Technical Indicators

Complete reference of all technical indicators with parameters and examples.

Technical Indicators Reference

A complete reference of all technical indicators available in NexusTrade. Each indicator includes its description, parameters, and typical usage.

All window-based indicators accept a lookback period (number) and an interval (Day, Hour, or Minute).

Moving Averages

Simple Moving Average (SMA)

The average closing price over a specified number of periods.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (e.g., 50 days, 200 days)
Range: Same scale as price
Example condition: SMA(AAPL, 50) > SMA(AAPL, 200) (Golden Cross — bullish signal)

Tip: Very short SMAs (< 10 days) can generate excessive noise and false signals.

Exponential Moving Average (EMA)

Like SMA but gives more weight to recent prices, making it more responsive to new information.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period
Range: Same scale as price
Example condition: Price > EMA(AAPL, 21) (Price above short-term trend)

Momentum Indicators

Relative Strength Index (RSI)

Measures the speed and magnitude of recent price changes. Oscillates between 0 and 100.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (default: 14)
Range: 0 to 100
Example condition: RSI(AAPL, 14) < 30 (Oversold — potential buying opportunity)

Tip: In strong trends, RSI can stay overbought/oversold for extended periods. Don't use RSI alone as a buy/sell signal.

Rate of Change (ROC)

Measures the percentage change in price between the current price and the price N periods ago.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period
Range: Unbounded (percentage)
Example condition: ROC(AAPL, 10) > 5 (Price has increased more than 5% in the last 10 periods)

MACD

MACD line (fast EMA minus slow EMA), its signal EMA, or the histogram (MACD minus signal). Classic trend/momentum indicator.

Parameters: Asset, Fast length (12), Slow length (26), Signal length (9), Interval (Day), Line (macd | signal | histogram)
Range: Price scale (line/signal); either sign (histogram)
Example condition: MACD(AAPL) histogram > 0 (Fast EMA above its signal — bullish momentum)

Tip: Use the line parameter to pick the macd line, signal line, or histogram. All three warm up together, so switching lines never delays readiness.

ADX (Average Directional Index)

Wilder's ADX: trend strength on 0-100, with optional +DI and -DI trend-direction lines. ADX above ~25 is conventionally a strong trend.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (14), Line (adx | plusDi | minusDi)
Range: 0 to 100
Example condition: ADX(AAPL, 14) > 25 (Strong trend, either direction)

Tip: ADX measures trend STRENGTH, not direction. Pair with +DI > -DI for bullish direction, -DI > +DI for bearish.

Stochastic Oscillator

Momentum oscillator comparing the close to the high-low range over N bars, with %K smoothing and a %D signal average. Readings above 80 are overbought, below 20 oversold.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (14), %K smoothing (3), %D smoothing (3), Line (k | d)
Range: 0 to 100
Example condition: Stochastic(AAPL, 14, 3, 3, k) < 20 (Oversold bounce setup)

Tip: Bullish signal is %K crossing above %D in oversold territory — a low %K alone just means a strong downtrend.

Commodity Channel Index (CCI)

Deviation of the typical price from its moving average, scaled by mean deviation. Readings above +100 are overbought, below −100 oversold.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (20), Constant (0.015)
Range: Unbounded (typically −300 to +300)
Example condition: CCI(AAPL, 20) > 100 (Breakout momentum)

Tip: CCI crossing back inside ±100 often marks the end of the thrust — use for exits more than entries.

Williams %R

Momentum oscillator placing the close within the high-low range over N bars, on a −100 to 0 scale. Above −20 is overbought, below −80 oversold.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (14)
Range: −100 to 0
Example condition: WilliamsR(AAPL, 14) < -80 (Oversold)

Tip: Faster and choppier than Stochastic — confirm with a second signal before trading %R extremes.

Money Flow Index (MFI)

Volume-weighted RSI: money flow direction over N bars on a 0-100 scale. Above 80 is overbought, below 20 oversold. Requires volume data.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (14)
Range: 0 to 100
Example condition: MFI(AAPL, 14) > 80 (Buying climax)

Tip: MFI divergences (price makes a new high, MFI doesn't) carry more weight than RSI divergences because volume confirms.

Parabolic SAR

Trailing stop-and-reverse level that accelerates toward price as the trend extends. Price crossing the SAR flips the trend.

Parameters: Asset, Interval, Step (0.02), Maximum (0.2)
Range: Price scale
Example condition: Price(AAPL) > ParabolicSar(AAPL) (Uptrend intact)

Tip: Tighten the step in choppy markets to flip faster; the default 0.02/0.2 whipsaws in sideways tape.

