Who this entry is for — Anyone who wants to check the numbering and meaning of the two classic lists without turning them into a mechanical score. The tests organise evidence for accumulation and distribution; they neither assign probability nor guarantee an outcome.
Role in the method
The tutorial places the nine tests in step 4 of the five-step approach: they help assess whether a trading range is approaching completion and which line of least resistance appears consistent with the evidence. The judgment uses bar and Point & Figure (P&F) charts.
Tests 1 and 9 require P&F. The ninth records a historical comparison between estimated potential and an assumed initial risk; it does not specify order placement, represent a success rate or make the projection certain.
Classic nine buying tests — accumulation
| # | Test | Chart specified by the source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Downside price objective accomplished | P&F |
| 2 | Bar + P&F | |
| 3 | Activity bullish: volume increases on rallies and diminishes during reactions | Bar |
| 4 | Downward stride broken: supply line or downtrend line penetrated | Bar or P&F |
| 5 | Higher lows | Bar or P&F |
| 6 | Higher highs | Bar or P&F |
| 7 | Stock stronger than the market: more responsive on rallies and more resistant to reactions | Bar |
| 8 | Base forming on a horizontal price line | Bar or P&F |
| 9 | Estimated upside profit potential at least three times the loss if the initial stop-loss were hit | P&F + bar |
Classic nine selling tests — distribution
| # | Test | Chart specified by the source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upside objective accomplished | P&F |
| 2 | Activity bearish: volume decreases on rallies and increases on reactions | Bar + P&F |
| 3 | Bar + P&F | |
| 4 | Stock weaker than the market: more responsive on reactions and sluggish on rallies | Bar |
| 5 | Upward stride broken: support line or uptrend line penetrated | Bar or P&F |
| 6 | Lower highs | Bar or P&F |
| 7 | Lower lows | Bar or P&F |
| 8 | Crown forming: lateral movement | P&F |
| 9 | Estimated downside profit potential at least three times the risk if the initial stop-order were hit | P&F + bar |
Do not mirror the numbering — In the buying tests, PS, SC and ST form test 2. In the selling tests, bearish activity is test 2, while PSY and BC form test 3; relative weakness is test 4.
How to read the lists
- The source gives no “7 out of 9” threshold. Counting boxes does not generate probability.
- The specified chart is part of the test. A P&F objective cannot be inferred from a bar chart alone.
- Context comes first. The classic tests describe accumulation after a decline and distribution after an advance.
- Not every schematic requires every event. A spring or UTAD may be absent; neither should be inserted into the list artificially.
- Test 9 depends on assumptions. Projection, observation point and initial risk must be declared; the list provides no universal level.
Reaccumulation: a different list
Chapter 7 of Hank Pruden's book does not transfer the classic nine buying tests wholesale to reaccumulation. It introduces nine distinct tests for a bullish continuation formation:
- horizontal resistance line broken;
- activity bullish;
- higher lows;
- higher highs;
- favourable relative strength, equal to or stronger than the market;
- correction completed in price and/or time;
- consolidation pattern formed;
- stepping-stone confirming count;
- 3:1 potential-to-risk ratio.
The book's examples for test 6 and the ratio in test 9 belong to the cited codification; Cyclepedia does not turn them into universal thresholds or operating instructions.
Redistribution: the source limit
The classic nine selling tests are formulated for distribution after an advance. The tutorial says that phases B–E of redistribution may be analysed similarly to distribution, but it does not say that the classic checklist transfers automatically.
Pruden identifies a gap in tests for continuation formations and, in the cited chapter, provides the new reaccumulation list; he does not provide an equivalent nine-selling-test list for redistribution. Using bearish activity, relative weakness or SOW/LPSY as review questions is therefore a declared editorial analogy, not a separate historical codification.
Sources
- Wyckoff Analytics — Wyckoff Method, Nine Buying/Selling Tests — lists, numbering and chart type; stated adaptation from Pruden, pp. 136–137.
- StockCharts ChartSchool — The Wyckoff Method: A Tutorial — the same checklist in the ChartSchool tutorial.
- Hank Pruden — Anatomy of a Trade, chapter 7 — modified reaccumulation tests and the limit of classic lists for consolidations.
Sources accessed 10 August 2026. Independence note: Wyckoff Analytics states that much of its article was originally written by its team for StockCharts and is reproduced with permission; the two pages are substantially the same tutorial, not independent confirmations. The Wiley/Pruden chapter is the distinct source for the reaccumulation tests. The Wiley DOI page exposes the metadata and publication record; the full text may require a subscription or institutional access.