OptiNod Academy

Indicators

Browse all 28 parts in the Indicators series and start from the section you need.

What this series covers

An indicator is a formula that summarises price. Set a reference with moving averages, measure width with volatility, read position with oscillators, judge persistence with trend strength, then confirm with volume and consensus levels.

Where to start

SMA — Simple Moving Average

Later parts reuse the terms the earlier ones define, so reading in order leaves fewer gaps.

Learning path

1. Moving averages and reference prices

See which reference line SMA, EMA and VWAP each produce.

  1. SMA — Simple Moving Average Do not treat the 200-day line as a simple trend filter. Judge trend strength by how price moves through it.
  2. EMA - Exponential Moving Average Use changes in the angle of EMA alignment to spot possible trend reversals before a golden cross.
  3. VWAP — Volume-Weighted Average Price VWAP plots the breakeven level for most market participants as a dynamic line, then defines the day’s trend by how long price stays above or below it.
  4. Anchored VWAP — The Breakeven Line From a Group’s Average Entry Price Anchored VWAP is the average entry price of all participants who entered after a meaningful event. It becomes support or resistance because that level is someone’s breakeven.

2. Volatility and channels

Compare how Bollinger, ATR, Keltner and Donchian set channel width.

  1. Bollinger Bands: Volatility Channels Use the frequency of closes outside the bands and the band-width percentile to judge current volatility. A band touch alone is not enough.
  2. ATR — Average True Range When ATR is at least twice its 30-day average, reduce position size to keep R-risk constant.
  3. Keltner Channel — A Trend Channel With ATR-Based Width Bollinger Bands use standard deviation for width; Keltner Channels use ATR. That difference determines how much the channel fluctuates and how suitable it is for trend following.
  4. Donchian Channel — Channel Width Shows Volatility, Breakouts Signal Trends A simple box built from the N-period high and low is central to trend-following systems. Channel width reflects volatility, while channel breakouts point to the start of a trend.

3. Oscillators and closing position

See what the RSI family measures, and when it pins in a trend.

  1. How to Read RSI: 70/30 Levels, Settings and Divergence Read RSI 70/30/50, compare 7/14/21-bar settings, and test trend, pullback and divergence rules with confirmed bars and separate intervals.
  2. Stochastic — A Closing-Price Position Oscillator Know that it is reliable only in range-bound markets, and classify the market first by where the %K/%D crossover occurs: upper band, middle, or lower band.
  3. Stochastic RSI — Applying Stochastic to RSI A tool that normalizes RSI values using the stochastic formula. Use its highly sensitive short-term timing only for short swings.
  4. Williams %R — Why an Indicator Based on Close Position Stays Pinned in Trending Markets Williams %R quickly shows where the close sits within the recent high-low range, but the -20/-80 thresholds only matter in range-bound markets.
  5. CCI — Commodity Channel Index Know that the standard ±100 thresholds lose their edge in turbulent markets, and trust only extremes beyond ±200.

4. Trend strength and trailing stops

Measure strength with MACD and ADX, then set the hold range with a trailing stop.

  1. How to Read MACD: Lines, Histogram and Settings Distinguish MACD, signal and histogram, match average types and timeframes, and test crosses, zero lines and shrinking bars with price rules.
  2. ADX / DMI - Measuring Trend Strength Use it as an entry filter: below ADX 20, discard all other trend-indicator signals.
  3. Aroon Oscillator — Time-Based Trend Strength Track the age of a trend by measuring how recently new highs or lows were made, and use that timing to judge trend fatigue.
  4. Parabolic SAR - An Accelerating Trailing Stop Use it as a trailing stop for an existing position, not as an entry trigger.
  5. Supertrend — ATR Trailing Stop Color Flip Use an automatically defined stop distance to build consistent risk-reward.
  6. Chandelier Exit — ATR Trailing Stop Removes the need to time profit-taking and helps you stay in the trade through normal trend pullbacks.

5. Volume, consensus levels and adaptive averages

Add a confirmation axis outside price, and compare variants that change the settings.

  1. OBV — Tracking Accumulation and Distribution Use OBV’s slope inside a range to read the likely direction of the next breakout before price confirms it.
  2. Money Flow Index (MFI) — When Volume Fails to Confirm Price MFI weighs momentum by volume to measure the weight of money behind a move. When price rises but MFI fails to keep up, it can show capital leaving before RSI does.
  3. Chaikin Money Flow (CMF): The Close’s Position Inside the Candle Shows the Money Flow Unlike OBV, which only looks at closing-price direction, CMF multiplies volume by where the close lands inside the candle’s high-low range to distinguish accumulation from distribution.
  4. Pivot Points: Intraday Consensus Levels Everyone Is Watching Pivot points are consensus levels calculated from the previous day’s high, low, and close. The level itself is less important than how price reacts there: whether it breaks through, gets rejected, or retests the level after a break.
  5. Ichimoku Cloud: Five Lines and the Cloud Focus on the Chikou Span and the future thickness of the cloud to identify trend starts and ends one step earlier.
  6. T3 — Six-Stage Smoothed Moving Average A smooth curve with less lag than an EMA, used to read trend curvature.
  7. VIDYA — Adaptive Momentum-Weighted Average A moving average that adapts automatically to volatility, producing fewer false signals in ranges than an EMA.
  8. JMA — Low-Lag Adaptive Average The smoothest trend line: powerful while a trend is underway, but less reliable at turning points.
  9. The Choppiness Index — A Regime Filter That Warns You When Trend Signals Are Spinning Their Wheels The Choppiness Index tells you first whether the market is in a state where you can trust a trend signal. It says nothing about direction. It works best as the rule for switching off trend strategies and switching on mean-reversion strategies when the value sits high in a sideways range.