Technical indicators
Answer-first explainers for the indicators inside Nodlow. Every page opens with the definition, then covers what the indicator measures, its parameters, how it behaves, and — most importantly — when it misleads.
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and magnitude of recent price changes on a 0–100 scale, with readings above 70 traditionally treated as overbought and below 30 as oversold.
momentum
Exponential Moving Average (EMA)
The Exponential Moving Average (EMA) is a trend-following average that weights recent prices more heavily than older ones, so it responds faster than a simple moving average to new information while still smoothing raw price.
trend
Simple Moving Average (SMA)
The Simple Moving Average (SMA) is the arithmetic mean of the last N closing prices, redrawn each candle, and is the oldest and simplest way to smooth price into a trend line.
trend
Bollinger Bands
Bollinger Bands are a volatility envelope drawn as three lines: a moving average of price in the middle and two bands set a chosen number of standard deviations above and below it, so the channel widens when volatility rises and contracts when it falls.
volatility
Average True Range (ATR)
Average True Range (ATR) is a pure volatility gauge that measures the average size of recent candles, taking into account gaps, and is the standard input for volatility-adjusted stops and position sizing.
volatility
Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP)
VWAP is the volume-weighted average price of an instrument since the start of the session, giving a single number that traders and institutions treat as the fair-value benchmark for the day.
volume
Fixed Range Volume Profile
A Fixed Range Volume Profile plots traded volume horizontally across price levels for a chosen range of candles, revealing the Point of Control (POC), Value Area High (VAH) and Value Area Low (VAL) — the prices where the most business was actually done.
volume
Opening Range Breakout (ORB)
Opening Range Breakout (ORB) marks the high and low of the first N minutes of the session and treats a close beyond either level as the day's directional trigger.
trend
Trendline Breakouts with Targets
Trendline Breakouts detect diagonal support and resistance lines from pivot points, count how many times price has respected each line, and signal on the candle that closes beyond a validated trendline.
trend
Consolidation Zones
Consolidation Zones detect sideways price action by finding clusters of pivot highs and lows compressed within a narrow price range, then signal when price breaks out of the zone.
volatility
Fibonacci Swing
Fibonacci Swing anchors retracement and extension levels to an automatically detected swing high and swing low, giving proportional support and resistance ratios (0.382, 0.5, 0.618, 1.272, 1.618) at every stage of a move.
support resistance
Fair Value Gap (FVG)
A Fair Value Gap (FVG) is a three-candle imbalance where the middle candle moves so quickly that the wick of the first candle does not overlap the wick of the third — leaving an unfilled zone that price tends to revisit.
support resistance
Candle Structure
Candle Structure decomposes each candle into body and wick percentages, giving a numerical read on conviction (large body, small wicks) versus indecision (small body, long wicks) without relying on named patterns.
candlestick
Doji
A Doji is a single candle where the open and close are effectively equal, producing a near-zero body with wicks on one or both ends — the textbook indecision candle.
candlestick
Bullish Engulfing
A Bullish Engulfing pattern is a two-candle reversal where a green candle completely engulfs the body of the previous red candle, signalling that buyers overwhelmed sellers in a single session.
candlestick
Bearish Engulfing
A Bearish Engulfing pattern is a two-candle reversal where a red candle completely engulfs the body of the previous green candle, signalling that sellers overwhelmed buyers in a single session.
candlestick
Hammer
A Hammer is a single-candle bullish reversal with a small body at the top of the range and a long lower wick at least twice the body height, printed at the bottom of a downtrend to signal buyers rejecting lower prices.
candlestick
Hanging Man
A Hanging Man is anatomically identical to a Hammer — small body at the top of the range with a long lower wick — but printed at the top of an uptrend, where it signals hidden weakness beneath a rising market.
candlestick
Inverted Hammer
An Inverted Hammer is a single-candle bullish reversal at the bottom of a downtrend: small body at the low of the range with a long upper wick at least twice the body height, showing buyers pushed price hard before sellers pulled it back.
candlestick
Shooting Star
A Shooting Star is a single-candle bearish reversal at the top of an uptrend: small body at the low of the range with a long upper wick at least twice the body height, showing sellers rejected higher prices.
candlestick
Morning Star
A Morning Star is a three-candle bullish reversal at the bottom of a downtrend: a strong red candle, a small-bodied "star" that gaps or holds below, and a strong green candle that closes deep into the first candle's body.
candlestick
Evening Star
An Evening Star is the bearish mirror of a Morning Star: a strong green candle, a small-bodied star at the top, and a strong red candle that closes deep into the first candle's body, printed after an uptrend.
candlestick
Double Top
A Double Top is a bearish reversal where price makes two peaks at approximately the same level with a valley between them, and confirms with a close below the neckline (the low of that valley).
chart pattern
Double Bottom
A Double Bottom is a bullish reversal where price makes two lows at approximately the same level with a peak between them, and confirms with a close above the neckline (the high of that peak).
chart pattern
Bull Flag
A Bull Flag is a bullish continuation pattern where a strong upward move (the flagpole) is followed by a shallow, tight downward-sloping consolidation (the flag), which resolves with a breakout in the direction of the original trend.
chart pattern
Bear Flag
A Bear Flag is a bearish continuation pattern: a sharp drop (the flagpole) followed by a shallow, tight upward-sloping consolidation, which resolves with a break down through the lower flag boundary.
chart pattern
Head and Shoulders
Head and Shoulders is a bearish reversal pattern with three peaks: a left shoulder, a higher head, and a right shoulder at roughly the same height as the left, connected by a neckline formed from the two intervening lows.
chart pattern
Inverse Head and Shoulders
Inverse Head and Shoulders is a bullish reversal with three troughs — left shoulder, deeper head, right shoulder at roughly the same depth as the left — that confirms with a close above the neckline formed by the two intervening highs.
chart pattern
Ascending Triangle
An Ascending Triangle is a bullish pattern with a flat horizontal resistance and a rising trendline of higher lows, converging until price breaks above the resistance.
chart pattern
Descending Triangle
A Descending Triangle is a bearish pattern with a flat horizontal support and a descending trendline of lower highs, converging until price breaks below the support.
chart pattern