# Markup & Markdown Dates the trending phases of the Wyckoff cycle from structure: a compressed range capped at 3.5x ATR must break on widening spread and expanding volume, with the phase confirming only once the first reaction holds. Stride steps, volume character, a phase background and a dashboard track each phase's health, with nine alerts from range exit to character warnings. - Indicator in the LuxAlgo Library, by LuxAlgo, published Jun 17, 2026. - Access: free. - Concepts: [Markup & Markdown](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/markup-and-markdown/) (primary) - Open on Vela: https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart?pineScriptCodeId=rjohhef1axhkqcokw39ra879 - Page: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/markup-and-markdown/ **Markup & Markdown** dates the Wyckoff cycle's two trending phases with the confirmation discipline the school demands. Ranges come first, because [markup and markdown](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/markup-and-markdown/) are only ever entered by leaving one; an exit on widening spread and expanding volume prints SOS or SOW, and the phase confirms once the first reaction holds beyond the old boundary - the back-up for markup, the rally test for markdown. Confirmed phases tint the background; reactions leave stride steps. ## How to Trade the Markup & Markdown? - **Markup confirmed**: pullbacks toward the stride's rising supports are the continuation play; pauses that keep their gains and resolve upward extend it. - **Markdown confirmed**: the mirror - failing rallies at lower highs continue the decline, often faster. - **Character warnings**: a broken stride or volume dominance flipping against the phase - the change of behavior that precedes an ending. - **Phase endings**: a range resolving against the trend or, optionally, a close through the latest stride step - dated where structure stopped confirming. The verdict conditions the rest of the [Wyckoff-school tools](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/family/wyckoff/). ## Markup & Markdown Settings - **Range Length** (default 20): consecutive bars inside the window before a range locks in. - **Volatility Baseline Length** (default 200) and **Maximum Range Height (xATR)** (default 3.5): the compression cap. - **Expansion Baseline Length** (default 20), **Widening Spread Threshold** (default 1.25), **Expanding Volume Threshold** (default 1.25): qualify an exit as SOS/SOW. - **New Phases Need Expansion** (default on): with-trend pause resolutions are exempt. - **Reaction Pivot Length** (default 3): legs settling reactions and the stride. - **Volume Character Window** (default 20) and **Stride Break Ends The Phase** (default on). - **Show Dashboard** (on, Top Right) plus toggles - background, ranges, stride, labels, SOS/SOW markers, warnings (on), **Failed Exit Markers** (off). ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does this relate to Accumulation vs Distribution Ranges? [Accumulation vs Distribution Ranges](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/accumulation-vs-distribution-ranges/) works inside the sideways phases, scoring which way a range leans before it resolves. This build owns the trending legs either side of them. ### Why do phase labels arrive late? An exit only becomes a phase once its first reaction holds, and reactions settle Reaction Pivot Length bars after their extreme. Boundaries settle in hindsight, as in practice. ### What is the stride? The stepping structure a phase leaves behind - higher reaction lows in markup, lower rally highs in markdown, drawn as dashed steps. The dashboard counts them and flags a broken sequence. ## Related indicators - [Upthrust After Distribution](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/upthrust-after-distribution/) (Wyckoff): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/upthrust-after-distribution.md - [Wyckoff Distribution Schematic](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/wyckoff-distribution-schematic/) (Wyckoff): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/wyckoff-distribution-schematic.md - [Upthrust](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/upthrust/) (Wyckoff): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/upthrust.md - [Absorption](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/absorption/) (Wyckoff): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/absorption.md - [Cause & Effect](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/cause-and-effect/) (Wyckoff): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/cause-and-effect.md - [Trading-range Position](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/trading-range-position/) (Wyckoff): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/trading-range-position.md - [Wyckoff Method](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/wyckoff-method/) (Wyckoff): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/wyckoff-method.md - [Spring](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/spring/) (Wyckoff): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/spring.md --- Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/markup-and-markdown/ (LuxAlgo Library). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/