Not supported · Patterns · 2026-10-11
Do patterns with AB = CD symmetry (equal legs in price and time) do better?
What this means
Setups whose CD leg matched the AB leg more closely did not earn more. None of the 15 comparisons supported the idea, and price symmetry leaned slightly negative (for example −0.06R on 15m and 1h). One caveat: the Gartley rules already keep the price legs close to equal (half of Gartleys sit between 0.89 and 1.09), so truly lopsided Gartleys are rare in the data. On this evidence, AB=CD symmetry is not a useful extra filter for these setups.
Explanation checked against the data.
By timeframe
| Timeframe | Verdict | n | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15-minute | Not supported | most-least symmetric (price) -0.06 (-0.13, -0.00) | |
| 1-hour | Not supported | -0.06 (-0.14, +0.01) | |
| 4-hour | Not supported | -0.01 | |
| Daily | Not supported | -0.18 (-0.38, +0.01) |
- Hypothesis
- Classic harmonic theory says the ideal Gartley has CD equal to AB in price and in duration. Stated before testing: setups whose CD/AB ratio is closer to 1 (price, time, or both) earn more R.
- Method
- Our own analysis of the TradingView universe sweeps (15m 2023-26; 1h/4h/1d 2016-26; 33,694 setups with recorded leg data). Price CD/AB = (BC/AB)×(CD/BC) from the script's recorded ratios; time CD/AB = bars C→D ÷ bars A→B. Setups split into fifths from most to least symmetric; difference in mean setup R between the most and least symmetric fifth, 95% CI bootstrap clustered by instrument.
- Result
- Most-minus-least symmetric (price): Gartley −0.15 (−0.40, +0.08); all patterns 15m −0.06 (−0.13, −0.00), 1h −0.06 (−0.14, +0.01), 4h −0.01, 1d −0.18 (−0.38, +0.01). Time: Gartley −0.04 (−0.30, +0.21); 15m −0.02, 1h +0.01, 4h +0.05, 1d −0.00. Both combined: −0.13 to +0.03. Rank correlations −0.02 to +0.05. None of 15 comparisons supports the hypothesis; price symmetry leans slightly negative.
- How much to trust it
- Medium: TradingView outcomes, large n; but legs come from our zigzag pivots, time is in bars, and the Gartley rules already force near-symmetry (median CD/AB 1.01 in price, 1.00 in time), so truly asymmetric Gartleys aren't in the sample
- Did it change the live rule?
- No change.
- Notes
- Tests whether symmetry improves our harmonic setups, not the stand-alone ABCD pattern as an entry signal.
Scripts and data for this study will be linked here when the research code is published on GitHub.
Education and research only. Not financial advice. Backtests use today's index members (survivorship bias).