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Higher Highs and Lower Lows Explained

A higher high is a swing high above the last swing high; a lower low is a swing low below the last swing low; with their two partners they are the four labels every swing can carry. This paper shows you a real rise drawn as higher highs and higher lows, the four labels, the rise and a later fall labelled swing by swing on the daily chart, and how to show the labels beside lines on your platform.

Difficulty
Advanced
Reading time
5 min
Pages
8
Reviewed by
Saman Rahbar

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A rise, written as swings

Write a rise as its swings and it becomes two staircases. From February to July 2025 the euro against the dollar made five swing highs — 1.05139, 1.09544, 1.1573, 1.16313 and 1.18295 — each above the last, and five swing lows, each above the last, from 1.021 up to 1.14459. A swing high above the last swing high is a higher high, HH; a swing low above the last swing low is a higher low, HL. A rise is HH after HL after HH, for as long as it lasts.

The four labels

Every swing carries one of four labels, and each is a comparison with the last swing of its own kind. A high compared with the last high is either higher, HH, or lower, LH. A low compared with the last low is either higher, HL, or lower, LL. Highs are never compared with lows. Two of the labels say a rise, two say a fall, and the moment the labels change kind — the first LH after a run of HH — is what the papers on structure on this shelf are about.

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