Wedges, triangles, channels — sorted
Ascending, descending, symmetrical — they look identical until you measure the angle. Here's the trick.
All three are converging-line patterns and get confused constantly. A wedge has both boundary lines sloping the same direction (both up, or both down) — rising wedges are typically bearish, falling wedges bullish, regardless of the preceding trend. A triangle has one flat boundary and one sloped boundary (ascending = flat top, descending = flat bottom) and is more neutral, resolving in the direction of the breakout. A channel has two parallel, non-converging lines and simply describes an ongoing trend's range.
The fastest way to tell them apart: measure the slope of each line separately. If both slope the same way and are converging, it's a wedge. If only one line has slope, it's a triangle.