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Análisis técnico, con palabras sencillas
Guías de los 71 indicadores y 51 herramientas de dibujo de nuestros gráficos. Cada una explica la idea, cómo se calcula, cómo lo usan los traders, qué puede y qué no puede decirte, un ejemplo resuelto y su origen. Sin jerga cuando bastan palabras sencillas.
Chart basicsTrend indicatorsOscillatorsVolume indicatorsBill Williams indicatorsExtra indicatorsChart typesLinesChannelsGann toolsFibonacci toolsElliott wavesHarmonic and chart patternsShapes and notesMeasuring and trade planningPortfolio construction
Chart basics
Start here: what a candle tells you.
Trend indicators
Lines drawn on the price that show which way the market is heading and how fast.
- Moving Average (SMA, EMA, SMMA, LWMA)A moving average smooths the price into one calm line, so you can see the direction of the trend without the day-to-day noise.
- Adaptive Moving Average (AMA, Kaufman)A moving average that speeds up when the market moves cleanly in one direction and slows down when it just wobbles.
- ADX: Average Directional Movement Index (and ADX Wilder)ADX tells you how strong a trend is, whatever its direction; the +DI and −DI lines tell you whether buyers or sellers are pushing harder.
- Bollinger BandsA moving average with an upper and a lower band that widen when the market gets jumpy and narrow when it calms down.
- DEMA: Double Exponential Moving AverageA faster moving average that cuts much of the usual delay, so it turns closer to the actual turning points.
- EnvelopesTwo lines a fixed percentage above and below a moving average, marking where prices are stretched.
- FrAMA: Fractal Adaptive Moving AverageA moving average that adapts its speed to how "rough" or "smooth" the recent price path looks.
- Ichimoku Kinko Hyo (Ichimoku cloud)An all-in-one view: trend, momentum, and support and resistance, with a shaded "cloud" projected into the future.
- Parabolic SARDots below the price in an uptrend and above it in a downtrend, used as a trailing stop that tightens as the trend continues.
- Standard Deviation (indicator)Measures how widely prices have been spreading around their average: a simple volatility gauge.
- TEMA: Triple Exponential Moving AverageAn even faster moving average than DEMA: three EMAs combined to remove most of the delay.
- VIDYA: Variable Index Dynamic AverageAn exponential average that speeds up when momentum is strong and slows down when it is weak.
Oscillators
Indicators in their own pane that measure momentum: how strong a move is and when it is tiring.
- ATR: Average True RangeATR tells you how much the price typically moves in one candle, so you can set sensible stops and position sizes.
- Bulls Power and Bears Power (Elder-Ray)Two bars that show how far buyers pushed the price above its average (Bulls) and sellers pushed it below (Bears).
- CCI: Commodity Channel IndexCCI shows how far the price is from its recent average, in units of its usual deviation; readings above +100 or below −100 are unusually far.
- Chaikin OscillatorShows whether money is flowing into or out of a market, by comparing short- and long-term trends of the Accumulation/Distribution line.
- DeMarkerAn oscillator between 0 and 1 that compares recent highs and lows to spot exhausted moves.
- Force IndexCombines how far the price moved with how much was traded, to show the force behind a move.
- MACD: Moving Average Convergence/DivergenceMACD shows the gap between a fast and a slow moving average: its direction and size tell you about the trend's momentum.
- MomentumCompares today's price with the price a set number of candles ago: above 100 means higher, below 100 lower.
- OsMA: Moving Average of OscillatorThe gap between MACD and its signal line, drawn as bars: a close-up view of MACD's crossovers.
- RSI: Relative Strength IndexRSI is a score from 0 to 100 that compares the size of recent gains with recent losses. Above 70 is often called overbought, below 30 oversold.
- RVI: Relative Vigor IndexMeasures whether candles tend to close near their highs (vigour up) or their lows (vigour down).
- Stochastic OscillatorShows where the latest close sits within the recent high–low range, from 0 (at the low) to 100 (at the high).
- TRIX: Triple Exponential AverageThe rate of change of a triple-smoothed moving average: a slow, smooth momentum line that ignores small wiggles.
- Williams' Percent Range (%R)Like the Stochastic, but upside down: 0 means the close is at the recent high, −100 at the recent low.
