Which breakout shape is more likely to occur?

I seem to be seeing them happen equally often.

A or B

and

C or D

Just to clarify, these examples are all when either the top or the bottom trendline are horiztontal.

I would say A and D make the most sense to me, but I'm usually wrong about this stuff. I'm trying to raise my odds when it comes to deciding whether to go long or short.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v326/ironfistx/trendlines.gif

 

I'd say a, d

look at this chart for CAT (15 min)

 

In theory I would agree on A and D. In reality any of them could work.

 

A and D.

In my opinion is "flat"(horizontal with the trend) triangle is better than symmetrical, and breakout with the trend at the horizontal resistance.

 

Knowing the market... E

 

A and B can break north, suck you in and then head south.

Or they may suck you in first in which case you would have not taken a position because you can still remember the pain from being clipped last time.
Naturally on this occasion the breakout will run straight and true leaving you behind at the station.

In your wildest dreams you just cannot imagine what C and D can do to you.

 

A and B are opposites, so why do you group them together? My understanding is that B and C will happen much less often than A and D. I'm not really into patterns, though.

 

Click on the one you want to learn about:

<a href="http://www.chartpatterns.com/symmetricaltriangles.htm"><img src="http://www.chartpatterns.com/images/smtrtr1.gif" border="0" width="142" height="102"></a><a href="http://www.chartpatterns.com/ascendingtriangles.htm"><img src="http://www.chartpatterns.com/images/asctrn1.gif" border="0" width="142" height="102"></a><a href="http://www.chartpatterns.com/descendingtriangles.htm"><img src="http://www.chartpatterns.com/images/desctr1.gif" border="0" width="142" height="102"></a>
<a href="http://www.chartpatterns.com/wedges.htm"><img src="http://www.chartpatterns.com/images/wedget1.gif" border="0" width="142" height="102"></a><a href="http://www.chartpatterns.com/flagsandpennants.htm"><img src="http://www.chartpatterns.com/images/flag2t1.gif" border="0" width="142" height="102"></a><a href="http://www.chartpatterns.com/rectangles.htm"><img src="http://www.chartpatterns.com/images/rectng1.gif" border="0" width="142" height="102"></a>

 

^ thanks.

 

Just to point it out, today there was an example of an ascending triangle that broke out to the bottom.

(To any TA guys looking at this chart, the second indicator from the bottom is ergodic. The big candles at the beginning of this chart skew the indicator so after about 10am it's useless. If I scrolled to the right a little bit it would recalibrate and become more readable. But ignore it in this pic. I just mentioned it cuz I knew someone was gonna ask...)