--- title: "Uptrend and Downtrend: How to Spot a Trend - Get Funded Now" description: "An uptrend makes higher highs and higher lows; a downtrend makes lower highs and lower lows. How to identify each, when a trend ends, and the limits." url: "https://getfundednow.com/learn/uptrend-and-downtrend" language: "en" last_modified: "2026-09-22" publisher: "Get Funded Now (getfundednow.com)" translations: es: "https://getfundednow.com/es/learn/uptrend-and-downtrend" pt-BR: "https://getfundednow.com/pt-br/learn/uptrend-and-downtrend" fr: "https://getfundednow.com/fr/learn/uptrend-and-downtrend" it: "https://getfundednow.com/it/learn/uptrend-and-downtrend" de: "https://getfundednow.com/de/learn/uptrend-and-downtrend" disclosure: "All trading at Get Funded Now is simulated. 'Funded' means a simulated or virtual account; GFN is not a broker and does not hold client funds." --- Price action # Uptrend and downtrend: the shape of a trend. An uptrend is a market making a series of higher highs and higher lows; a downtrend is a series of lower highs and lower lows. The definition works swing by swing on any timeframe. A trend is usually considered over when that sequence breaks - for example, when an uptrend makes a lower low - though many trends pause first. [All trading lessons](https://getfundednow.com/learn) · [Read the trading rules →](https://getfundednow.com/rules) ## The swing definition Price moves in swings. In an uptrend each rally reaches beyond the last one and each pullback stops above the last pullback. In a downtrend the reverse holds. When neither pattern holds - highs and lows overlapping - the market is [sideways](https://getfundednow.com/learn/sideways-market). Because the definition depends on which swings are counted, a market can be in an uptrend on a daily chart and a downtrend on an hourly one at the same time. State the timeframe whenever you describe a trend. ## Tools traders use to confirm a trend None of these defines the trend; each is a way of seeing the swings more clearly. **Common trend-confirmation tools** | Tool | Uptrend reading | Limitation | | --- | --- | --- | | Swing structure | Higher highs and higher lows | Depends on which swings are counted | | Trendline | Rising line under the lows holds | Drawn with judgement | | Moving average | Price above a rising average | Lags turning points | | Trend strength indicator | Rising readings as price advances | Lags, and thresholds are conventions | ## When a trend ends The first warning in an uptrend is a failure to make a new high; the break comes when price makes a lower low. SMC traders call the latter a change of character, and the continuation breaks a [break of structure](https://getfundednow.com/learn/break-of-structure). A trend can also fade into a range without a clean reversal, and reversal patterns such as the [double top](https://getfundednow.com/learn/double-top) describe one way it can turn. Step by step ## How to identify it Label the trend from the swings before using any indicator. 1. Choose the timeframe you trade on and one higher timeframe. 2. Mark the last three swing highs and three swing lows. 3. Check whether highs and lows are both rising, both falling, or overlapping. 4. Note the most recent swing whose break would change the label. Worked example ## The concept, walked through ### A downtrend and its break, described An illustrative sequence in words, with round numbers standing in for price. It is not taken from any real instrument or date. 1. 1. Downtrend Highs at 120, 115 and 111; lows at 110, 105 and 101 - lower highs and lower lows. 2. 2. Warning The next low holds at 102, above 101, and the rally reaches 112, above 111. 3. 3. Change The downtrend sequence is broken. The market may be turning, or may simply range. The swing definition told the trader when the downtrend label stopped applying. It did not tell them that an uptrend had started. Common mistakes ## Where traders go wrong ### Mixing timeframes A pullback on a daily chart can be a full downtrend on a fifteen-minute one. ### Calling the end too early One weak swing is a warning, not a reversal. ### Trading against the higher-timeframe trend without a reason Counter-trend trades tend to need tighter plans. Limitations ## What it cannot tell you No chart concept predicts price. These are the limits worth keeping in view. - Trends are only clear in hindsight; in real time, a swing may be a pause or a turn. - There is no reliable evidence that a trend will persist for any set time. In an evaluation ## Using it on a simulated account Counter-trend attempts tend to fail several times before one works. On a $100,000 account, with a daily loss limit of $3,000 on Instant or $5,000 on 1 Step and 2 Step, cap the number of attempts as well as the risk on each. - [What is the daily loss limit?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/daily-loss-limit) - Trading rule - The ceiling on a day's losses - 3% on Instant and 5% on 1 Step and 2 Step. - [What is maximum drawdown?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/max-drawdown) - Trading rule - The overall floor beneath the account. - [What are the profit targets?](https://getfundednow.com/rules/profit-target) - Trading rule - What a trend-following approach is trying to reach within the rules. Questions ## Asked about this concept A market making a series of higher highs and higher lows on the timeframe being watched. A market making a series of lower highs and lower lows. It is usually considered over when price makes a higher high after a higher low. Keep learning ## Related lessons - [Price action and market structure](https://getfundednow.com/learn/sideways-market) - Sideways Market: How to Spot a Range - What a sideways, or ranging, market is, how to recognise one before a trend strategy is used in it, and how traders approach the range and its breaks. - [Price action and market structure](https://getfundednow.com/learn/support-and-resistance) - Support and Resistance, Explained - The levels where price has repeatedly stalled or turned - how to draw them as zones, why broken levels flip roles, and what they cannot tell you. - [Price action and market structure](https://getfundednow.com/learn/divergence-trading) - Divergence Trading: Regular and Hidden - Regular and hidden divergence between price and an oscillator - how each is drawn, what it is taken to mean, and why it is a warning rather than a trigger. - [Price action and market structure](https://getfundednow.com/learn/breakout-trading) - Breakout Trading and False Breakouts - What a breakout is, how traders define and enter one, and how to recognise the false breakout - the move through a level that snaps straight back. Sources ## What this page relied on 1. [Market trend](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_trend) - Wikipedia. Retrieved 23 September 2026. The definition of trends as sustained directional moves and the distinction between primary and secondary trends. Educational content only, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade. Chart concepts describe what price has done; none of them predicts what it will do, and trading any strategy can lose money. Get Funded Now accounts are simulated and trade virtual funds. Last reviewed 22 September 2026. Ready when you are ## Your capital stays yours. The risk is ours. One evaluation fee, no time limits and up to 90% of simulated profits. Pick an account size and your credentials arrive by email within minutes. [Start your challenge →](https://getfundednow.com/challenges) · [Read the rules](https://getfundednow.com/faq) No subscriptions or hidden fees Payouts every 14 days $400,000 max total allocation --- Source: https://getfundednow.com/learn/uptrend-and-downtrend Facts about Get Funded Now in one file: https://getfundednow.com/llms.txt