Trend, range, and the break

A chart's swing highs go 60, 64, 62 and its swing lows go 55, 58, 59. What is the regime?

• Uptrend, because the lows keep rising
• Downtrend, because the last high is lower
• Neither: the highs and lows no longer move the same way, so the swings are starting to overlap

Why does this course end a trend on a close rather than a wick?

• Wicks are drawn incorrectly by most charting sites
• The close is where the period settled; a wick can be a few trades in a thin moment
• Closes always happen at round numbers