Pattern Detail

Cypher

A distinct geometry where C pushes past A, then price retraces 0.786 of that whole move to complete at D.

X A B C D
  • B = 0.382-0.618 of XA
  • C = 1.272-1.414 of XA
  • D = 0.786 of XC
Idealized bullish Cypher. It completes at a low and projects a move up.

Bullish Cypher

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How to read this

Everything here is in R, the setup's own risk. 1R is the distance from the entry (the pattern's closing price) to where it would be proven wrong — its lowest low over the 4 bars that form it. So "offered 2R" means price ran twice that distance in your favor at some point before the stop. It does not assume you took profit there: a target is a strategy choice.

Room offered (≥ 1R)

52.9%

Too few to trust

Offered at least 1× its risk before the stop, vs 44.1% for a random long entry (+8.8 pts).

Move size vs normal

0.95×

Realized range over the next 20 bars vs a random bar. About normal.

Typical room (20-bar)

1.51R

Average run in favor (capped at 3R), vs 1.16R for a random long entry.

Summary

Offered ≥1R 52.9% of the time vs 44.1% for a random long entry. The 8.8-point gap is no bigger than the ±23.6-point margin of error you would get by chance from 17 occurrences. Not a reliable edge.

Room offered, this setup vs a random long entry

Only 17 occurrences. The breakdown below is shown in full, but a sample this small is anecdotal, a hint, not a measured edge. That is usually a limit of available history, not a flaw in the pattern. For a firmer read, try a lower timeframe or a more active instrument.

Outcome This setup Random entry Edge
Offered ≥ 1R 52.9% 44.1% +8.8
Offered ≥ 2R 35.3% 24.7% +10.6
Offered ≥ 3R 29.4% 15.7% +13.7
Stopped < 1R 47.1% 42.7% +4.4
Went sideways 0.0% 13.2% -13.2

17 occurrences · 10,656 random-entry controls · 20-bar horizon

Bearish Cypher

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How to read this

Everything here is in R, the setup's own risk. 1R is the distance from the entry (the pattern's closing price) to where it would be proven wrong — its highest high over the 4 bars that form it. So "offered 2R" means price ran twice that distance in your favor at some point before the stop. It does not assume you took profit there: a target is a strategy choice.

Room offered (≥ 1R)

75.0%

Too few to trust

Offered at least 1× its risk before the stop, vs 43.0% for a random short entry (+32.0 pts).

Move size vs normal

1.12×

Realized range over the next 20 bars vs a random bar. Precedes a bigger move.

Typical room (20-bar)

1.57R

Average run in favor (capped at 3R), vs 1.16R for a random short entry.

Summary

The 32.0-point gap over the 43.0% random-entry rate clears the ±28.0-point margin of error, but it has been fading over the sample. Treat with caution.

Room offered, this setup vs a random short entry

Only 12 occurrences. The breakdown below is shown in full, but a sample this small is anecdotal, a hint, not a measured edge. That is usually a limit of available history, not a flaw in the pattern. For a firmer read, try a lower timeframe or a more active instrument.

Outcome This setup Random entry Edge
Offered ≥ 1R 75.0% 43.0% +32.0
Offered ≥ 2R 25.0% 25.9% -0.9
Offered ≥ 3R 25.0% 17.0% +8.0
Stopped < 1R 16.7% 47.1% -30.4
Went sideways 8.3% 9.9% -1.5

12 occurrences · 10,573 random-entry controls · 20-bar horizon

The Cypher, described by Darren Oglesbee, has a geometry of its own. It is a five-point structure, X to A to B to C to D, where C pushes past A instead of staying inside the move. The signature is the completion: D sits at a 0.786 retracement of the long X-to-C leg, not of XA or BC, and that single change is what makes the Cypher distinct.

How to spot it

  • A clear X-to-A move, then B pulls back against it, retracing 0.382 to 0.618 of XA.
  • C does not stop at A, it extends past it to 1.272 to 1.414 of the XA leg, making a higher high or lower low.
  • D retraces 0.786 of the whole X-to-C leg. All three ratios hold at once.
  • The structure completes at D, a swing low in an uptrend (a buy) or a swing high in a downtrend (a sell).

The chart above marks the X, A, B, C, D points on a real occurrence, with the ratio of each leg.

Why it matters

The Cypher forms when price runs past a prior swing at C, makes a higher high or lower low, then reverses. The push past A traps the traders who chased the breakout, and the deep 0.786 pullback into D is read as the point where that trap resolves and the move turns back. Because C extends beyond A, the structure measures its completion against an expanded X-to-C leg, but D itself still lands inside that long leg, so the entry is a retracement of the move rather than a fresh extension beyond it.

The Cypher works when C is a genuine false breakout that fails and pulls back hard. It fails when the push past A is a real breakout that simply trends away, in which case the 0.786 retracement never completes. The deep completion gives the reversal room to develop and keeps the stop just beyond D.

