.

All you need to do is apply an indicator and check whether the price and the indicator are moving in different directions. Bullish divergence is the first sign of a possible price reversal. However, you always need additional confirmation, whether it’s the MACD indicator, RSI or a Stochastic Oscillator. The MACD indicator is a lagging indicator, which means that its signals occur late. If the price trend is up, then look for divergence among the peaks, not the valleys.

What Does Divergence Mean in Trading?

Oscillators are useful for sussing out short-term changes in the market, versus trend-following indicators, which are more useful for longer-term trends. This candlestick patterns for day trading is the same Daily chart of the EUR/USD we used at the beginning of this article. However, this time we have included our entire trading strategy here.

• The scale represents the asset’s trading range over 14 days, and the percentages tell a trader where the most recent closing price sits in relation to the historical prices.
• You can also see the same signal on a CCI which is hitting much more extreme lows compared to recent history.
• In the chart above, the price experienced change in momentum after the divergence.
• We always say that it’s vital to use other technical indicators or patterns to confirm any signal you get.
• Technical analysis in bitcoin and crypto is often a game of confluence.

From the above chart, we can see that the techncial indicator – in this case the stochastic oscillator – has not reached a lower low. This means that there is a Best Bitcoin And Crypto Wallets For 2021, as the downward momentum is weakening and could soon reverse upward. If the price trend is down, then look for divergence among the valleys, not the peaks. When you spot divergence, recognize that the price trend may change.

At the bottom of the chart we have the MACD indicator, which is used to spot a bullish divergence. This is when price creates higher tops on the chart, while your indicator is giving you lower tops. After a bearish divergence, price usually makes a rapid bearish move. Notice that this happens despite the previous bullish attitude in the price.

What is a bearish divergence?

This doesn’t mean an immediate sale, but you should be ready to flee. On the other hand, if they spot a regular bullish divergence at the end of a downtrend, they expect a new uptrend soon. Key patterns to look for when attempting to gain insight into potential future price action. Once again, in the chart below, we added the Stochastic indicator to see how the discrepancy between the market price and the indicator can create a trend reversal. For example, let’s assume that a trader decided to analyze hidden divergence using Stochastic and MACD, after spotting it with RSI. We have further defined this signal as a period of diverging trends between prices and the indicator when the indicator has been making peaks in the “overbought” territory.

Then, we see a large bearish candle, which breaks the Moving Average line between the bands. At the same time, the Bollinger Bands start expanding, indicating higher volatility. Subsequently we see a price drop of about 8% over the next three weeks. The short trade in this case could have been closed out when price breaks the Moving Average of the Bollinger Bands in bullish direction.

A Practical Guide to Screening for and Trading Bullish Divergences

The proper location of a stop loss order in this trade should be above the last top of the price action prior the price break at the center Bollinger band line. As you can see the risk was very nominal in relation to the overall profit that could have be realized from this trade. We observe higher tops on the chart, while the Stochastic Oscillator creates lower tops. This confirms a bearish divergence on the USD /JPY. The price starts decreasing afterwards.

Divergence is considered a reliable indicator of potential price retracements, but it doesn’t necessarily signal a complete trend shift or immediate price reversal. Divergences may persist for a long time, and they don’t provide a potential price target. Because of that, traders should apply other forms of analysis to confirm signals offered by divergence.

The Bullish Divergence Candlestick Pattern – Pros and Cons

Medium adapt and overcome quotes occurs when the price makes a double bottom, but the oscillator creates a higher low. Divergence is a popular concept in technical analysis that describes when the price is moving in the opposite direction of a technical indicator. The “disagreement” in this signal occurs when the indicator is making LOWER highs while prices are completing HIGHER highs.

Keep in mind that divergence indicates a potential change in momentum, but it may not lead to a trend reversal. Practice finding this pattern on your own using past data and then look for them to appear in the current market trend. Second, a bearish divergence is a great timing signal for more speculative traders to get short the market or to buy put options. In either case, the signal has given you actionable information for your own portfolio management. A divergence appears when a technical indicator begins to establish a trend that disagrees with the actual price movement.