Trend Indicators

Seven indicators answer "which direction is this going". Four are moving averages, two follow the trend and flip when it turns, and one measures only how strong the trend is without saying which way.

All four smooth the price into a line. They differ in how much attention they pay to recent candles.

SMA (Simple Moving Average), default period 20, treats all candles equally. Smoothest, slowest.

EMA (Exponential Moving Average), default 20, weights recent candles more. The most widely used.

WMA (Weighted Moving Average), default 20, also favours recent candles, using a straight-line weighting.

HMA (Hull Moving Average), default 21, is built to turn quickly with less lag. Fastest of the four, and the noisiest.

The classic rule is a crossover: EMA(9) crosses above EMA(21) on 15m. A fast average overtaking a slow one is read as the trend turning up.

Defaults: period 10, multiplier 3. It draws a line that sits below price in an uptrend and above it in a downtrend, flipping when the trend changes.

It gives two outputs. Line is the price of that line. Direction is simply +1 for up or −1 for down.

Direction is the easy one to use: Supertrend direction is above 0 means "the trend is up" in one row.

A larger multiplier makes it flip less often. It performs well in trends and poorly in sideways markets, where it flips repeatedly.

Defaults: step 0.02, max step 0.2. It places dots below price in an uptrend and above it in a downtrend.

Like Supertrend, it gives a value and a direction, and it is often used to trail an exit rather than to enter.

It assumes the market is always trending, so in a quiet market it flips constantly. Pair it with ADX if that bothers you.

Default period 14. ADX is different from everything else here: it tells you how strong a trend is and says nothing about which way it points.

It gives three outputs: ADX itself, plus +DI and −DI. ADX above 25 is usually read as a real trend; below 20 as no trend.

That makes it a filter rather than a signal. ADX is above 25 AND Supertrend direction is above 0 means "there is a genuine trend, and it is up".

Comparing +DI against −DI gives direction if you want it from ADX alone.