Oscillators
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).
The idea in plain words
The moving average is the market's consensus of value. The high of a candle shows the most buyers could achieve; the low shows the most sellers could. Comparing each with the average shows the strength of each side.
How it is calculated
Bulls Power is the candle's high minus a 13-period EMA; Bears Power is the low minus that EMA.
Bulls Power = high − EMA(close, 13)
Bears Power = low − EMA(close, 13)How to use it
- In an uptrend (EMA rising), look to buy when Bears Power is negative but rising: sellers are losing strength.
- In a downtrend, look to sell when Bulls Power is positive but falling.
Drawing conclusions
- Bulls Power making lower highs while the price makes higher highs is a warning that buyers are tiring (divergence).
Example
EURUSD is in an uptrend. On a pullback Bears Power drops to −0.0040, then rises to −0.0015 over three candles while the EMA keeps rising: a typical Elder-Ray buying setup.
Prices in examples are illustrative.
Watch out for
- Use them together with the trend direction, not on their own.
A little history
Dr Alexander Elder, described in his 1993 book "Trading for a Living" as the Elder-Ray.
Educational content only. No indicator or pattern predicts the future, and nothing here is investment advice.