Ellipse

The Ellipse (and its special case, the Circle) draws a smooth oval on the chart defined by its bounding rectangle. The first click sets the center; the second click sets one of the four cardinal extents. It is used to highlight rounded reversals, harmonic zones, and price clusters around key levels — anywhere a circular or oval visual cue adds analytical value beyond simple rectangular zones.

The elliptical shape draws attention to areas where price rounds over rather than forming a sharp V-reversal. When constrained to equal width and height, the ellipse becomes a perfect circle, which is useful for marking circular harmonic patterns, Gann-style geometry, and equidistant price zones on the chart. The fill can be adjusted independently from the border for flexible styling.

Ellipses are purely visual annotations — they do not compute any mathematical relationship between price and time. Unlike true Gann circles or Fibonacci circles (which are algorithmically calculated based on price and time cycles), the ellipse is entirely manual. Its analytical value comes from where you place it and what it visually connects on the chart.

1. 1
   Select the Ellipse tool

   Click the Ellipse icon in the shapes toolbar. The cursor changes to a crosshair.
2. 2
   Click to set the center

   Click at the desired center point of the ellipse on the chart. This anchors the midpoint.
3. 3
   Drag outward to define the shape

   Drag diagonally to define both the width and height of the ellipse. The shape grows symmetrically from the center point outward in all directions.
4. 4
   Release to complete

   Release the mouse button. The ellipse is drawn within the bounding rectangle defined by your drag from center.
5. 5
   Adjust after placement

   Drag the center point to reposition the entire ellipse. Drag any cardinal anchor (top, bottom, left, right) to resize in that direction. Drag the body to move the whole shape.

• Rounded tops and bottoms — highlight areas where price transitions gradually between trends. Ellipses naturally frame the curved shape of a rounding top or saucer bottom, making the pattern visually obvious even to untrained eyes.
• Harmonic zone highlighting — encircle clusters of Fibonacci retracement levels. When multiple retracement levels converge in a small area (e.g. 0.618 and 0.786 overlap), an ellipse draws attention to the confluence zone for potential reversal trades.
• Price clusters — mark areas where multiple timeframes align at a single level. A circle around a psychologically important round-number level (e.g. 1.3000 for EUR/USD or 5000 for the S&P 500) makes it stand out visually as a magnet zone for price.
• Gann-style geometric analysis — use circles for geometric time/price squaring concepts and Gann fan relationships. Gann believed circular geometry reveals support and resistance points at predictable angles and distances from a center point.
• Curved support and resistance — trace non-linear boundaries that price respects on longer timeframes. Some markets exhibit curved rather than straight-line support and resistance, especially on weekly and monthly charts where trends mature over long periods.
• Volatility clustering — draw ellipses around periods of elevated volatility to visualize which price levels were tested during turbulent market conditions. The ellipse bounds show both the vertical (price) and horizontal (time) extent of the volatile period at a glance.

The choice between a circle and an ellipse depends on your analytical purpose. Use a circle when you want to mark equal distance from a center point in all directions — for example, circling a round number level to show its magnetic influence zone. Use an ellipse when the area of interest has different extents in the price and time dimensions — for example, a rounding bottom pattern that spans a wide time period but a narrow price range.

To create a perfect circle, enable the Lock Aspect Ratio setting or hold Shift while drawing. A circle on a chart with linear scaling represents equal visual distance from center in all directions. Note that on log-scale charts, a perfect circle will appear as an ellipse due to the logarithmic price axis, so be aware of this visual distortion when presenting to others.

• 1.Ellipse drawing tool — TradingView Help
• 2.The Geometry of Markets — Gann / financial astrology literature
• 3.Technical Analysis of Financial Markets — John J. Murphy
• 4.Harmonic Trading, Volume 1 — Scott M. Carney