Triple Bottom pattern is a bullish reversal chart formation that indicates strong support and the potential start of an upward price trend.
What Is the Triple Bottom Pattern in Trading?
A triple bottom is a bullish reversal pattern that shows up after a downtrend, when sellers try (and fail) three times to break a key support level. Price prints three clear lows around the same area, and each bounce tells you buyers are defending that zone harder than the market expected.
It sits in the same family as other bullish reversal patterns. The story is pretty simple: selling pressure fades, bids start stacking, and the market shifts from distribution to accumulation.
How Does a Triple Bottom Form?
You usually see a clean rhythm: drop into support, bounce, retest support, bounce again, then one more dip into the same area. By the third touch, sellers have had plenty of chances to crack the floor. If they can’t, it’s often a sign the downtrend is running out of fuel.
The neckline is the line across the swing highs between those lows. That level is the “prove it” point. Most textbook triple bottoms take time to build, often 3–6 months on daily charts.
Triple Bottom Pattern: Key Components to Confirm
Three troughs near the same support zone (not three random dips scattered across a range).
Neckline resistance across the reaction highs—this is where the breakout triggers.
Volume: ideally lighter volume on each retest (less sell pressure), then a strong pickup on the break (real demand).
Triple Bottom vs Double Bottom vs Inverse Head and Shoulders
Pattern Feature | Triple Bottom | Double Bottom | Head & Shoulders Inverse |
|---|---|---|---|
Number of Lows | Three | Two | Three (unequal) |
Formation Time | 3-6 months | 2-4 months | 3-5 months |
Reliability | Very High | High | Very High |
Confirmation Needed | Volume spike | Volume surge | Neckline break |
The triple bottom is often quoted around a 70–80% success rate when the breakout is properly confirmed with volume. The real edge is that it gives you clean structure: obvious support, a clear trigger (neckline), and defined risk.
How to Trade the Triple Bottom Pattern
Best Entry Signals and Timing
The clean entry is after a confirmed close above the neckline with volume backing it. If you want less heat, wait for a retest of the neckline after the breakout—old resistance acting as new support is where a lot of good risk/reward entries show up.
Practical entry checklist:
Daily close above the neckline with a decisive bullish candlestick formation
Volume 50–100% above the 20-day average (helps filter fakeouts)
Wide-range breakout candle or clear momentum expansion
Momentum tools (RSI/MACD) not fighting the move
Where to Put a Stop Loss on a Triple Bottom
The most common stop is just below the third trough (or below the support zone). If price breaks that floor after three defended tests, the pattern is basically dead and the downtrend can restart fast.
Risk rules that keep you in the game:
Keep risk to 1–2% of account per trade
Size the position from entry-to-stop distance, not from “how good it looks”
Cut size when volatility spikes and ranges get messy
Don’t widen stops after entry just to avoid being wrong
How to Set Take Profit Targets (Measured Move)
The standard target is the measured move: take the pattern height (lowest low to neckline) and project it up from the breakout. If the height is $10 and the breakout is $50, the first target is around $60.
A simple scale-out plan:
Take 25% off at the measured-move target
Move stop to breakeven (or under the breakout retest swing) if structure allows
Take another 50% into the next resistance zone / 1.5x measured move
Trail the rest using swing lows, a moving average, or ATR
How to Use Volume to Confirm a Triple Bottom
Volume is the lie detector here. You want to see volume fade into each trough, then expand on the breakout. After the break, steady volume on upswings supports continuation. If price grinds up on thin volume and starts stalling, expect consolidation or a pullback and manage risk accordingly.
How to Spot a Triple Bottom: Stages and Confirmation
Stage 1: First Trough at Support
This starts inside a strong downtrend. Price flushes into a support level, sellers press hard, and you’ll often see heavy volume as weak hands dump. Then bids show up and the market bounces—your first clue that demand exists down there.
Stage 2: First Peak and Second Support Test
The bounce runs up toward neckline resistance and stalls. Price rolls back over and retests the same support. What you want to see here is lower volume on the selloff versus the first dump. That’s the market telling you the bears aren’t hitting it with the same force.
Stage 3: Second Peak and Third Support Test
Price rallies again, fails again near the neckline, and dips into support a third time. If that third test comes on even lighter volume, it’s a solid sign of seller exhaustion. Three hits, same floor, no breakdown—eventually the market stops rewarding shorts.
Stage 4: Neckline Breakout Signal
The trade trigger is the push through neckline resistance. The better ones break with expanding volume—often 50–100% above average—then hold above the level into the close. The pattern height (lowest trough to neckline) is what most traders use to project targets and map risk/reward.
Triple Bottom Risks: False Breakouts and Common Pitfalls
How to Avoid False Breakouts
Some breakouts are just stop runs. Price pokes above the neckline, volume is weak, then it snaps back and traps late buyers. If you keep getting whipped, require stronger confirmation—like 2–3 closes above resistance—or wait for a breakout-and-retest before sizing up.
