Learn
Technical analysis, in plain words
Guides to all 71 indicators and 47 drawing tools on our charts. Each one explains the idea behind it, how it is calculated, how traders use it, what it can and cannot tell you, a worked example, and where it came from. No jargon where everyday words will do.
Chart basicsTrend indicatorsOscillatorsVolume indicatorsBill Williams indicatorsExtra indicatorsChart typesLinesChannelsGann toolsFibonacci toolsElliott wavesHarmonic and chart patternsShapes and notesMeasuring and trade planning
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.
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.
Try it on a live chart
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Educational content only. No indicator predicts the future, and nothing here is investment advice.