V-Top (Spike Reversal) Chart Pattern — How to Spot and Trade It

A sharp, nearly symmetrical spike up and collapse — reversal without warning.

In plain words

Touching a hot stove — one instant at the peak, then a fast pull-back.

What the classic books say

The V-Top (Spike Reversal) is a reversal pattern with reference reliability Low and illustrative behaviour of Hard to anticipate (the kind of statistics catalogued in Bulkowski's encyclopedic pattern studies and Murphy's technical-analysis classic). Frequent in news-driven blow-offs.

Level by level

Beginner

Straight up, straight down. Fast and brutal, with no time to prepare.

Intermediate

Climax buying flips to climax selling; there is no consolidation to lean on.

Advanced

Best identified in hindsight; risk-manage with trailing stops rather than prediction.

Trade plan (educational template)

• Entry: Rarely tradable at the turn; consider only after a lower high forms.
• Stop-loss: Above the spike high.
• Target: Prior support zones on the way down.
• Check the numbers with the Risk-Reward calculator before any entry.

Common beginner mistakes

• Trying to catch the exact top
• No stop on momentum longs

Practise it now

• ▶ Draw the V-Top (Spike Reversal) with live trendlines and a ghost forecast
• 📖 Full lesson in the Learning Hub

_Educational content only — not financial advice. Historical behaviour never guarantees future results._