Quote from Gringo:
Lets get back to the range and how the mid and extremes related to comfort or fear. Around the midpoint the buyers and sellers are reasonably comfortable and continue to trade as they perceive the price to be just right. As the price approaches either of the extremes the danger that it might reverse OR break through causes a bit of trepidation for both the buyers and sellers. If the break through is to the upside with price going beyond the previously established extreme the sellers are left hanging. If the break through is to the downside beyond the previously established extreme the buyers are left hanging. It's this fear that causes a reduction in the number of transactions at the extremes and the reasons for the fear are justified. The extreme is the danger point around which the probability of something violent happening is greatest, whereas, the fear is lowest in the middle of the established high or low.
Those who use price action for trading relish this extreme point. It's the place where as Mamis stated, the information risk is greatest while the price risk is lowest. Information risk is greatest because there isn't much information regarding which course of action the price might take. The price risk is lowest because the moment of the crossing of the 'extreme' or established highs or lows tells the traders something, and risk can be minimized by acting on that something. As Db wrote in the above posts, there are only three courses the price can take here. The price can breakout, it can reverse, or it can retrace after the break out. All these three happen around the 'extreme' of the price range, the area where the greatest uncertainty, hence, greatest fear exists.
It's here where most traders fear to tread, lay the seeds of success. It is here where the risk is minimized. It is here at the extreme where a master trader displays his craft by carving out those magical wins so baffling to the uninitiated. It is here where the weak dread to venture. And it is precisely here where a budding trader needs to focus to hone his skill and rise above the morass.
Gringo