The breaking of an uptrend line might signal the beginning of a sideways trend which may later form either a reversal or continuation pattern. The larger the pattern the greater is the price movement potential. The height of the pattern measures the volatility, the width of the pattern measures the amount of time required to build and complete the pattern. Topping patterns are usually shorter in duration and more volatile than bottoms. Price swings at major tops are wider and more violent.
Tops usually take less time to form than bottoms.
For this reason it is usually less risky to identify and trade bottoms than tops however the time spent in establishing a top is generally shorter than the time spent establishing a market bottom. Therefore, a market manager can generally do better by trading the downside of the market rather than the upside of the market. This has important implications for farm managers, due to the fact that the natural tendency is to trade the former rather than the latter. Volume is usually more important on the upside Volume should generally increase in the direction of the market trend and is an important confirming factor in the completion of all price patterns. The completion of each pattern should be accompanied by a noticeable increase in volume, particularly at market bottoms.