N1 · Distribution Top

Status: LIVE. Canonical id distribution_top; short code N1 is display metadata only. Implementation: Scoring, State, Triggers. The short family is the mirror of the long (A*) setups — see The Screener System.

A name that has run hard and is now quietly distributing — supply overwhelming demand at the highs, before price has rolled over.

Thesis

Tops are processes, not events. After an extended advance, larger holders distribute into retail strength: price churns near its highs on heavy volume but stops making meaningful new highs, momentum diverges, and the move narrows. The edge is identifying the transition from accumulation to distribution before the breakdown, when the tape still looks strong to the naked eye.

Direction

SHORT.

What it looks for

Price-action + volume based — deliberately no options dependency, so unlike A3/A4/A6 this archetype can run across the full S1 universe (the inputs are in the OHLCV sweep):

• Price near the 52-week high (within a small band) but failing to extend.
• Bearish RSI divergence — price makes an equal/higher high while RSI(14) makes a lower high.
• Volume character — up-day volume fading relative to down-day volume (the “churn near highs” signature).
• Momentum rollover — MACD or a short-term moving-average slope flattening / turning down.
• Confirmation gate — a close back below a short-term reference (e.g. the 10/20-day MA or the prior swing low) to avoid shorting strength prematurely.

How it scores

Same state machine as the long archetypes: triggers roll up to none / partial / primed by count, and confluence with other short archetypes (N2 / N3) raises the blended rank. The confirmation gate should be required for primed — a divergence without a break is a watch, not a setup.

Pitfalls / when it fails

• Shorting strength is dangerous in a momentum regime. A distribution pattern that never confirms is just a strong uptrend pausing. The confirmation gate is load-bearing.
• Tops take time. This archetype will flag early and often; the relevance window must be generous, and the operator should treat a primed read as “watch for the break,” not “short now.”
• Regime context matters — far more reliable when breadth is deteriorating and the broad tape is heavy than in a one-way bull market.

Related

• Implementation signal cards: Score · State · Triggers
• The Screener System (vision)
• Screener Pipeline & Lifecycle (operations)
• Sibling shorts: N2 · Overextended Blowoff, N3 · Failed Breakout
• Long-side mirror: A5 · Mechanical Reversion