Ichimoku Cloud

Five-line trend system: Tenkan and Kijun midpoints, Senkou A/B cloud bands, and the Chikou lagging line. Lines are evaluated unshifted. Price above the cloud with Tenkan above Kijun is the full bullish alignment.

Parameters: Asset, Conversion window (9), Span length (52), Line (tenkan | kijun | senkouA | senkouB | chikou)
Range: Price scale
Example condition: Ichimoku(AAPL, 9, 52, tenkan) > Ichimoku(AAPL, 9, 52, kijun) (Bullish Tenkan/Kijun cross)

Tip: The strongest signal is price breaking the cloud after a flat Senkou B — flat cloud edges are support/resistance.

Volatility Indicators

Bollinger Bands

SMA with upper and lower bands at a specified number of standard deviations.

Parameters: Asset, Period (default: 20), Standard deviations (default: 2)
Range: Same scale as price
Example condition: Price < Bollinger Lower Band(AAPL, 20, 2) (Price below lower band — potentially oversold)

Price Standard Deviation

The standard deviation of an asset's closing price over a window. Measures price volatility.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period
Range: >= 0
Example condition: Price Std Dev(SPY, 20) > 5 (High volatility regime)

Price Mean Absolute Deviation

The mean absolute deviation of an asset's price over a window. Similar to standard deviation but less sensitive to outliers.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period
Range: >= 0
Example condition: Price MAD(AAPL, 14) > 3

Max Drawdown

The maximum peak-to-trough percentage decline over a window. Measures worst-case downside risk.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period
Range: Unbounded (negative percentage)
Example condition: Max Drawdown(SPY, 30 days) > -10 (Drawdown hasn't exceeded 10% in the last 30 days)

Max Drawup

The maximum trough-to-peak percentage increase over a window.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period
Range: >= 0 (percentage)
Example condition: Max Drawup(TSLA, 20 days) > 15 (Strong recovery within 20 days)

True Range

The greatest of: current high minus low, |high − previous close|, or |low − previous close|. Measures single-period volatility.

Parameters: Asset
Range: >= 0
Example condition: True Range(SPY) > 5 (Large intraday range)

Average True Range (ATR)

The average of True Range over a window. A smoothed measure of volatility used for position sizing and stop-losses.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period
Range: >= 0
Example condition: ATR(AAPL, 14) > 3 (Elevated volatility)

Donchian Channel

Highest high and lowest low over N bars with a midline. Breaks of either edge are breakout entries; the midline is the first pullback level.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (20), Line (upper | lower | middle)
Range: Price scale
Example condition: Price(AAPL) > Donchian(AAPL, 20, upper) (Breakout)

Tip: The classic turtle 20/55 breakout system runs on this channel — middle is where failed breakouts retest.

Keltner Channel

EMA midline with ATR bands above and below. Tighter than Bollinger in calm tape, so closes outside the bands mean stronger conviction moves.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (20), Multiplier (2), Line (upper | middle | lower)
Range: Price scale
Example condition: Price(AAPL) > Keltner(AAPL, 20, 2, upper) (Volatility expansion)

Tip: A Squeeze analog: when price rides inside both bands for days, the next outside close usually runs.

Supertrend

ATR trailing band that ratchets with the trend and flips sides on a close through it. The direction line reads +1 in an uptrend, −1 in a downtrend.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (10), Multiplier (3), Line (value | direction)
Range: Price scale (value); +1 / −1 (direction)
Example condition: Supertrend(AAPL, 10, 3, direction) > 0 (Uptrend regime)

Tip: Use direction as a regime filter for entries, not the entry itself — it flips late by construction.

Volume Indicators

Relative Volume (RVOL)

Current bar volume divided by the average volume of the trailing N completed bars. 1.0 means the bar is trading exactly its recent pace.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (14)
Range: >= 0 (ratio around 1.0)
Example condition: RVOL(AAPL, 14) > 2 (Trading at more than twice its usual volume)

Tip: With a Day interval this compares today's running volume against the prior N full days — the classic intraday RVOL. High RVOL confirms breakouts; low RVOL favors mean reversion.

Volatility Indicators

Implied Volatility

Constant-maturity at-the-money implied volatility for the underlying, built from the options chain (near-target-DTE expirations, |delta|≈0.50 call/put average, linearly interpolated). Units are annualized decimals (0.25 = 25%).

Parameters: Asset, DTE (target tenor in calendar days)
Range: > 0 (annualized decimal)
Example condition: ImpliedVolatility(NVDA, 30) > 0.40 (30-day ATM IV above 40%)

Tip: Pair with IVRank/IVPercentile for relative richness, or IVHVRatio to compare implied vs realized vol before selling premium.

