Higher highs and higher lows
Higher highs and higher lows (HH and HL) are rising peaks and rising dips that together form an uptrend. A downtrend is the opposite: lower highs and lower lows (LH and LL).
How it works
Price does not move in a straight line; it moves in waves: up, pull back, up again. If each new peak is above the last (HH) and each pullback stops above the last dip (HL), the market is in an uptrend. If peaks and dips keep falling (LH, lower high, and LL, lower low), the trend is down.
This is the simplest way to read trend without indicators. While the HH and HL sequence holds, buying pullbacks is trading with the trend. The first warning is when price fails to make a new high (a lower high appears) or breaks below the last higher low.
Scale matters. A 15-minute chart can show a falling sequence while the daily chart is a clean uptrend of HH and HL. Traders usually take direction from the higher timeframe and look for entries on the lower one.
ETH: low at $2,400, rally to $2,700 (HH), pullback to $2,550 (HL), rally to $2,900 (HH), pullback to $2,750 (HL). The structure is bullish. If the next pullback drops below $2,750, the last higher low is broken and the trend is in doubt.
The mistake is counting every tiny zigzag as a new high or low. Then the structure 'breaks' every hour and you flip between long and short. Mark only clear swing points on your chosen timeframe and do not mix scales.
Questions and answers
What are higher highs and higher lows in simple terms?
A higher high is a peak above the last peak, a higher low is a dip above the last dip. When price makes them in turn, it is an uptrend.
What do LH and LL mean?
LH is a lower high and LL a lower low. A run of them describes a downtrend.
How do you know an uptrend is over?
Early signs are price failing to make a new high or breaking the last higher low. One sign is not proof, but it is a reason to rethink long positions.
Related terms
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Updated: 2026-10-19