Trend, range & the market's phases

Markets are only ever doing one of two things: trending (going somewhere) or ranging (going nowhere). Knowing which you're in decides how you should trade.

Uptrend — a staircase of higher highs and higher lows. You want to buy the pullbacks, not short the strength.

Downtrend — lower highs and lower lows. You want to sell the rallies.

Range — price bouncing between a floor and a ceiling, no higher highs or lower lows. You fade the edges (buy support, sell resistance) — or you wait for the breakout.

The phase cycle. Zoom out and markets breathe in four phases: quiet accumulation (smart money building a position) → markup (the trend up) → distribution (smart money selling to the crowd) → markdown (the trend down). Wyckoff traders read this cycle directly; ICT traders call the intraday version "Power of Three." Same idea: someone accumulates quietly, then the obvious move happens.

The most expensive mistake is trading a range like a trend, or a trend like a range. Name the phase first.