Volume indicators
Indicators that ask how much trading is behind a move.
- Accumulation/Distribution (A/D)A running total of volume that leans towards buying when candles close near their highs and towards selling when they close near their lows.
- MFI: Money Flow IndexA volume-weighted RSI: from 0 to 100, it shows whether money has been flowing into or out of the market.
- OBV: On Balance VolumeAdds the volume on up days and subtracts it on down days, to see whether volume is backing the trend.
- VolumesBars showing how much trading happened in each candle; green when activity rose versus the previous candle, red when it fell.
- Anchored VWAPThe volume-weighted average price from a point you choose (an important high, low or news candle) to now, with bands one and two standard deviations away.
- Fixed range volume profileA sideways histogram of where trading happened in the period you select: the busiest price (POC) and the value area that held 70% of the volume.
Bill Williams indicators
A family of tools from the trader and author Bill Williams, built to work together.
- Accelerator Oscillator (AC)Shows whether the market's driving force is speeding up or slowing down, often before the price changes direction.
- AlligatorThree smoothed averages (jaw, teeth and lips) shifted into the future: when they are tangled the "alligator sleeps" (no trend); when they fan out, it "eats" (trend).
- Awesome Oscillator (AO)The gap between a 5-period and a 34-period average of the median price, drawn as green and red bars.
- Fractals (Bill Williams)Little arrows that mark local tops and bottoms: a high with two lower highs on each side, or a low with two higher lows.
- Gator OscillatorShows the Alligator's mood as bars: how far apart its three lines are, above and below a zero line.
- Market Facilitation Index (BW MFI)How much the price moved per unit of volume, coloured by whether price movement and volume rose or fell.
Extra indicators
Popular modern tools that round out the classic set.
- ZigZagConnects significant highs and lows with straight lines, hiding the small wiggles in between.
- VWAP: Volume-Weighted Average PriceThe average price of the day weighted by volume, a fair-value line many professional traders watch.
- SuperTrendA single line below the price in an uptrend (green) and above it in a downtrend (red), set a few ATRs away.
- Keltner ChannelsAn exponential average with bands set a multiple of ATR away: a smoother cousin of Bollinger Bands.
- Donchian ChannelsThe highest high and lowest low of the last 20 candles, with a middle line: a breakout map.
- Hull Moving Average (HMA)A very smooth and fast moving average that turns quickly with the price.
- Pivot Points (classic)Support and resistance levels for today, calculated from yesterday's high, low and close.
- Stochastic RSIApplies the Stochastic formula to RSI: where is RSI within its own recent range?
- AroonTwo lines showing how recently the highest high and the lowest low of the last 25 candles happened.
- CMF: Chaikin Money FlowThe balance of buying and selling pressure over the last 20 candles, between −1 and +1.
- Ultimate OscillatorA momentum oscillator that blends three time frames (7, 14 and 28 candles) to reduce false signals.
- Choppiness IndexTells you whether the market is trending (low values) or going sideways in a choppy way (high values).
- VWMA: Volume-Weighted Moving AverageA moving average that counts each candle's close in proportion to how much trading happened in it.
- ZLEMA: Zero-Lag Exponential Moving AverageAn exponential moving average that removes part of its own delay, so it turns sooner with the price.
- ALMA: Arnaud Legoux Moving AverageA smooth moving average whose weights follow a bell curve placed near the newest candles.
- McGinley DynamicA self-adjusting moving average that speeds up when the price runs away from it and slows down when it is close.
- LSMA: Least Squares Moving AverageThe end point of the straight line that fits the last N closes best: a moving average that follows the slope.
- Chandelier ExitTrailing stop levels set a few ATRs away from the highest high (for longs) or lowest low (for shorts).
- ROC: Rate of ChangeHow much the price has changed in per cent compared with N candles ago.
- CMO: Chande Momentum OscillatorMomentum between −100 and +100 from the sum of up moves and down moves over N candles.
- TSI: True Strength IndexA doubly smoothed momentum oscillator that shows the trend's strength with little noise.
- PPO: Percentage Price OscillatorMACD expressed in per cent of the slow average, so it can be compared across tickers and over time.
- DPO: Detrended Price OscillatorRemoves the trend to show the shorter cycles: how far the price is from a moving average from half a period ago.
