This post title sounds like a Quinn Martin production from the 1970s, but it actually has to do with an important principle: when the boundaries of a pattern are violated, that pattern is instantly rendered moot. I offer three recent examples below:
![](https://slopeofhope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/slopechart_NOW-640x345.jpg)
![](https://slopeofhope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/slopechart_ALL-640x345.jpg)
![](https://slopeofhope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/slopechart_ORLY-640x343.jpg)
Mercifully, I exited these positions before things got nasty, because I sensed the patterns were annoyingly robust. The point is that, in each of these cases, it was only a few days ago that they were sporting very well-formed rounded tops, all of which are no longer worth following.
I would hasten to add that, again, in all three instances, not a single one of these patterns was complete. In other words, they looked promising, and they were about 90% done, but they were NOT done. This highlights the hazards of anticipating a pattern’s completion, in order to get more of the downside.
As you can see, however, it was rather important that the pattern hadn’t even finished up in the first place.