Double Bottoms, Adam & Eve

Core idea

An Adam & Eve double bottom is a twin-valley reversal where the left bottom is a narrow V or single-day spike (Adam) and the right bottom is wider and rounded with multiple short spikes like sprouting weeds (Eve). The two bottoms look visibly different — that's the diagnostic. Adam & Adam looks like twin spikes; Adam & Eve looks like a spike followed by a small cup.

In Bulkowski's bull-market dataset of 1,163 patterns, Adam & Eve ranks 17 of 39 — slightly above the chart-pattern average rise of 42.4%. That's better than Adam & Adam, worse than Eve & Eve. The right-side Eve bottom is doing the work: it represents accumulation rather than panic capitulation, and the resulting trend has more durable buying behind it.

Bulkowski's framing: The two bottoms should look different from each other. If they look the same, you're looking at an Adam & Adam or Eve & Eve — different pattern, different statistics.

Why it matters

The Adam & Eve insight is one of Bulkowski's signature empirical contributions: bottom shape (not just bottom position) predicts performance. Most chart-pattern books treat a double bottom as a single pattern. Bulkowski's data shows it's actually four different patterns wearing the same name, with performance ranks ranging from middling (Adam & Adam) to top-five (Eve & Eve).

Adam & Eve sits in the productive middle. It's more common than Eve & Eve (because the V-bottom on the left is easier to form — markets panic-spike more readily than they accumulate slowly), and it still benefits from the right-side accumulation phase that distinguishes it from the all-spike Adam & Adam.

The "retest of the low" framing

Bulkowski's explanation for why double bottoms form: the first bottom is the initial decline ending. The rally between the bottoms is the relief move. The retest (right bottom) is the market testing whether the low is real support. If buyers show up and absorb the test (an Eve right bottom with multiple small spikes implies persistent buying), the support is confirmed. If the test produces another sharp spike (Adam), the support is fragile and emotion-driven.

This framing explains why an Eve right bottom matters: it shows up as time spent at the price rather than a single-day touch. Time + volume = accumulation = stronger reversal.

Key takeaways

Mental model

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Practical application

Example

A consumer staples stock declines from $32 to $20 over five months. On day 110, panic selling produces a one-day spike low at $19.40, closing at $20.10 — the Adam bottom. Volume is 4× average. Over the next four weeks the stock rallies to $22.90 (the peak between bottoms).

Then a slow drift down begins. Over 18 trading days the stock makes a series of lower lows ($20.20, $19.90, $20.10, $19.85, $20.00) and recovers to $20.50, then dips again — a rounded right Eve bottom with several short spikes. Bottom-to-bottom price variation: 2.6%. Bottom-to-bottom time separation: 30 days.

The trader waits. On day 165, the stock closes at $23.10, above the $22.90 confirmation line. Confirmed Adam & Eve. The trader buys at $23.10 with a stop at $19.30 (just below the Adam low). Pattern height = $22.90 − $19.40 = $3.50; measure-rule target = $26.40.

Over the next 12 days the stock throws back to $22.60 — the trader holds. The throwback resolves and price rises steadily, hitting $26.40 in six weeks. The trader takes half off at target and rides the rest, exiting at $28.20 a month later. Total gain on the position: ~21%, close to the median Adam & Eve outcome.

Two observations: (a) the right-bottom Eve shape gave the trader extra confidence — the slow, persistent dip with multiple touches suggested accumulation, and (b) the measure-rule target was met, but the move continued. Bulkowski's targets are calibrated to be frequently met, not maximally exploited. Scaling out at the target preserves the win while leaving exposure to the tail.

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