- KST: Know Sure ThingA momentum oscillator that combines four rates of change over different periods, weighted towards the longer ones.
- Vortex IndicatorTwo lines (VI+ and VI−) that compare upward and downward movement to find the start of trends.
- EOM: Ease of MovementHow easily the price moves: big moves on little volume score high, small moves on heavy volume low.
- Mass IndexWatches the candles' range widen and narrow to warn of trend reversals.
- Coppock CurveA slow momentum indicator built to spot the start of long-term rises after big declines.
- Historical VolatilityHow much the price has been swinging, as an annual percentage, from the standard deviation of returns.
- Fisher TransformTurns the price's position in its recent range into sharp peaks and troughs that make turning points stand out.
- Squeeze MomentumShows when volatility is unusually compressed (the squeeze) and which way momentum points when it is released.
- Connors RSIA short-term oscillator that averages three things: a 3-period RSI, the RSI of the up/down streak and the rank of today's change.
- PVT: Price Volume TrendA running total of volume, added or subtracted in proportion to each candle's percentage change.
Chart types
Other ways of drawing the candles.
- Heikin Ashi candlesSmoothed candles that make trends easier to see: long runs of the same colour, fewer distracting flips.
- Renko chartsBricks of a fixed size that appear only when the price moves that far: time and small wiggles disappear.
- Range barsBars that each cover exactly the same price range from low to high, however long that takes.
- Line break chartsLines (blocks) that extend the trend with every new closing high or low and reverse only when the last few lines are broken.
- Point & Figure chartsColumns of X (rising) and O (falling), one mark per box of price, with a new column only on a reversal of several boxes.
Lines
The basic drawing tools: trend lines, levels and time markers.
- Trend lines, rays, extended and arrowed linesA straight line through two or more swing points that shows the direction and slope of a trend.
- Horizontal lines and rays (support and resistance)A level line marking a price where the market has turned before and may react again.
- Vertical lineMarks a moment in time, such as a news release, a session open or the start of a pattern.
- Trend by angleA trend line that shows its angle, useful for comparing how steep different trends are.
- Cycle linesEvenly spaced vertical lines that test whether highs or lows repeat at regular intervals.
Channels
Parallel lines that contain the price as it trends.
- Equidistant channelTwo parallel lines that contain the price: a trend line plus a parallel line on the other side.
- Linear regression and standard deviation channelsA best-fit line through the closes of a chosen period, with parallel lines showing how far prices strayed from it.
- Andrews' pitchforkThree parallel lines from three swing points: a median line that prices often return to, and two outer lines.
Gann tools
Price-and-time angles from W. D. Gann.
Fibonacci tools
Levels based on the Fibonacci ratios that many traders watch.
- Fibonacci retracementHorizontal lines at 23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8% and other ratios of a move, where pullbacks often stop.
- Fibonacci time zonesVertical lines at Fibonacci numbers of time units (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…) from a starting point.
- Fibonacci fanThree sloping lines from a swing point through the 38.2%, 50% and 61.8% retracement levels.
- Fibonacci arcsCurved lines at 38.2%, 50% and 61.8% of a move's length, combining price and time.
- Fibonacci channelA trend channel with extra parallel lines at Fibonacci multiples of its width.
- Fibonacci expansionProjects where a new move might end, using the size of the previous move: 61.8%, 100%, 161.8% and 261.8%.
Elliott waves
Counting the waves of crowd optimism and pessimism.
- Elliott wave: the impulse (1-2-3-4-5)A trend move made of five waves: three in the trend's direction (1, 3, 5) and two pullbacks (2, 4).
- Elliott wave corrections: A-B-C, triangles and combinationsThe patterns markets make when they pause or pull back against the trend: zigzags (A-B-C), triangles (A-B-C-D-E) and combinations (W-X-Y, W-X-Y-X-Z).
Harmonic and chart patterns
Recurring shapes with measurable proportions.
- Harmonic patterns: Gartley, Bat, Butterfly, Crab and Cypher (XABCD)Five-point price patterns whose legs fit specific Fibonacci ratios; point D is a potential reversal zone.
- AB=CD patternA move, a pullback and a second move of about the same size: the simplest harmonic pattern.
