Market regime
Price behaviour that holds for a stretch of time: directional movement, sideways trade, or a period of elevated swing.
How to read the number
Most chart tools are built for one regime: those that follow direction fall apart sideways, and oscillators fall apart in a sustained move.
When the metric lies
A regime is named in hindsight. The change is visible only once the new regime has been running for a while, and no universal rule exists for spotting that moment.
Also known as: market regime