This issue of trend does seem to confuse an awful lot of people. Something like a mental block. But it's not really necessary to understand it in order to make trading decisions. Rather than grapple with trend, look at your chart in terms of support and resistance. Locate these areas and determine the strength or weakness of each. Then study how your stock or whatever you're trading behaves when it reaches these levels. Determine the probabilites and risks of going long or short at each of these levels. Determine how much you're going to risk and where your stops will be, then act. --Db