what does a cup and handle pattern tell you 
american technician william j o neil defined the cup and handle c h pattern in his 1988 classic how to make money in stocks adding technical requirements through a series of articles published in investor s business daily which he founded in 1984 o neil included time frame measurements for each component as well as a detailed description of the rounded lows that give the pattern its unique teacup appearance 12as a stock forming this pattern tests old highs it is likely to incur selling pressure from investors who previously bought at those levels selling pressure is likely to make price consolidate with a tendency toward a downtrend trend for a period of four days to four weeks before advancing higher a cup and handle is considered a bullish continuation pattern and is used to identify buying opportunities 3it is worth considering the following when detecting cup and handle patterns a retest of previous resistance is not required to touch or come within several ticks of the old high however the further the top of the handle is away from the highs the more significant the breakout needs to be 