Chan Theory (CHANLUN) is a technical analysis theory created by Chinese analyst CZSC, primarily applied in the analysis and decision-making of financial markets such as stocks, futures, forex, and crypto. It is a technical analysis method based on price and time, including candlestick patterns, fractal theory, box theory, trend theory, divergence theory, multiple time frame analysis, and more.
"Chan" means zen, indicating that the fluctuations in the market are rooted in human nature, such as greed, anger, ignorance, slowness, and suspicion. "Chan" is also the pinyin of the Chinese character '缠', which means entanglement or entwining. as the fluctuations in the stock market were intertwined like a spiral.
Concepts
Fractal - fractal is formed by three candlesticks, with the middle one being the highest for a top fractal and the lowest for a bottom fractal. In Chan Theory, the first step is to traverse all candlesticks to find all valid fractals.
Stroke - stroke is usually composed of multiple fractals, with a top fractal and a bottom fractal at both ends, and the connection between them forms a stroke with clear high and low points. This is the smallest unit of composition in Chan Theory, similar to the zigzag algorithm.
Segment - segment is generated from strokes based on the feature sequence algorithm, and a segment contains at least three strokes. a segment is a higher level of period, indicating the trend of the market at a higher level,similar to period 5M to period 30M.
Box - box is the overlapping area of multiple segments, and a box contains at least three segments. A box represents a densely traded area and a temporary consensus price range,the bull-bear battle has not produced a clear outcome, it means that the market is in a state of uncertainty and that the direction of the trend is unclear.
Trend - In Chan Theory, two or more boxes in the same direction form a trend,If the box position are gradually rising, it is defined as an uptrend,conversely, it is a downtrend.
Differences with ZigZag
Both the Chan Theory Stroke and the ZigZag are formed by connecting the high and low points to create a line. But in Chan Theory, there are strict additional requirements:
There must be at least five candlesticks between the high and low points, Otherwise it does not form a Stroke.
The high and low fractal cannot share the same candlestick,Otherwise it does not form a Stroke.
There must be at least three candlesticks between the high and low fractal,these three candlesticks must move in the same direction.
There may be complex situations where there are multiple top or bottom patterns in a single Stroke, requiring special handling to determine the connection rules for the lines.
Chan Theory is a complex theory that includes not only Stroke, but also other theories such as Box、Recursion and Divergence.
Recursion
The processing flow of the Chan Theory is similar to a ternary algorithm, It organizes chaotic candlestick into an orderly system (Fractal -> Stroke -> Segment -> Box -> Trend),levels gradually increase from small to large. We can let the levels develop continuously to obtain the appropriate level for analysis and trading, In Chan Theory, it is called "recursion". This method allows us to observe the structure of smaller levels to make trading decisions at the current level,and it allows us to combine multiple levels to determine specific trading points.
Divergence
Chan Theory uses MACD to infer the strength of the trend as momentum analysis. Chan Theory calculates the MACD area of the K-line to quantify the strength of a trend, and compares the areas of the front and back two sections of the same level box to determine whether the trend is exhausted,it is called "divergence". this is one of the important part to determine trading points.