Trends: higher highs, higher lows, and when a trend breaks
After this lesson you can label a chart as uptrend, downtrend or range using swing highs and lows, read trend lines and Supertrend, and name the price that would break the trend.
Trends: higher highs, higher lows aur trend ka tootna
Price seedhi line mein nahi chalti, swings mein chalti hai. Uptrend ka matlab hai higher highs aur higher lows; downtrend ka matlab lower highs aur lower lows. Agar highs aur lows takreeban barabar rahen to market range mein hai. Uptrend mein sab se ahem price aakhri higher low hai. Agar daily close us ke neeche ho jaye to trend ka structure toot gaya, aur yeh price khareedne se pehle likh leni chahiye.
Trend line kam az kam do swing lows ko jorti hai aur teesra touch usay mazboot banata hai. Jo line har hafte dobara banani pare, woh trend nahi, umeed hai. Supertrend khud line banata hai: candle ka darmiyan minus 3 x ATR, aam setting ATR 10. Mazboot trend mein yeh bohat kaam ka hai, lekin range mein baar baar flip hota hai. Is liye pehle structure dekhein, phir indicator.
Girti hui market mein 'sasta hai' soch kar baar baar khareedna sab se aam ghalti hai. Quran 65:2-3 yaad dilata hai ke jo Allah se darta hai, Allah us ke liye raasta nikalta hai aur wahan se rizq deta hai jahan se gumaan bhi na ho. Exact bottom pakarna zaroori nahi. Higher low aur structure ke tootne ka sabr se intezar karna bhi mehnat ka hissa hai.
- Uptrend: higher highs aur higher lows; downtrend: lower highs aur lower lows.
- Khareedne se pehle likh lein ke kis price par trend toot jayega.
- Range mein Supertrend aur trend lines baar baar ghalat hoti hain; structure pehle.
Poora sabaq neeche English mein hai. Quiz English mein hai; asaan alfaaz mein.
Sana, a teacher in Islamabad, liked a coin that had fallen from $1.20 to $1.00. 'It is cheap now,' she thought, and bought. It bounced to $1.05, then fell to $0.85. She bought more. It bounced to $0.92, then fell to $0.75. She bought again. Each bounce felt like the turn. Each bounce was also lower than the one before. Sana was looking at price. She was not looking at structure: a chart making lower highs and lower lows, showing clearly which side was in control.
The simplest definition of a trend
Price moves in swings: up, pause, down a little, up again. The turning points are swing highs and swing lows. An uptrend is a series of higher highs and higher lows. A downtrend is a series of lower highs and lower lows. When highs and lows move sideways inside a band, the market is ranging.
This definition is useful because it gives you an exact line in the sand. In an uptrend, the most recent higher low is the level that matters. If price closes clearly below it on your main timeframe, the pattern of higher lows is broken. That does not prove a downtrend has started, but it removes the reason for holding a trend-based trade.
- Uptrend: higher highs and higher lows. Buyers are in control.
- Downtrend: lower highs and lower lows. Buying is swimming against the current.
- Range: roughly equal highs and lows. Trend tools work poorly here.
Trend lines: drawn, not forced
A rising trend line connects two or more swing lows, and a third touch that holds makes it more reliable. A line that must be redrawn every week to stay valid is not describing a trend; it is describing your hope.
Steep lines break often. A coin that rose 60% in three weeks cannot keep that angle, so a break of a steep line often means 'slower', not 'over'. The swing structure, the higher lows themselves, matters more than any single line.
Supertrend: a trend line that draws itself
Supertrend places a line below price in an uptrend and above price in a downtrend. It starts from the middle of each candle, (high + low) / 2, and subtracts or adds a multiple of ATR, the average candle range (Level 5). A common setting is ATR 10 with a multiplier of 3. In an uptrend the line can rise but never fall, so it trails price like a stop. When price closes through it, it flips side and colour.
Supertrend is clear and calm in strong trends. In ranges it flips again and again, and each flip is late by design. Treat a flip as a prompt to check structure, not as an instruction. Settings differ between charting tools, so check what yours uses.
Worked example: structure, and the price that breaks it
Sana's coin: swing highs at $1.20, $1.05 and $0.92; swing lows at $1.00, $0.85 and $0.75. Lower highs and lower lows: a downtrend. She put $100 in at each of $1.00, $0.85 and $0.75: 100 + 117.65 + 133.33 = 350.98 units for $300, an average cost of about $0.855. At $0.75 they are worth $263.24, down 12.3%. The first sign of change would be a daily close above the last lower high, $0.92.
Now an uptrend. Suppose ETH has swing lows at $2,400, $2,550 and $2,700 and swing highs at $2,800, $2,950 and $3,100, and price is $3,000. The last higher low, $2,700, is 10% below price ($300 / $3,000). A daily close below $2,700 breaks the structure, and you decide that now, not during the fall.
Supertrend on the same chart: if the middle of today's candle is $3,000 and ATR 10 is $90, the line sits near $3,000 - 3 x $90 = $2,730.
Sana's mistake was not only technical. Behind 'it is cheap now' was a fear of missing the exact bottom. Quran 65:2-3 promises that whoever is mindful of Allah, He makes a way out for him and provides for him from where he does not expect. A believer does not need to catch the turning point to be provided for. Waiting for a higher low and a break of structure is patience with evidence. Fighting a trend to prove yourself right is ego, not faith.
Education, not a fatwa. Where scholars differ, we say so. See what scholars say.
Averaging down in a downtrend because the price 'looks cheap'. Each purchase feels like a discount, but in a market making lower highs and lower lows, cheap can get much cheaper. The position grows largest exactly when the evidence is worst, and one more leg down can make it the biggest loss of the year.
Open the SOL daily chart with Supertrend switched on. Mark the last three swing highs and three swing lows and label the trend: up, down or range. Check whether Supertrend agrees. Then complete this sentence in your journal: 'This trend is broken if price closes below (or above) ___.' Finally, scroll back and count how many times Supertrend flipped during the last sideways period.
Open SOL with Supertrend →Key takeaways
- An uptrend is higher highs and higher lows, a downtrend is lower highs and lower lows, and anything else is a range.
- The last higher low is the price that breaks an uptrend, and you should know it before you buy.
- Trend lines and Supertrend help, but in ranges they break and flip often; structure comes first.
Check yourself
Pass with 2 of 3 to complete the lesson. Answers are checked on our server, so the certificate means something.
Barqish is an educational platform. Nothing here is financial advice or an instruction to buy or sell, and screening is not a fatwa. Spot ownership only: no leverage, no short selling. Updated 30 September 2026.