Swing High and Swing Low

A swing high is a bar whose high stands above the highs of the bars on either side of it, and a swing low is the mirror image. They are the pivot points that trendlines are drawn between, that most chart patterns are defined by, and that descriptions of a trend as a sequence of higher highs and higher lows are counting. How many bars must be lower on each side is a parameter, so the same chart contains more swings under a loose definition and fewer under a strict one. The important property is that a swing can only be identified after the bars that confirm it have formed. At the moment a high is made, nothing distinguishes it from a bar that will be exceeded next; it becomes a swing high only once enough bars have failed to exceed it. A chart of the past is therefore full of clearly marked pivots that were not marked at the time, and any tool that plots swings must either wait for confirmation or show a provisional mark that may later move.