Here is one example from bitcoin's past:

Really, the textbook on this would say something like, "this period is a period of indecision, where forces for both selling and buying (bull and bear) are duking it out, shuffling prices between ranges, ultimately one side wins rather than a continuation of the struggle indefinitely. To push price down, there must be sellers. To push it up, there must be buyers. When range of buying/selling eventually collapses, a winner must emerge, ultimately dictating the future of pricing."

That said, as a trader, you might only swing trade that for a few days and then decide you no longer know where prices are headed. It's not much of a window of visibility, and they break either up or down, and swing in a given direction. That swing does not have to continue, depending on the situation.