### Shortening of Thrust (SOT) — Section 1.6

SOT is a direction-change pattern. Each new extreme covers a shorter distance than the previous one, indicating momentum loss:
- **Bullish SOT:** In a downtrend, each new low travels less distance than the prior low — supply is deteriorating.
- **Bearish SOT:** In an uptrend, each new high travels less distance than the prior high — demand is deteriorating.

Key rules:
- Minimum 3 impulses are required for validity. At 3–4 impulses, begin looking for the SOT pattern.
- If price advance shortens with **high volume** → Effort/Result divergence (effort unrewarded).
- If price advance shortens with **low volume** → exhaustion (one side is withdrawing from the market).
- If there are more than 4 pushes with persistent shortening, the trend may be too strong to trade against.
- Confirmation requires a strong impulsive move in the opposite direction with elevated volume.

**Context matters:** An SOT bullish signal after an Upthrust (where the bias is bearish) should be treated with extreme caution. The dominant shakeout event defines the directional bias.