Wyckoff accumulation
A long sideways range after a fall, drawn with labeled stages from Richard Wyckoff's method.
What it shows
Wyckoff described a series of stages in a trading range after a decline: a selling climax, an automatic rally, a secondary test, a spring below support, and a sign of strength above resistance. The names describe what traders saw in price and volume.
Whether a range is accumulation is a judgement made afterward. We show the labeled stages on a sketch and check basic conditions: a prior decline, a range of at least 30 bars and a close above the range.
How we find it
The same code that draws it on your chart follows these steps, with the same result every time.
- Find a prior decline of at least 20%.
- Find a range of 30 or more bars.
- Check for a dip below support that closes back inside (a spring).
- Check for a close above the top of the range.
Starting values: Prior fall 20%; Range 30 bars. These are proposed and will be tuned on real price data before launch.
How to read it
- The shaded block is the range.
- SC marks the selling climax and Spring the dip below support.
- Price exits above the range.
Status labels you may see
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| All conditions met | The four conditions hold. |
| In range | Range found but not exited. |
| None | No range. |
What cancels it
Cancelled when price closes well below the range.
What traders check next
- Volume at each stage.
- Length of the range.
- Which stage price is in.
Limits
- Labels are subjective.
- Hindsight.
- Many ranges end downward.
Try it in forecastviz
- Open any ticker and choose Relative strength, cycles and structure → Wyckoff accumulation in the left menu.
- Switch between 1Y, 3Y to see how the picture changes.
- Compare with Failed breakdown and Base breakout on the same chart.
Questions
Is it a Buy pattern?
No. It is a description of a range.
Who was Wyckoff?
An early 20th-century trader and teacher.
Related trends
Further reading
- O'Neil, How to Make Money in Stocks
- Levy, The Relative Strength Concept of Common Stock Forecasting
- Pring, Technical Analysis Explained
- Frost and Prechter, Elliott Wave Principle
- Hank Pruden, The Three Skills of Top Trading
- Hirsch, Stock Trader's Almanac
Educational only. Not financial advice, and not a price forecast. Charts are drawn by code from past price data, which may be delayed.