GHASI
▲ Bullish
Streaming Alert (Scanner)
Inverted Head and Shoulders Alert (GHASI)
By Daniel Mirkin, CEO, Trade Ideas. Updated October 2026.
Find stocks forming an inverted head and shoulders pattern in real time with Trade Ideas Streaming Alerts (Scanner). An inverted head and shoulders pattern is when a stock has formed five turning points with the lowest low in the middle and two matching shoulders.
Know when the pattern finishes.
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Streaming Alerts show a inverted head and shoulders the moment it completes, not on the next refresh.
How Trade Ideas finds it: by default, the 'Inverted Head and Shoulders' alert will appear when these qualifications are met: five turning points in a set order (full rules below). See Trade Ideas plans and pricing to run it live.
What is a inverted head and shoulders?
An inverted head and shoulders, also called an inverse head and shoulders, is a bottoming pattern. It has three lows, with the middle one the lowest and the two outside lows about level.
The highs between the lows form the neckline. The pattern counts once price climbs back above it.
Parts of a inverted head and shoulders
Left shoulder
The stock drops, finds buyers, and bounces. Nothing special yet.
Head
Sellers take it lower than before, to the low of the whole pattern, then the stock recovers.
Right shoulder
The next selloff stops well above the head, close to the left shoulder. That higher low is what traders look for.
Neckline and breakout
Price rises through the line across the two bounce highs. The pattern is done.
How traders use it
Step 1: Let the Trade Ideas alert find it
Key point
Switch on GHASI, the Inverted Head and Shoulders alert. The server looks for five turning points in order: low, high, lower low, high, low. Add a relative volume filter if you only want active names. See it live in the Web Dashboard.
Step 2: Wait for the trigger
Wait for the neckline. A right shoulder that never breaks out is a common failure.
Step 3: Entry
Buyers often enter as price clears the neckline, or on a retest where the old neckline holds.
Step 4: Exit
Trader tip
A stop under the right shoulder is the usual choice. The measured move is head to neckline, added to the breakout price. That is how traders often plan it, not advice.
Tips
- Look for buying volume on the breakout itself.
- A right shoulder that holds well above the head shows stronger buyers.
- On intraday charts the pattern can form and fail quickly, so size accordingly.
- The bearish version is the Head and Shoulders alert (GHAS).
Past results, including backtests, are not indicative of future results.
How the Inverted Head and Shoulders alert works
Key point
This alert reports the inverted head and shoulders pattern, which is common in technical analysis.
An inverted head and shoulders pattern is defined by exactly 5 consecutive turning points. The first point is a low. The last point is a low at approximately the same price as the first point. The second point is a high. The fourth point is a high at approximately the same price as the second point. The middle point is a low, and it must be lower than any of the other 5 points. Our definition of "approximately the same price" depends on the size of the pattern and the volatility of the stock.
Trader tip
There are many common interpretations of an inverted head and shoulders pattern. Some people use the first and last points, the shoulders, to draw a support line. We use a green icon to represent this pattern, since many people use this as a reversal pattern.
Default settings
By default, the 'Inverted Head and Shoulders' alert will appear when these qualifications are met:
- The first point is a low
- The last point is a low at approximately the same price as the first point
- The second point is a high
- The fourth point is a high at approximately the same price as the second point
- The middle point is a low, and it must be lower than any of the other 5 points
Custom settings
Settings
For 'Inverted Head and Shoulders' alerts, you have the option to use an alert specific filter. This filter is located immediately to the right of the corresponding alert and is always optional. You can decide to leave it blank if you want to receive more alerts, or you can fill it in to restrict the number of alerts you receive. This filter allows you to specify the quality of the alert. When you set a higher number for this filter, you are telling the alerts server to display only alerts that meet a higher quality standard, resulting in fewer alerts being shown.
When setting an alert for 'Inverted Head and Shoulders', the user can filter the alert by hours traded.
Key point
If I see a pattern that lasted from noon yesterday to noon today, is that any better than a pattern that lasted from the open this morning to the close this afternoon? How much better? We weight the pre and post market according to volume. On an average day an average NASDAQ 100 stock will trade roughly 1 hour's worth of volume between the close and the following open. If you want to see stock patterns that lasted for a whole day, a good estimate is 7.5 hours, 6.5 for normal hours plus 1 for the pre and post market.
The same rules apply during the day. If a chart pattern lasts for one hour starting from the open, it will almost always be considered a stronger pattern than if it lasted one hour starting from the beginning of lunch. Hours are just an estimate. Volume is the major factor in this filter. Stocks trading on higher than average volume will satisfy this filter faster than stocks trading on lower than average volume.
What the alert shows you
Key point
The description of each alert lists the prices that formed the pattern. It also includes the times of when the pattern started and ended.
The quality value on a scan using the 'Inverted Head and Shoulders' alert defines the number of hours since the measured pattern has been established.
Related alerts
Filters to pair with the Inverted Head and Shoulders alert
Categories
FAQ
Which stocks are forming an inverted head and shoulders pattern right now?
Turn on the Inverted Head and Shoulders alert (GHASI) in Trade Ideas Streaming Alerts. By default, the 'Inverted Head and Shoulders' alert will appear when these qualifications are met: five turning points in a set order (full rules below).
What is the Inverted Head and Shoulders alert?
An inverted head and shoulders pattern is when a stock has formed five turning points with the lowest low in the middle and two matching shoulders.
How do I see fewer, higher-quality Inverted Head and Shoulders alerts?
Use the optional alert-specific filter immediately to the right of the alert. A higher number tells the alerts server to show only higher-quality alerts, so fewer appear. Leave it blank to see more.
What is the opposite of the Inverted Head and Shoulders alert?
Is an inverse head and shoulders bullish?
Yes. It is read as a possible bottom, confirmed by a break above the neckline.
What is the difference between inverse and inverted head and shoulders?
Nothing. They are two names for the same bottoming pattern.
Where do traders set the target on an inverse head and shoulders?
A common method takes the distance from the head up to the neckline and adds it to the breakout price. It is a rough guide, not a promise.
Can Trade Ideas alert me when an inverse head and shoulders forms?
Yes. The GHASI alert scans the market and sends the stock when the five turning points line up.