GLOSSARY // Technical Analysis
Resistance
Resistance is a price area where a rising stock has repeatedly stalled because sellers unload enough supply to cap the advance. It is the ceiling that mirrors support's floor.
Supply concentrates at these levels for identifiable reasons: trapped buyers from a prior top sell to get back to even, profit-takers ring the register where the last rally died, and short sellers lean on the level that worked before. Round numbers collect orders the same way; a stock that has failed twice at 100 will find plenty of sell orders parked there the third time.
When resistance breaks on strong volume, the trapped supply is gone and the level often flips to support. When it breaks on thin volume, the move is suspect and fakeouts are common.
A stock tags 91.80, 92.10, and 91.95 across three rallies in two months, fading to the mid-80s after each attempt. On the fourth push it gaps to 93.50 on earnings with 4x average volume and holds. The pullback a week later finds buyers at 92.20, right at the old ceiling.
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Educational only — not financial advice. Definitions simplified for clarity; markets are messier than definitions.