Volume Indicators

On-Balance Volume (OBV)

Running total of signed volume: adds the bar's volume on up closes, subtracts on down closes. Rising OBV with flat price is accumulation.

Parameters: Asset, Interval
Range: Unbounded (cumulative)
Example condition: OBV(AAPL) > OBV(AAPL) 20 bars ago — rising OBV confirms an uptrend

Tip: OBV leads price at accumulation bottoms — the line turns up while price still chops sideways.

Volatility Indicators

IV Rank

Where today's constant-maturity ATM IV sits between the lookback window's high and low: (IV − IV_low) / (IV_high − IV_low) × 100. Distinct from IV Percentile.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (default 252 days)
Range: 0–100
Example condition: IVRank(SPY, 252) > 50 (IV in the upper half of its 1-year range)

Tip: High IV Rank favors premium-selling structures; low IV Rank favors long volatility. Do not confuse with IV Percentile.

Volume Indicators

Accumulation/Distribution Line (ADL)

Running total of close-location value times volume. Unlike OBV it weights where in the range the bar closed, so weak closes on high volume distribute.

Parameters: Asset, Interval
Range: Unbounded (cumulative)
Example condition: ADL(AAPL) diverging from price (Smart-money footprint)

Tip: Prefer ADL over OBV on wide-range bars — OBV treats a weak high-volume close as full accumulation.

Volatility Indicators

IV Percentile

Percent of sessions in the lookback window whose constant-maturity ATM IV was strictly below today's (0–100). Distinct from IV Rank.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (default 252 days)
Range: 0–100
Example condition: IVPercentile(QQQ, 252) < 20 (IV lower than on 80% of the past year)

Tip: IV Percentile answers 'how often was IV lower?'; IV Rank answers 'where is IV in its high-low range?'. Ship both — they disagree near spikes.

Volume Indicators

Chaikin Money Flow (CMF)

Money flow volume over money volume across N bars, bounded in −1 to +1. Sustained readings above +0.2 show institutional accumulation.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period (20)
Range: −1 to +1
Example condition: CMF(AAPL, 20) > 0.2 (Accumulation regime)

Tip: CMF crossing zero with rising volume confirms a breakout better than price action alone.

Volatility Indicators

IV/HV Ratio

Constant-maturity ATM implied volatility divided by annualized close-to-close realized volatility (HV) over hvWindow trading days. Values > 1 mean options are pricing more vol than recently realized.

Parameters: Asset, HV lookback days (default 20)
Range: > 0
Example condition: IVHVRatio(AAPL, 20) > 1.2 (implied vol > 20% richer than 20-day realized)

Tip: Classic premium-selling filter: require IV/HV elevated before short strangles / iron condors.

Price Indicators

Asset Price

The current market price of any asset.

Parameters: Asset
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(AAPL) < 150 (Buy when Apple is below $150)

Minimum Price

The lowest closing price over a window.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(AAPL) = Min Price(AAPL, 52 weeks) (Price is at 52-week low)

Maximum Price

The highest closing price over a window.

Parameters: Asset, Lookback period
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(NVDA) = Max Price(NVDA, 52 weeks) (Price at all-time high within window)

Constant (Number)

A fixed numeric value. Useful as one side of a comparison.

Parameters: Value
Example condition: Use 30 as the right side of RSI(AAPL, 14) < 30

Intraday Indicators

Minutes After Open

The number of minutes elapsed since market open (9:30 AM ET).

Parameters: None
Range: 0 to 390
Example condition: Minutes After Open > 30 (Wait 30 minutes after open before trading)

Minutes Until Close

The number of minutes remaining until market close (4:00 PM ET).

Parameters: None
Range: 0 to 390
Example condition: Minutes Until Close < 15 (Close positions in last 15 minutes)

Opening Price

The price of an asset at market open.

Parameters: Asset
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(SPY) > Opening Price(SPY) (Price is above today's open — bullish intraday)

Previous Closing Price

The closing price from the previous trading session.

Parameters: Asset
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(AAPL) > Previous Close(AAPL) (Trading above yesterday's close)

High of Day

The highest price reached during the current trading session.

Parameters: Asset
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(TSLA) = High of Day(TSLA) (Price is at session high — breakout)

Low of Day

The lowest price reached during the current trading session.

Parameters: Asset
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(SPY) > Low of Day(SPY) * 1.01 (Price has bounced 1% from session low)

Price Change Since Open

The dollar change in price since market open.

Parameters: Asset
Range: Unbounded
Example condition: Price Change Since Open(AAPL) < -5 (Stock has dropped $5 since open)

Gap Size

The dollar difference between today's opening price and yesterday's closing price.

