Chart Patterns

Cup and Handle

A bullish base shaped like a rounded 'cup' followed by a smaller pullback 'handle', signaling a potential breakout to new highs.

Schematic of a cup and handle — illustrative geometry, not a live price chart.

Popularized by William O'Neil, the cup is a U-shaped recovery from a prior decline back toward the old high; the handle is a short, shallow drift down that shakes out weak holders before the move. The pattern can take weeks to months to form.

The buy point is typically a breakout above the handle's high on strong volume. A handle that forms in the upper half of the cup and doesn't sink too deep is considered higher quality.

On StockSetups

StockSetups identifies cup-and-handle bases among the chart patterns in its nightly scan and shows the drawn levels, so you can see the rim, the handle and the breakout trigger directly on the chart.

See cup and handle setups live

Related terms

Get daily signals & real-time alerts.

StockSetups scans ~12,300 US stocks & ETFs after every close and sorts every long setup into four ranked lanes — each with a trade plan — plus an always-on engine firing 35+ real-time intraday alerts. Free for 14 days, cancel in one click.

Start free — 14-day full access →

Keep exploring