The honest question is not whether the shape can be drawn on a chart, it always can after the fact, but whether a completion actually leads anywhere. That is what the data below measures.

Does it actually work?

A pattern is a setup, not a trade, so the question is not “did it win” but “how much room did the move offer before the structure was proven wrong.” The tabs below answer that across five futures markets (Nasdaq, S&P 500, gold, crude oil, natural gas) and seven timeframes from one minute to one day.

For each completion we measure the room price offered in units of the pattern’s own risk, then set it against what a random swing pivot of the same kind would have done. A Cypher that turns up from a swing low is judged against ordinary swing lows; one that turns down from a swing high, against ordinary swing highs. When the completion offers more room more often than those random swings, that shows up as a real edge. When it does not, the page says so plainly.

Harmonic structures are rare, so read the sample size in view. On the slower timeframes a Cypher completes only single digits of times, or not at all, while the faster timeframes give a larger sample. Thin samples are flagged for you.

How we measured it

  • Entry is the close of the bar that confirms the D point, the earliest a trader could act without hindsight.
  • One unit of risk, 1R, is the distance from that close to D itself, the swing extreme the structure completes at. A move back through D says the pattern has failed.
  • We follow the next 20 bars and record how far price ran in your favor, in multiples of that risk, before D gave way.
  • The comparison is a random swing pivot of the same side, which already sits at a turning point with a tight stop. That keeps it apples-to-apples: the question is whether a Cypher swing runs further than an ordinary swing of the same shape, not whether a tight stop flatters the numbers.

What this page does not cover

  • A profit target. Harmonic tradition puts one at a Fibonacci retracement, but where you take profit is a strategy choice, so this measures only the room the structure tends to offer.
  • A trend filter, or confluence with support, resistance, or a higher-timeframe level, which traders normally use to weight a completion.
  • A guarantee. A valid shape on the chart is a setup, not a certainty. What it tends to do next is exactly what the numbers above describe.

FAQ

Do harmonic patterns like the Cypher actually work?

Harmonic patterns are described everywhere but rarely tested honestly. This page scores every completed Cypher by the room it offered in units of its own risk, measured against random swing pivots of the same kind, and counts a pattern only on the bar its final pivot confirms, so nothing is read in hindsight. The result is a like-for-like comparison rather than the round-number success rates usually quoted for harmonics.

What is the Cypher pattern, and how is it defined here?

The Cypher is a five-point XABCD structure where B retraces 0.382 to 0.618 of XA, C extends past A to 1.272 to 1.414 of XA, and D completes at 0.786 of the long X-to-C leg. Measuring the completion against XC, rather than XA or BC, is what sets it apart from the other harmonics. All three ratios hold at once within a 5% tolerance, pivots use 3 bars on each side, and they are confirmed before they count.

What is the Cypher pattern success rate?

There is no single reliable figure, and the round numbers quoted online rarely specify instrument, timeframe, or test period. Rather than repeat folklore, this page measures how far a completion runs in units of its own risk and whether that beats an ordinary swing of the same shape. The tabs show that comparison across five markets and seven timeframes, so you can read the room offered against chance instead of a quoted percentage.

Sample Cypher Completions (19)

Based on data through Apr 29, 2026

Time Direction Risk (pts) Room offered Result
Nov 19, 2025 Bullish 92.25 3.00R Ran ≥1R
Feb 26, 2025 Bullish 29.25 3.00R Ran ≥1R
Jul 3, 2023 Bullish 31.25 0.94R Stopped
Apr 17, 2023 Bearish 53 1.44R Ran ≥1R
Jan 28, 2022 Bearish 116.25 1.18R Ran ≥1R
Feb 1, 2021 Bearish 19.5 1.26R Ran ≥1R
Dec 18, 2018 Bullish 56.5 1.45R Ran ≥1R
Oct 12, 2018 Bearish 32.5 3.00R Ran ≥1R
Apr 16, 2018 Bearish 6.5 3.00R Ran ≥1R
Dec 27, 2017 Bullish 4 0.63R Stopped
Apr 17, 2017 Bearish 6.5 0.92R Stopped
Sep 14, 2015 Bullish 6.25 3.00R Ran ≥1R
Jan 20, 2015 Bullish 22.5 3.00R Ran ≥1R
Oct 7, 2013 Bearish 4.5 3.00R Ran ≥1R
Sep 28, 2012 Bullish 2.5 0.00R Stopped
Dec 8, 2011 Bullish 4 0.00R Stopped
Sep 7, 2010 Bullish 6.5 0.38R Stopped
Mar 11, 2010 Bullish 3.75 3.00R Ran ≥1R
Oct 9, 2009 Bearish 3 0.50R Stopped

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