Educational guide

Cup and Handle: A Geometry-First Explanation

A cup-and-handle pattern is typically drawn as a rounded recovery toward a prior high followed by a smaller consolidation near the upper area. The boundaries are interpretive, not standardized.

Why this pattern is especially subjective

A “rounded” cup can be smooth or uneven, and observers disagree about acceptable depth, duration and handle shape. Because the label depends heavily on visual judgment, precise-looking targets should not hide the subjectivity of the inputs.

The reference high matters

The prior high often becomes the horizontal reference used to describe a potential breakout. Distance to that level can be measured exactly once the level is chosen.

Depth and measured moves

Some methods use cup depth as a projected distance. The subtraction is easy; deciding which high and low define the cup is the subjective step. PreBreakout keeps the measured-move output explicitly separate from a forecast.

Use examples as diagrams, not evidence

A synthetic diagram can teach the vocabulary without implying that a real security currently forms the pattern. That is why this site avoids current ticker examples entirely.

Keep the distinction clear: a chart label describes geometry or past observations. It is not, by itself, a forecast, probability estimate or instruction to buy or sell.

Try the math yourself

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