Peter Brandt is my trading hero. Whether it’s a blog post or an interview for Market Wizards, Brandt has an intoxicating way of describing classical charting principles. 

Indescribably one can’t help but get excited about charting when reading Brandt’s work. It’s one of the reasons why I re-read Diary of A Commodities Trader every January. 

My other annual Brandt read is his Best Dressed List. The Best Dressed List is Brandt’s review of the best classical charting patterns he found during the year.  You can read his 2019 Best Dressed report here. 

This year Macro Ops created its own Classical Charting breakout alerts service. Our goal for the year was simple: Identify and trade the best-looking classical chart set-ups. 

We’ve documented the best trades from this year in this essay. 

Each section represents a specific chart pattern and the best set-ups in those patterns. We’ll also provide details like chart pattern length and number of days to reach the price target. 

In an ode to the legend Brandt himself, please enjoy our Macro Ops Best Dressed List of 2020. 

Rectangle

Nautilus (NLS) 

• Chart Pattern Length: 32.4 weeks
• Days To Reach Price Target: 4

NLS was a great example of a stock breaking out and never testing its chart pattern boundary. Those that took profits at the profit target were spared the massive crash in March. 

That said, the stock now trades >$19/share. There’s always a give and take to profit targets. 

Limited Brands (LB)

• Chart Pattern Length: 28 weeks
• Days To Reach Price Target: 11 

LB broke out of its 28-week rectangle trading range and never looked back. We were lucky to catch the earnings pop, which got us to our profit target in less than two weeks. 

Highpoint Resources (HPR)

• Chart Pattern Length: 45 weeks
• Days To Reach Price Target: 8

HPR was a picture perfect short trade based on its breakdown from the rectangle chart pattern. Notice that the stock broke down below its 20MA and 200MA.