How to Avoid Misidentifying a Triple Bottom
A real triple bottom isn’t just “three dips.” The lows should be tight enough to call it the same support—often within 2–3% for large-cap stocks—and the swings between them should be obvious. If you have to force it, it’s probably not there.
Why Market Context Can Break the Setup
Even a clean setup can fail in a hard bear market or when a negative fundamental catalyst hits (guidance cut, SEC headline, sector downgrade). Check the index trend, sector relative strength, and upcoming events before you commit.
Risk Management Mistakes That Blow Up Accounts
The account killers are oversizing and ignoring the stop. Triple bottoms still fail—often quoted around 25–40%—so you treat every setup like it can be wrong. The goal is to survive the losers so the winners can compound.
Triple Bottom Psychology: What Buyers and Sellers Are Thinking
Before the pattern forms, sentiment is usually ugly. The tape feels heavy, rallies get sold, and most traders are conditioned to expect “one more leg down.” That’s why the triple bottom matters—support keeps holding even when the crowd is leaning bearish.
First Low: capitulation energy. Sellers hit bids hard, then value buyers step in on oversold conditions and force a bounce.
"Each failed attempt to push lower demonstrates bears losing their stranglehold on price action. Buyers gradually seize control as sellers exhaust themselves."
Second Low: the market retests support and holds again. Shorts start getting less confident because the breakdown they expected never comes.
Third Low: by now, the support is obvious. Bears are tired, buyers are more aggressive, and that area turns into a real psychological floor.
What Happens at the Breakout?
When the neckline breaks, the flow flips. Breakout traders pile in, and short sellers cover into strength. That combo can create a fast push, especially if the name has liquidity and the breakout clears a well-watched level.
Triple Bottom Mistakes Traders Make
The big one is front-running the breakout—buying the third dip without confirmation and then getting stuck in a range. Another is calling any sideways base a triple bottom when the lows aren’t actually comparable. And plenty of traders skip the measured move entirely, so they either take profits too early or hold too long into resistance.
Real Triple Bottom Examples and Volume Confirmation Rules
How to Identify a Triple Bottom on a Live Chart
Example: a stock drops from $45 to $40, bounces to $45, falls to $40.50, rallies to $45.50, drops to $40.25, then breaks above $46 on heavy volume. That’s three troughs around $40 support, with a neckline near $45–46. The height is roughly $5–6, which projects a $51–52 target after confirmation.
Volume Confirmation Checklist
Formation phase: volume dries up on each retest (less urgency from sellers)
Breakout phase: volume jumps 100–150% above average through the neckline
Follow-through: volume stays elevated enough to support higher highs instead of fading immediately
Triple Bottom Reliability by Market: Stocks, Forex, Crypto
Market Type | Pattern Duration | Volume Importance | Reliability |
|---|---|---|---|
Large-cap Stocks | 3-6 months | Very High | 65-75% |
Small-cap Stocks | 2-4 months | Critical | 60-70% |
Forex Pairs | 2-6 weeks | Moderate | 55-65% |
Cryptocurrencies | 1-4 weeks | Critical | 50-65% |
Best Indicators for Triple Bottom Confirmation (RSI, MACD, Moving Averages)
You can tighten the read by pairing the structure with RSI oversold at the lows, MACD bullish divergence, and price reclaiming key moving averages (like the 20/50 DMA). Still, context matters. Triple bottoms work a lot better when the broader index is stabilizing and the sector isn’t getting smoked by macro headlines, earnings shocks, or a nasty risk-off tape.
Triple Bottom Pattern: Key Takeaways for Traders
The triple bottom is one of the cleaner bullish reversal patterns because the levels are obvious: support is defined, the neckline is your trigger, and the measured move gives you a target. When it’s confirmed with volume, it can be a high-quality way to catch a trend flip without guessing.
Don’t buy it until the breakout proves itself
Track volume on each support test and on the break
Use disciplined risk management with a real stop
Set targets off the pattern height and nearby resistance
Respect market and sector context so you don’t trade into a headwind
The edge comes from what the pattern represents: three defended tests where sellers can’t finish the job, then a breakout that forces repositioning. Treat it like a structured setup, not a guarantee, and it becomes a repeatable trade instead of a hopeful long.
How do you turn triple bottom setups into repeatable decisions over time?
Because the triple bottom is built around clear structure—support, a neckline trigger, volume confirmation, and defined risk—your long-term results often come down to how consistently you execute those rules. A trading journal helps you review whether you waited for the close above the neckline, how often you demanded a breakout-and-retest, and whether your stop placement stayed anchored to the third trough instead of drifting after entry. Over a meaningful sample, tracking outcomes like R-multiples, win rate by confirmation type (volume spike vs. weak volume), and average drawdown during retests can reveal which versions of the pattern actually fit your market and timeframe. Using a dedicated tracker also makes it easier to tag market context (index trend, sector strength, catalysts) so you can separate pattern quality from environment. For a structured way to log trades and analyze PnL and metrics, a Rizetrade trading journal and performance analytics dashboard can support that review process.