Forex Swing Highs and Lows: Rules and Practice
Identify a five-candle swing and its confirmation delay.
Technical terms explained
Swing high and low
A local turning point under a specified confirmation rule.
HH, HL, LH and LL
Labels comparing one confirmed swing with the previous swing of the same kind.
A swing is a local turning point selected by a rule. We require the centre high to exceed two highs on each side for a swing high; the centre low must be below two lows on each side for a swing low. Equal extremes fail this strict rule. A different teacher may use one neighbour or discretionary prominence.
Our operational rule
The two right-side candles must be complete before the swing is confirmed.
Worked example
The highest centre wick in a five-candle group qualifies only once the fifth candle closes.
Counterexample
The latest candle cannot be a confirmed two-right-neighbour swing yet.
Watch for this mistake
Placing a confirmed label at the centre timestamp in a backtest without recording the later confirmation time.
Charts are synthetic. These classification rules are not evidence of profitability.
Source and conventions
Lab operational definitions · version 1
Original exercise conventions: strict outside-wick FVG geometry; two completed neighbours on each side for swings; completed close through declared references; same-candle cross-and-return for a sweep. These are educational classification rules, not demonstrated trading edges.