Trading ranges Short
Double-top bear flag inside a range
Retest of a range swing high. The second test cannot establish new buying pressure.
Read the sequence.
01 / OBSERVE → DECIDE
- ContextRetest of a range swing high
- PressureThe second test cannot establish new buying pressure
- SetupRetest of a range swing high. Require rejection or acceptance at the marked structure.
- DecisionBear signal below the second-top structure
The decision map
02 / QUICK REFERENCE- Location
- Retest of a range swing high.
- Evidence
- The second test cannot establish new buying pressure.
- Trigger
- Bear signal below the second-top structure.
- Invalidation
- Failure above the double top.
- First objective
- Midpoint or prior swing low.
- Pass when
- Equal highs appear without rejection or a credible trigger.
03 / THE FULL ARGUMENT
Thesis & participant logic
Supplied study draft · adapted Brooks-style prose, not a quotation from Al Brooks
Price retests a prior high but cannot establish acceptance above it. The second high shows weaker buying pressure or a failed breakout. I will sell below a bear signal bar. My thesis is wrong above the double top. I will target the midpoint or prior swing low.
04 / FROM IDEA TO A PLAN
Manage the thesis, not the need to be right.
Before entry
Write the structural invalidation and first realistic objective. Size to the loss you have already accepted, including costs and possible slippage. If the stop is unaffordable, reduce size or pass.
After entry
Reassess follow-through against the evidence above. Do not widen the stop or add because price “has gone too far.” A bounce to your average entry is not a market thesis.
At the objective
Midpoint or prior swing low. Decide ahead of time whether to exit or retain a defined remainder. Continue only while structure and follow-through support the trade.
During review
Record the entry-time chart, planned risk, maximum adverse excursion, actual exit, and whether the thesis was invalidated. Judge the decision separately from the outcome.