SwingAlerts guide

The six indicators SwingAlerts can watch

Six, each with its own settings and its own warm-up.

Exponential Moving Average

EMA

An average of recent closes that leans on the most recent ones.

Reacts to a turn faster than a simple average does, which is why most people reach for it when they want a trend line price can cross in a hurry.

“Is the trend still intact?”

A 9-candle EMA, drawn under the same prices.

Good to know

SettingLengthHow many candles go into the average.
Warm-upOne lengthA 50-length EMA needs 50 candles before it means anything.
Close>EMA50

Simple Moving Average

SMA

A plain average of the last N closes. Every candle counts the same.

Slower to turn than the exponential one, which is the point: the 200 is watched by enough people that it behaves like a level in its own right.

“Where is the long-term line?”

A 14-candle SMA, drawn under the same prices.

Good to know

SettingLength
Warm-upOne lengthA 200-length SMA needs 200 candles.
Close>SMA200

Relative Strength Index

RSI

A 0-to-100 reading of how one-sided recent moves have been.

Above 70 is usually read as stretched, below 30 as beaten down — but the reading that matters is whichever one your own setup uses, so you type the level yourself.

“Has this run too far?”

RSI over the same prices. Above 70 is usually read as stretched, below 30 as beaten down — but you type the level that matters to you.

Good to know

SettingLength14 is the common one.
Range0 to 100
Warm-upOne length, plus one candleThe extra candle is the first comparison it can make.
RSI14<30

Volume-Weighted Average Price

VWAP

The session’s average price, weighted by how much traded at each level.

Often treated as the day’s fair value: above it the buyers are in front, below it the sellers are. It resets with each session.

“Am I paying above or below today’s fair value?”

The session’s average price, weighted by how much traded at each level. Above it the buyers are in front; below it the sellers are.

Good to know

SettingsNoneThe only indicator with nothing to configure.
Warm-upOne candleGood from the first candle of the session.
Close>VWAP

Average True Range

ATR

How far this pair typically travels in one candle, in price.

Not a direction — a size. Useful for saying "only tell me if the move is big by this pair’s own standards", which travels between pairs in a way a fixed pip figure does not.

“Is this move actually big for this pair?”

Not a direction — a size. Tall bars are candles where this pair travelled further than usual.

Good to know

SettingLength14 is the common one.
Reads inPriceNot a 0-100 score — the same units as the pair.
Warm-upOne length
ATR14>0.0012

Bollinger Bands

BBANDS

A band drawn above and below a moving average, widening as things get wilder.

Price closing outside a band is the classic "this is unusual" signal. How unusual is up to you: the width setting is how many standard deviations out the band sits, and 2.0 is the conventional answer.

“Is this outside its normal range?”

The band widens when prices get wilder and narrows when they settle. A close outside it — marked — is the classic “this is unusual” signal.

Good to know

SettingLengthCandles in the middle average. 20 is conventional.
SettingWidthHow far out the bands sit. 2.0 is conventional.
Warm-upOne length
Close<BBANDS20 · 2.0