What it is
An ascending triangle is a consolidation with a flat upper boundary and a rising lower one: repeated attempts at the same resistance level, each starting from a higher low. The compression describes buyers willing to pay progressively more while a fixed block of supply sits at one price.
How it works
A credible triangle needs at least two touches on the horizontal resistance and two on the rising trendline, with the range narrowing and volume generally contracting toward the apex. Confirmation is a close above the horizontal boundary, and the measured objective adds the height of the triangle at its widest point to the breakout level.
How traders use it
Entries are taken on the break, on a throwback to the broken level, or more aggressively at the rising trendline inside the pattern with a stop below the previous higher low. The most useful property of the structure is that it supplies an unambiguous invalidation: below the last higher low, the premise is gone and there is nothing left to argue about.
Where it breaks down
The pattern is frequently described as inherently bullish, which the evidence does not support; the direction of resolution depends far more on the trend it forms within than on the shape itself. Breakouts very close to the apex tend to be weak because the compression has already dissipated, and a low-volume break through a horizontal level is the classic setup for a failed move and a reversal back through the range.
Educational reference. This entry describes how a concept is defined and used. It is not investment advice, not a recommendation, and not a signal. Any rule you build from it should be tested with realistic costs before it is traded, and no historical result guarantees a future one.