Agree. I also did a little research many years ago on daily stock data by calculating and comparing the up swing and down swing price velocities (Velocity = (Swing Price Range) / (Number of bars in the swing)). Then calculating the average of all swing ratios ( VelocityRatio = DnVelocity/ UpVelocity) for the 10 yrs data sample.
Not a large data sample, but the average swing velocity ratio was greater than 1, confirming the down swings are on average steeper than the up swings. I did not continue the research, but perhaps assigning qualifying and confirming strength numbers based on this ratio may have made sense in the long run.
Also, agree that swing points are identified too late to trade them for reversals. As a matter of fact many years ago (early 1980's) when MetaStock was one of the only technical tools out there, they recommended not to trade based on their ZigZag indicator signals because they were repainting until confirmed (Ref: Steve Achelis, "Technical Analysis From A to Z).
That said, I do successfully trade swing reversals confirmed by certain momentum divergence indications.
Cheers!
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