Definitions
In plain terms
Top candidates break downward after a rise; bottom candidates break upward after a decline.
Technical
Top confirmation uses close < neckline and retracement from high to trough; bottom confirmation uses close > neckline and retracement from low to peak.
Scope
Polarity is a contract distinction, not a claim that one direction is more profitable.
Examples
- A reviewer computes Double Top–Bottom Polarity on a deterministic close fixture and checks pivot timing, threshold equality, neckline behavior, and rejection diagnostics before publication.
Common misconceptions
- Polarity is a contract distinction, not a claim that one direction is more profitable.
Concept relationships
Where this concept is used
Evidence and governance
- Members' Guide to 2021 Refresher Readings CFA Institute · first party methodology
Supports: preferred label, short definition, technical definition, variant distinction
Limits: The curriculum does not prescribe this package's pivot window, numeric thresholds, causal state machine, or performance claim.
- Foundations of Technical Analysis: Computational Algorithms, Statistical Inference, and Empirical Implementation Lo, Mamaysky, and Wang · first party technical publication
Supports: preferred label, short definition, technical definition, variant distinction
Limits: The paper's smoothing, sample, and empirical design are not copied into this package and do not validate its thresholds.
- Pine Script repainting concepts TradingView · official platform documentation
Supports: preferred label, short definition, technical definition, variant distinction
Limits: Platform display behavior does not establish financial usefulness or predictive value.
- scipy.signal.find_peaks SciPy · first party technical publication
Supports: preferred label, short definition, technical definition, variant distinction
Limits: This retrospective signal function is not itself a causal OHLC pivot detector.
- Pine Script pivot techniques TradingView · official platform documentation
Supports: preferred label, short definition, technical definition, variant distinction
Limits: The package freezes its own equality, separation, and OHLC policies rather than claiming one universal pivot definition.
- Zig Zag indicator QuantConnect · official platform documentation
Supports: preferred label, short definition, technical definition, variant distinction
Limits: This package selects a close-only percentage-reversal variant and documents the difference.
- LEAN ZigZag source QuantConnect · first party technical publication
Supports: preferred label, short definition, technical definition, variant distinction
Limits: A maintained implementation is evidence for one convention, not a universal market rule.
- Reviewed by
- fintech-builder-batch-012
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-10
- Next review
- 2027-08-10
- Record status
- evidence reviewed
This record is evidence-reviewed and readable, but not yet promoted to published — it is served noindex,follow and excluded from the sitemap.
