Sideways price is not automatically accumulation. Ranges can be fatigue, indecision, or quiet distribution dressed as calm. The useful question is whether selling is being absorbed at levels that previously attracted supply — and whether volume behaviour supports that reading.
Look for springs or failed breakdowns that reclaim the range on expanding participation, then quieter tests that hold. Watch whether down bars inside the range print on lighter volume than the rallies that follow. None of these tells stands alone; together they form a case you can defend to a sceptical peer.
In our Intensive clinics, students often over-label. A useful discipline is to write “possible accumulation” until two independent volume clues appear. Only then upgrade the label. The delay feels pedantic for a week; after that, charts look cleaner and fewer false markups survive into your plan.
If you trade indices, remember session volume profiles differ from cash equities. Adjust your expectations for overnight thinness before calling absorption. Context is part of the evidence, not a footnote.