How to Draw Trendlines Like a Pro – Rulers Out, Rules In!Hi everyone!
If you don’t have any rules for drawing a trendline, then this is by far the most subjective technical analysis criterion of all. So, grab your ruler, and let’s dive in! ;)
Without clear guidelines, you can draw it however you want, shaping the narrative to fit your bias. This makes it the perfect tool to talk yourself into a trade or justify staying in a bad one—there’s always a new “support” coming…
If you don't have rules, you can always find some dots to connect, making it look "perfect" for you.
In this post, I'll discuss buying opportunities using trendlines, share key rules for drawing them correctly, and highlight common mistakes to avoid - all with a focus on mid- and long-term investment opportunities.
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The Basics: How to Draw a Trendline
The trendline is a highly effective tool for mid- and long-term investors to find an optimal buying zone for their chosen asset. I always take a full view of the chart, analyzing its entire history to find the longest trendline available. The longer the trendline, the stronger it is!
To draw a trendline, we simply connect two points and wait for the third touch to confirm it. Easy, right?
The strongest trendline comes from points that are easily recognizable—you should spot them in a split second.
Maximum view, if possible Monthly chart, connect the dots and wait for a third one.
For me, the third and fourth touches are the most reliable.
If you have to look deeply to find where to draw a trendline, then it's already a first sign that it’s not strong! The best ones appear instantly.
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Two Myths About Trendlines
Myth #1: "You cannot draw a trendline without three touching points."
Don’t even remember from where I heard that kind of bs but as you see in the images above, yeah I can. If I have a correct lineup, the third touch is the strongest.
Myth #2: "The more touches, the stronger the trendline."
Yes, a trend appears stronger with more touches, but each additional touch increases the odds of a break or trend change. To buy from, let’s say, the sixth touch, there must be strong confluence factors, and fundamentals should support the investment.
“The trend is your friend, until the end when it bends.” — Ed Seykota
Sure, I’ve had great trades from the fifth or seventh touch, but as said, the area has to be strong, combining multiple criteria. Think of a trendline like 3-5 cm thick ice on a lake. You can’t break it with one hit, or the second, or the third. But after the fourth or fifth, it starts to crack, and by the sixth—boom!
From my psychological perspective, the more touches, the weaker the trendline becomes.
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Rule #1: Wick to Wick or Body to Body
If there aren't any anomalies, the trendline should always be drawn from wick to wick (image below) or body to body.
Here was the trendline draw from wick to wick
I mostly use body-to-body when there is a lot of noise on the chart and many large wicks that don’t show the real price behavior—whether from a panic sell-off or other unexpected market moves.
Candlestick chart, the trendline drawn from body-to-body
Tip! Body-to-body means drawing trendlines from closing prices to remove unnecessary noise from the chart. To make the chart even clearer, I often use a line chart (it tracks closing prices), which filters out the noise and gives a cleaner view of the price action.
The same chart as above using line chart.
Mistake to avoid: If you start from the wick but the second point is from the body, it's wrong. This can lead to misleading breakout trades or confusing rejection trades.
If there are no significant large wicks, go from wicks.
If a chart offers a lot of huge panic-sell wicks, use bodies instead to get a cleaner setup.
Quite often, I use a hybrid version as well. We are investors, not traders. We need a price zone, not an exact price!
In these cases, I combine wicks and closing prices to find the optimal trendline, which stays somewhere between them.
Light-blue is the zone
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Rule #2: Higher Highs Strengthen the Trendline
A trendline is more reliable if the price makes a new higher high (HH) after the previous rejection, and before it approaches a trendline.
The third and fourth touch came from higher high (HH) levels
This confirms that the recent trend is strong. If it all lines up, we can step in!
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Rule #3: Even Timing Between Touches
A trendline rejection works best when the timing between touches is symmetrical. They don’t have to be perfectly equal but they also shouldn’t be wildly different - one touch being very small and another very large can weaken the trendline’s reliability.
A good combinations is when the price comes from higher high levels, the next touch has an equal or fairly similar distance between previous ones.
Yeah, there are quite a lot of touches, but you get the point; market symmetry plays an important role in making decisions.
Warning: If the next touch comes too soon, especially from a lower high (LH) levels, which signals that momentum may be fading, and the touch happens at an uneven distance, it weakens the trendline’s reliability. So, watch out for that.
Two alerts: uneven length between touches & comes from lower highs.
Next red alert: When there are huge uneven gaps between touches, as shown in the picture below.
The first and second touch compared to the second and third touch are out of balance, weakening the trendline's reliability.
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Trendline Summary: Key Criteria for Mid- to Long-Term Analysis
Open the maximum chart view – analyze all available data for the asset.
The higher the timeframe, the stronger the trendline.
A trendline needs two clean and clear points to be drawn.
The highest probability rejection happens at the third and fourth touch.
If there are large wicks or panic sell-offs, use closing prices (body-to-body).
Remove noise and wicks by using a line chart for a clearer view.
A trendline touch is strongest when the price approaches from a higher high (HH).
A trendline touch is strongest when the distance between touches is symmetrical.
A slight flex in the trendline is ideal; it should be between 20 to 35 degrees, not too steep in its climb. ;)
These are the main criteria for a trendline that I use when analyzing stocks or any asset from a mid-to long-term perspective.
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Trendlines Alone Are Not Enough
Now, here’s the interesting part. Even if a trendline looks perfect and meets all criteria, I still won’t rush to share an analysis. Why? Because a trendline alone isn’t enough.
A trendline is just one piece of the puzzle. We need multiple confluence factors in a single price zone to make the setup truly strong and reliable. Usually, I need at least 3-7 criteria to align before making a move or recommendation.
So, that's it! A brief overview and hopefully, you found this informative. Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts!
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Trade smart,
Vaido
