Technical indicators explained

FreeCharting includes 51 technical indicators, and you can add as many as you like to one chart. Click Indicators in the toolbar, then tick the ones you want: trend indicators appear on the price chart, and oscillators and volume indicators get their own pane below it. The numbers in brackets are the default settings. To change them, click the gear icon next to any indicator. Your settings are remembered for every chart.

Trend indicators

Trend indicators smooth out price noise so the overall direction is easier to see.

MA · Moving Average (20, 50, 200)

The average closing price over the last N bars. By default FreeCharting draws the 20-, 50- and 200-period averages, the classic short-, medium- and long-term trend lines. When faster averages sit above slower ones, the trend is up.

EMA · Exponential Moving Average (12, 26)

Like a moving average, but it weights recent prices more heavily, so it reacts faster to new moves.

WMA · Weighted Moving Average (9)

A moving average that gives each bar a linearly increasing weight, newest bar highest. It sits between the MA and EMA in responsiveness.

HMA · Hull Moving Average (21)

A fast, smooth average built from weighted moving averages. It reduces lag a lot while keeping the line smooth, so turns show up early.

SMA · Smoothed Moving Average (12, 2)

A heavily smoothed average that filters out short-term swings, useful for spotting the underlying trend.

VWAP · Volume-Weighted Average Price

The average price weighted by volume, reset at the start of each day on intraday charts. Institutions use it as a benchmark: price above VWAP means buyers have paid up on average today.

HTF MA · Moving Averages from Another Timeframe (20, 50 · daily EMA)

Two moving averages calculated on a higher timeframe, such as the daily 20 and 50 EMA, drawn on a shorter chart like the 1-hour. Each candle uses the last completed higher-timeframe candle, so values don’t change after the fact. Choose the timeframe and EMA or simple MA in its settings.

Ichimoku · Ichimoku Cloud (9, 26, 52)

A complete trend system: conversion and base lines, a lagging line, and a cloud projected 26 bars ahead. Price above the cloud is bullish, below it bearish, and the cloud’s thickness shows how strong support or resistance is.

Supertrend · Supertrend (10, 3)

A trailing line placed a multiple of ATR away from price. It flips from below price (green) to above it (red) when the trend reverses, which makes it a popular stop-loss guide.

Chandelier · Chandelier Exit (ATR trailing stop) (22, 3)

A trailing stop drawn on the price chart: the highest high of the last 22 bars minus three times ATR for long trades, or the lowest low plus three ATR for shorts. It only moves in the trade’s favour and flips when price closes through it, with buy and sell markers at each flip. Popular for letting winners run while keeping a volatility-based stop.

SAR · Parabolic SAR (2, 2, 20)

Dots above or below price that trail the trend. When price crosses the dots, they flip sides, which traders use as a trend-reversal or trailing-stop signal.

BBI · Bull and Bear Index (3, 6, 12, 24)

The average of four moving averages (3, 6, 12 and 24 periods) combined into one line. Price above BBI suggests bulls are in control.

Pivots · Pivot Points (classic)

Support (S1–S3) and resistance (R1–R3) levels calculated from the previous period’s high, low and close: the previous day on intraday charts, week on daily charts and month on weekly charts.

Prev H/L · Previous High and Low (bar, day, week…) (previous bar)

Two short markers just to the right of the latest candle at the previous bar’s high and low, or at the previous hour, 4 hours, day, week or month (PDH and PDL for the previous day, PWH and PWL for the week). Day traders watch these levels as support, resistance and breakout triggers.

Markov · Markov Regime (bull, bear, sideways) (20, 5%, 5%, 4)

Labels every bar bull, bear or sideways from its return over the last 20 bars (above +5% is bull, below −5% bear) and shades the chart by regime. A card shows the transition matrix, how often each regime is followed by each other one, so you can see how persistent trends have been, and the long-run share of time in each. Changes are labelled once the new regime has held for a few bars.

Qullamaggie · Qullamaggie Setups (breakouts, episodic pivots, parabolic)

Runs the Qullamaggie screener’s rules on the chart you’re viewing, bar by bar: markers where a breakout from a tight base, an episodic pivot (a big gap on heavy volume) or a parabolic run and its first crack happened, a dashed line at the current base’s pivot, and a card with today’s setup, average daily range and 1, 3 and 6-month returns. Made for daily candles.

