Price action and patterns

Bull flag or bear flag breakout

1m–15m

The rules, in plain English. Ask Wicky “Is my setup here?” and it checks each one on your chart, says what’s still missing, and draws your levels.

The rules

First: a strong impulse, the flagpole: several big candles one way, ideally on rising volume.
Then: a tight pullback against it, the flag, that gives back less than half the pole, on lighter volume.
Trigger: a candle closes out of the flag in the pole's direction.
Entry: that close.
Stop: beyond the flag's far side (under its low for a bull flag).
Target: the pole's length projected from the breakout, or the prior high. At least 2R.
Skip it if: the pullback gives back more than half the pole.
On the chart: the pole and the flag, with volume if possible.

Try this setup on your chart ›Wicky for Mac

How Wicky checks it

Hold ⌃⌥ over your chart and ask. Wicky reads the chart on your screen, on any platform, and checks every rule above, starting with “First: a strong impulse, the flagpole: several big candles one way, ideally on rising volume”. Then it answers out loud: not yet, and what you’re still waiting for, or your entry, stop and target with the risk-to-reward, drawn on your chart and locked to it as you scroll.

Trade it a little differently? Change any rule, or write your own in plain English. Wicky checks your version, not a textbook’s.

Wicky checks your own rules. It doesn’t tell you to buy or sell, doesn’t predict price and never places trades. Trading involves substantial risk of loss. ICT and Smart Money Concepts are named to describe setups; Wicky isn’t affiliated with their authors.