- Three drives patternThree pushes in the same direction, each separated by a pullback, often with Fibonacci proportions: a sign of exhaustion.
- Head and shouldersThree peaks with the middle one highest; a break of the "neckline" through the lows between them signals a reversal.
Shapes and notes
Highlight areas and write down your plan.
Measuring and trade planning
Measure moves and plan a trade's risk and reward.
- Price and time range (measure)Measures the distance between two points: price change, percentage, number of candles and time.
- Long and short position (risk/reward)Plans a trade: entry, stop-loss and take-profit levels, with the risk/reward ratio worked out for you.
- Price range and date rangeTwo quick measuring tools: the price range shows the distance between two prices (and in percent), the date range shows the number of candles and the time between two points.
Portfolio construction
How to combine tickers into a portfolio: risk, correlation and every model in the optimiser, with formulas and worked examples.
- Portfolio return, volatility and the covariance matrixThe three numbers every portfolio model starts from: each ticker's expected return, its volatility, and how the tickers move together (the covariance matrix).
- Correlation and diversificationWhy combining tickers that do not move together lowers risk without lowering the expected return, and how to read a correlation table.
- The Sharpe ratio: return per unit of riskThe most used yardstick for comparing portfolios: how much return above cash each unit of volatility earned.
- The efficient frontierThe curve of the best possible portfolios: for every level of risk, the highest expected return the tickers allow.
- Drawdown, VaR and CVaR: measuring the bad daysVolatility measures all swings; these three measure the losses: the worst fall from a peak, the loss you exceed on 1 day in 20, and the average loss on those days.
- Walk-forward testing: does the model hold up?Why every study also fits each model on the first 75% of the data and measures it on the last 25%, and how to read those OOS columns.
- Rebalancing: schedules, drift bands and trading costsWhy a portfolio drifts away from its targets and the ways to bring it back: by the calendar, by a drift band, or by hand.
- Markowitz mean-variance optimisationThe original portfolio model: the mix with the best trade-off between expected return and variance for the risk aversion you choose.
- Maximum Sharpe ratio (tangency portfolio)The mix with the highest return per unit of risk: the point where a line from cash just touches the efficient frontier.
- Black-Litterman modelStarts from neutral, balanced expected returns and moves them only as far as your views and your confidence in them justify; then optimises.
- Robust mean-variance optimisationMean-variance that assumes the expected returns could be as bad as their statistical uncertainty allows, and optimises for that: fewer extreme bets.
- Minimum variance portfolioThe calmest possible mix of the tickers: it ignores expected returns and minimises volatility.
- Risk parity (inverse volatility)Each ticker gets a weight inversely proportional to its volatility, so the calm ones get more money and the wild ones less.
- Equal risk contribution (ERC)The true risk-parity portfolio: every ticker contributes exactly the same share of the portfolio's risk, correlations included.
- Hierarchical risk parity (HRP)Groups the tickers into a family tree by correlation and splits the money down the tree, so similar tickers share their risk budget.
- Maximum diversification portfolioThe mix that gets the most out of correlation: the highest ratio of the tickers' average volatility to the portfolio's volatility.
- Minimum correlation algorithmA fast heuristic that gives more weight to the tickers least correlated with the rest, then evens out their volatility.
- Volatility targetingTakes the risk-parity mix and scales the whole portfolio up or down so that its volatility matches your target.
- Kelly criterionThe bet size that makes your money grow fastest over the long run, if your estimates of return and risk were exactly right.
- Fractional KellyA fixed share of the Kelly portfolio, half by default: most of the growth with much smaller swings.
- Optimal f (Ralph Vince)For each ticker, the fraction of capital that would have grown its past daily results the most, measured against its worst day.
- Growth optimal portfolioMaximises the average logarithmic return over the actual history, the exact growth rate, without assuming bell-shaped returns.
- CVaR optimisation (minimum expected shortfall)The mix with the smallest average loss on its worst days, measured on the real history rather than a bell curve.
- Risk-based position sizing (ATR)Each position is sized so that a stop placed a few daily ranges away would cost the same share of the account.
- Nash equilibrium allocation (game theory)Treats investing as a game against the market, which picks the worst past week for you; the result is the mix with the best worst-case outcome.
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