Match the same swings on the same timeframe
Regular bearish divergence compares rising price peaks with weakening indicator peaks. Regular bullish divergence compares falling price troughs with rising indicator troughs. Both comparisons require meaningful matching dates, consistent settings and completed observations. Selecting convenient peaks from different swings can manufacture an apparent disagreement.
Price confirmation is a separate event under a stated rule, such as a completed close below the trough between two peaks. Waiting for that evidence changes both the timing and the price of the observation. It may avoid some premature conclusions while missing part of a move that has already occurred.
Higher price, lower RSI, then a structural test
Assume a first completed price peak is 100 dollars with RSI 76. Price pulls back to 94, then reaches a second peak of 104 with RSI 68 under unchanged settings. Price has risen 4%, while RSI has fallen eight points: this is a bearish divergence candidate once both peaks are confirmed. A later close at 93.50 breaks the intervening 94-dollar trough and adds downward price evidence. If price instead holds above 94 and advances to 108, the earlier warning has not produced that reversal confirmation.
Slower momentum can lead to consolidation
An advance can slow without turning down, leaving price sideways while the indicator normalizes. Strong trends can produce several divergences before a material correction. RSI and MACD are also derived from prices, so combining them does not create fully independent evidence. Any pivot rule that needs later candles introduces recognition delay.
Write the warning and the trigger on separate lines
Use an available completed daily, weekly or monthly chart to identify the two price swings and intervening boundary. If using an indicator calculated elsewhere, record its settings and matched dates. State which future completed close would confirm the price hypothesis, and which would weaken it. This lesson does not imply that the platform includes RSI or MACD calculations.
Primary sources
Sources explain the mechanics and limitations; the editorial examples use invented numbers rather than market quotations.
Your next practical step
Examine completed price swings and keep the warning separate from its confirmation condition.
Open the first-chart instructions ↗