Sessions · Trading Sessions (Tokyo, London, New York)

Shades the Tokyo, London and New York trading sessions on intraday charts, following each city’s local hours and daylight saving, so you can see which markets are open and when activity tends to pick up.

DMA · Difference of Moving Averages (10, 50, 10)

The gap between a 10- and 50-period moving average, plus its own average. Rising DMA means the short-term trend is pulling away from the long-term one.

TRIX · Triple Exponential Average (12, 9)

The rate of change of a triple-smoothed EMA. The heavy smoothing removes minor wiggles, so crossings of zero or of its signal line highlight bigger trend shifts.

Patterns · Candlestick Patterns

Marks classic candlestick patterns on the chart: bullish and bearish engulfing, hammer, shooting star, morning and evening star, three white soldiers, three black crows, piercing line, dark cloud cover and doji. Hover a candle to see which pattern it formed. Patterns work best as a prompt to look closer, together with trend and support or resistance.

Price action · Price Action (BOS, CHoCH, order blocks, FVG) (5, 3, 1, 1)

Smart-money-style market structure from confirmed swing highs and lows. BOS (break of structure) marks a close beyond the last swing in the direction of the trend; CHoCH (change of character) marks the first break against it. Order blocks are the last opposite candle before a break, kept until price closes through them. Fair value gaps are three-candle imbalances, kept until filled. $ marks a liquidity sweep: a wick through a swing that closes back inside. The current swing range is split into premium (upper half) and discount (lower half).

DMI · Directional Movement Index (ADX) (14, 6)

Compares upward and downward movement (+DI and −DI) and adds ADX to measure how strong the trend is, whatever its direction.

Volatility and channels

These show how far price typically moves, and draw bands that price tends to stay within.

BOLL · Bollinger Bands (20, 2)

A 20-period moving average with bands two standard deviations above and below. The bands widen in volatile markets and narrow ("squeeze") in quiet ones, which often comes before a breakout.

KC · Keltner Channels (20, 2, 10)

An EMA with bands set a multiple of ATR above and below. Smoother than Bollinger Bands; closes outside the channel often signal a strong move.

DC · Donchian Channels (20 · exit 0)

The highest high and lowest low of the last N bars, plus a center line: the midpoint, or the daily VWAP if you choose it in the settings (or no center line at all). Breakouts above the upper band are the basis of classic turtle-trading systems. By default the channel uses the N bars before the current one, as the classic turtle rules do, so a close beyond a band is a breakout and gets a small arrow. Options add a shorter exit channel (for example 10 bars, drawn dashed), shading between the bands, and the channel width as a percentage of price.

ATR · Average True Range (14)

The average size of each bar’s range, including gaps. It doesn’t show direction, just volatility, and it’s the standard way to size stop-losses.

SQZ · Squeeze (volatility compression and expansion) (20, 2, 20, 1.5)

Flags when volatility is compressed: a red dot means the Bollinger Bands have moved inside the Keltner Channels, a squeeze that often comes before a big move. The dot turns yellow on the bar the squeeze fires (the bands move back outside) and green after. The histogram is momentum, brighter while it’s growing, to show which way the expansion is heading.

BBW · Bollinger BandWidth (20, 2, 125)

How wide the Bollinger Bands are, as a percentage of the middle band. Low readings mean a quiet market; when BandWidth touches its lowest level of the last 125 bars (the dashed line), volatility is as compressed as it gets, and a sharp rise from there is volatility expanding.

Vol. candles · Volatility Candles (20, 2, 20, 5 · ATR 14, 1.5)

Recolours the price candles by what volatility is doing: green while it’s expanding, red while it’s contracting, grey when there’s no real change. Choose the measure in the settings: Bollinger BandWidth against its own average (beyond a neutral band, 5% by default), or each bar’s range against ATR (at least 1.5 × ATR is expanding, at most ATR ÷ 1.5 is contracting). Switch Colours to Direction to keep each candle’s up or down colour instead, bright while volatility is expanding and faded while it’s contracting, so you can see which way the expansion is going. Or choose Momentum to colour each candle by momentum instead (Impulse, MACD histogram or RSI, as in Momentum Candles), still bright while volatility expands, so a bright green candle means momentum is up and volatility is expanding.

Momentum oscillators

Oscillators measure the speed of price moves and help spot overbought or oversold conditions.

MACD · Moving Average Convergence Divergence (12, 26, 9)

The difference between a 12- and 26-period EMA, a 9-period signal line, and a histogram of the gap between them. Signal-line crossovers and divergences from price are classic momentum signals.

