12 March 2026 · Lee Haeun
A channel is two lines that agree
The second line of a channel has to touch the path for a reason. Parallel on its own is only a drawing.
Students often draw the first line of a channel with care and the second line with hope. The first line sits on two swings they can point to. The second line is copied beside it because a channel, they have heard, is a pair of parallels. The pair looks finished. It is not finished until the second line has its own touches.
In the study room we use a plain test. Cover the second line with a sheet of scrap paper. If the path still explains itself with the first line alone, you have a trend, not a channel. Uncover the second line. It should meet the price path at least twice without cutting through the bodies of the swings you claim to respect. If it only works when you tilt it a little, it is a different line, and it needs its own reason.
Where the anchor is allowed to sit
An anchor is a swing you are willing to defend out loud. On a rising channel the lower line usually starts at a low that was followed by a higher high. The upper line starts at a high that arrived after that low, not at a spike you chose because it makes the picture symmetrical. Symmetry is a drawing habit. The path does not owe you symmetry.
We ask students to mark the anchor with a small open circle and every later touch with a tick. If you cannot place two ticks on the second line, say so on the sheet. “One touch, copied parallel” is an honest label. “Channel” is not.
A range is not a shy channel
Some sheets in the clinic are flat on purpose. People still drag a rising pair onto them because the previous sheet was rising. The pencil remembers the last slope. Turn the sheet upside down for a moment. If your channel still looks persuasive, you were looking at the slope you wanted, not at the path. A range gets horizontal boundaries. It does not get a channel as a consolation.
When the second line finally agrees, write the number of touches in the margin and stop. Extra lines through the middle can wait for another evening. A channel that needs three companions is usually a trend you have not admitted to yet.