Parameters: Asset
Range: Unbounded
Example condition: Gap Size(SPY) > 2 (SPY gapped up $2 at open)

Gap Percentage

The gap size expressed as a percentage of the previous close.

Parameters: Asset
Range: Unbounded (percentage)
Example condition: Gap Percentage(TSLA) > 3 (Tesla gapped up more than 3%)

VWAP (Volume-Weighted Average Price)

The average price weighted by volume throughout the trading session. A key intraday benchmark.

Parameters: Asset
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(SPY) > VWAP(SPY) (Trading above VWAP — bullish intraday bias)

Tip: VWAP resets each trading day. It's an intraday indicator only.

Minute Bar High

The high of the most recently COMPLETED one-minute bar. The bar that opens at 9:30 is readable from 9:31, identically in backtests and live trading; the forming bar is never used. Not the day's high (use High of Day). Pre-market and after-hours bars count. Strategies using it run on one-minute data.

Parameters: Asset
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(SPY) > Minute Bar High(SPY) (price broke above the last completed minute's high)

Bullish Fair Value Gap

Detects a bullish fair value gap (3-candle gap up) on minute bars. Returns the gap's support price (candle1 high) while the pattern is active; otherwise no value (condition fails). Not a 0/1 flag — never compare to 1 (that is for CrossAbove/CrossBelow).

Parameters: Asset
Range: price when present
Example condition: BullishFairValueGap(SPY) > 0 (gap present — price levels are positive) or Price(SPY) <= BullishFairValueGap(SPY) (price at/into the gap support)

Minute Bar Low

The low of the most recently COMPLETED one-minute bar. The bar that opens at 9:30 is readable from 9:31, identically in backtests and live trading; the forming bar is never used. Not the day's low (use Low of Day). Pre-market and after-hours bars count. Strategies using it run on one-minute data.

Parameters: Asset
Range: > 0
Example condition: Price(SPY) < Minute Bar Low(SPY) (price broke below the last completed minute's low)

Bearish Fair Value Gap

Detects a bearish fair value gap (3-candle gap down) on minute bars. Returns the gap's resistance price (candle1 low) while the pattern is active; otherwise no value (condition fails). Not a 0/1 flag — never compare to 1.

Parameters: Asset
Range: price when present
Example condition: BearishFairValueGap(AAPL) > 0 (gap present) or Price(AAPL) >= BearishFairValueGap(AAPL) (price at/into the gap resistance)

Heikin-Ashi (1 minute)

Heikin-Ashi candles built from COMPLETED one-minute bars in the regular session (9:30-15:59 bar opens; pre-market and after-hours bars are skipped), identically in backtests and live trading. The first bar seeds HA open = (O+C)/2 with its own high, low and close; after that HA close = (O+H+L+C)/4, HA open = (prior HA open + prior HA close)/2, HA high = max(H, HA open, HA close), HA low = min(L, HA open, HA close). The recursion carries across sessions and advances once per new bar. The streak line is the signed length of the current same-color run, counted from the color change (+3 on the third green candle, -3 on the third red); it reads 0 on a doji and for the rest of any run in which a candle shows an opposite-direction wick (a lower wick on green, an upper wick on red).

Parameters: Asset, Line (open | high | low | close | streak)
Range: Price scale; streak is a signed integer
Example condition: Heikin-Ashi(SPY, streak) >= 3 (three clean green one-minute candles since the last color change: strong uptrend)

Tip: A strong-trend signal of +1 / -1 / 0 is two conditions: streak >= 3 is bullish, streak <= -3 is bearish, anything else is neutral.

Crossover Indicators

Cross Above

Returns 1 on the bar where the first indicator crosses above the second (was below, now above), 0 otherwise.

Parameters: Two indicators
Example condition: Cross Above(SMA(AAPL, 50), SMA(AAPL, 200)) = 1 (Golden Cross just occurred)

Cross Below

Returns 1 when the first indicator crosses below the second indicator.

Parameters: Two indicators
Example condition: Cross Below(Price(SPY), SMA(SPY, 200)) = 1 (Price just broke below the 200-day SMA)

Correlation

Rolling Pearson correlation (-1 to 1) of two indicators' period-over-period returns over N paired observations. Flat or degenerate windows read no-signal instead of a fabricated number.

Parameters: Two indicators, Lookback observations (60)
Example condition: Correlation(Price(AAPL), Price(QQQ), 60) < 0.3 (AAPL decoupling from QQQ)

Tip: Correlates returns, not price levels — two co-trending assets do not read 1.0 just for both going up.

For portfolio, position, and order-based indicators, see Portfolio & Trading Indicators.

For compound indicators (indicators of indicators), math operators, and advanced filters, see Advanced Indicators.

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