RSI · Relative Strength Index (14)

Compares recent gains with recent losses on a 0–100 scale. Readings above 70 are often called overbought and below 30 oversold. You can add extra periods to show several RSI lines.

StochRSI · Stochastic RSI (14, 14, 3, 3)

A stochastic oscillator applied to RSI instead of price, with %K and %D lines. It’s much faster than RSI and reaches extremes often, so traders watch for crosses above 20 or below 80.

KDJ · Stochastic (KDJ) (9, 3, 3)

A stochastic oscillator that shows where the close sits within the recent high–low range, with an extra J line that leads K and D. Crosses of K and D are common entry signals.

CCI · Commodity Channel Index (20)

Measures how far price has moved from its average, scaled so most readings fall between −100 and +100. Moves beyond that range signal unusual strength or weakness.

WR · Williams %R (14)

Shows where the close sits relative to the recent high, from 0 to −100. It’s similar to the stochastic oscillator, read upside-down.

ROC · Rate of Change (12, 6)

The percentage change in price over N bars. Crossing above zero means price is higher than it was N bars ago.

MTM · Momentum (12, 6)

The raw price difference between now and N bars ago, with a moving average. A simple way to see whether moves are speeding up or slowing down.

AO · Awesome Oscillator (5, 34)

The difference between a 5- and 34-period average of each bar’s midpoint, drawn as a histogram. Colour changes and zero-line crosses show shifting momentum.

BIAS · Bias Ratio (6, 12, 24)

How far, in percent, the price is from its moving average. Extreme readings suggest price has stretched too far and may snap back.

PSY · Psychological Line (12, 6)

The share of the last N bars that closed higher. It’s a simple gauge of market mood: very high readings suggest optimism, very low ones pessimism.

Mom. candles · Momentum Candles (13 · 12, 26, 9 · RSI 14, 5)

Recolours the price candles by momentum. The default Impulse measure (Alexander Elder’s Impulse System) turns a candle green when both the 13-bar EMA and the MACD histogram are rising, red when both are falling, and grey when they disagree. You can also colour by the MACD histogram (bright while momentum is growing, faded while it fades) or by RSI above or below 50.

Volume indicators

Volume indicators show whether money is flowing in or out, which helps confirm price moves.

VOL · Volume (20)

Traded volume for each bar, coloured by direction, with a 20-period average. Big moves on above-average volume are generally more trustworthy.

OBV · On-Balance Volume (30)

A running total that adds volume on up bars and subtracts it on down bars. When OBV rises while price is flat, buyers may be quietly accumulating.

MFI · Money Flow Index (14)

A volume-weighted RSI on a 0–100 scale. Above 80 suggests heavy buying (overbought), below 20 heavy selling, and divergences from price are warning signs.

PVT · Price and Volume Trend

Similar to OBV, but adds volume in proportion to the percentage price change, so bigger moves count for more.

VR · Volume Ratio (26, 6)

Compares volume on up days with volume on down days. High readings mean buying volume dominates.

EMV · Ease of Movement (14, 9)

Relates price change to volume. High values mean price is moving up easily on light volume; low values mean it takes heavy volume to move.

VPVR · Volume Profile (visible range) (24, 70)

A sideways histogram of how much volume traded at each price across the bars on screen, split into buying and selling. The point of control (POC, the busiest price) is drawn in yellow, and the value area (where 70% of volume traded) is shaded brighter. High-volume prices often act as support or resistance. It updates as you scroll and zoom.

AVP · Average Price

The volume-weighted average price over all the loaded data, drawn on the price chart. Price above it means buyers have paid up on average.

Sentiment indicators

Two classic sentiment gauges, popular in Asian markets, that compare buying and selling pressure.

BRAR · Sentiment (BRAR) (26)

AR compares each bar’s high and low with its open; BR compares them with the previous close. Together they show how eager buyers and sellers are.

CR · Energy (CR) (26, 10, 20, 40, 60)

Compares each bar’s high and low with the previous bar’s midpoint to gauge buying energy, with four moving averages for context.

How to combine indicators

Indicators that measure the same thing tend to agree with each other, so stacking five momentum oscillators adds little. A common approach is to pair one indicator from each group: a trend tool to find direction (a moving average), a momentum tool to time entries (RSI or MACD), and volume to confirm the move. No indicator predicts the future; they describe what price has already done.

Frequently asked questions