Indicator reference

Twelve indicators, explained without the hype

For each one: what it measures, the formula in plain words, the default settings Velqorena uses, and a live chart. Indicators summarise past prices — none of them forecast.

Trend · price pane

Simple Moving Average (SMA)

What it measures

The average closing price over a fixed number of recent candles. It smooths out short-term wiggles so the underlying direction is easier to see.

How it is calculated

Add up the last n closes and divide by n. Each new candle drops the oldest close and adds the newest, so the line “moves” along the chart.

Default settings

Length: 20 candles
Source: Close

Reading it carefully

Every close counts equally, which makes the SMA steady but slow. A long SMA reacts late to turns; a short one follows price closely but is noisier.

Trend · price pane

Exponential Moving Average (EMA)

What it measures

A moving average that gives more weight to recent closes, so it responds faster than an SMA of the same length.

How it is calculated

Start from an average, then for each new candle move the line a fixed fraction of the way towards the new close. The fraction is 2 ÷ (length + 1): about 9% for a 21-period EMA.

Default settings

Length: 21 candles
Source: Close

Reading it carefully

Faster reaction means earlier turns — and more false turns in sideways markets. Many analysts pair a fast EMA with a slower average to describe the backdrop.

Trend · price pane

Weighted Moving Average (WMA)

What it measures

A moving average with linearly increasing weights: the most recent close counts most, the oldest least.

How it is calculated

Multiply the newest close by n, the one before by n−1, and so on down to 1. Add the results and divide by the sum of the weights (n × (n+1) ÷ 2).

Default settings

Length: 20 candles
Source: Close

Reading it carefully

The WMA sits between the SMA and EMA in responsiveness, and it forgets old data completely once it leaves the window.

Volatility · price pane

Bollinger Bands

What it measures

A moving average with an envelope above and below it whose width follows recent volatility.

How it is calculated

The middle line is a 20-period SMA. The upper and lower bands sit two standard deviations of the same 20 closes above and below it, so they widen when prices spread out and tighten when they bunch up.

Default settings

Length: 20 candles
Standard deviations: 2.0

Reading it carefully

Touching a band is not a signal on its own; in strong trends price can “walk” along one band for a long time. The width of the bands is often more useful than their position.

Volume · price pane

Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP)

What it measures

The average price weighted by how much volume traded at each level — where the “typical” unit changed hands.

How it is calculated

For each candle take the typical price (high + low + close) ÷ 3 and multiply by its volume. Keep running totals of those products and of volume, and divide one by the other. On intraday timeframes the totals reset at 00:00 UTC; on 1D and 1W Velqorena uses a rolling window instead.

Default settings

Reset: Each UTC day (intraday)
Rolling window (1D/1W): 20 candles

Reading it carefully

Candles with heavy volume pull the VWAP more than quiet ones. Early in a session it moves a lot; later it settles as volume accumulates.

Trend · price pane

Ichimoku Cloud (simplified)

What it measures

A set of midpoint lines that describe trend, momentum and a projected “cloud” zone in one picture.

How it is calculated

The conversion line is the midpoint of the highest high and lowest low over 9 candles; the base line does the same over 26. Span A is the average of those two, Span B is the 52-candle midpoint, and both spans are shifted 26 candles forward to form the cloud. The lagging line is omitted in this simplified version.

Default settings

Conversion: 9
Base: 26
Span B: 52
Displacement: 26

Reading it carefully

Midpoints ignore everything except the extremes, so the lines move in steps. The cloud is drawn ahead of price because it is shifted, not because it knows the future.

Trend · price pane

Parabolic SAR

What it measures

Dots that trail price during a trend and flip to the other side when the trend is broken.

How it is calculated

While price rises, each dot moves up towards the highest high seen so far by an “acceleration factor” that starts at 0.02 and grows by 0.02 with each new high, up to 0.20. When a low touches the dot, the dots flip above price and the process runs in reverse.

Default settings

Start: 0.02
Increment: 0.02
Maximum: 0.20

Reading it carefully

SAR is always either above or below price, so in sideways markets it flips constantly. It describes trailing distance, not trend quality.

Momentum · own pane

Relative Strength Index (RSI)

What it measures

How strongly recent closes have risen compared with how strongly they have fallen, on a 0–100 scale.

How it is calculated

Separate each candle’s change into a gain or a loss. Smooth the gains and the losses over 14 candles (Wilder’s method), divide average gain by average loss, and convert that ratio to a 0–100 score: 100 − 100 ÷ (1 + ratio).

Default settings

Length: 14
Upper level: 70
Lower level: 30

Reading it carefully

High readings mean recent gains dominated; they do not mean price must fall. In strong trends RSI can stay above 70 or below 30 for long stretches.

Momentum · own pane

MACD

What it measures

The distance between a fast and a slow EMA, plus a smoothed version of that distance.

How it is calculated

Subtract the 26-period EMA from the 12-period EMA to get the MACD line. A 9-period EMA of the MACD line is the signal line, and the histogram is MACD minus signal.

Default settings

Fast: 12
Slow: 26
Signal: 9

Reading it carefully

Because every part is built from moving averages, MACD always lags. The histogram shrinking shows the two averages converging — a change in pace, not necessarily in direction.

Momentum · own pane

Stochastic Oscillator

What it measures

Where the latest close sits within the recent high–low range, from 0 (at the low) to 100 (at the high).

How it is calculated

Raw %K = (close − lowest low) ÷ (highest high − lowest low) × 100 over 14 candles. It is smoothed with a 3-period SMA to give %K, and %D is a further 3-period SMA of %K.

Default settings

%K length: 14
%K smoothing: 3
%D length: 3
Levels: 80 / 20

Reading it carefully

The Stochastic is very sensitive and reaches its extremes often. It is best read as “closing near the top/bottom of the range”, nothing more.

Volatility · own pane

Average True Range (ATR)

What it measures

The typical size of a candle, including any gap from the previous close.

How it is calculated

True range is the largest of: high − low, |high − previous close| and |low − previous close|. ATR is a 14-period Wilder average of true range, expressed in price units.

Default settings

Length: 14

Reading it carefully

ATR has no direction. It rises in fast markets in either direction and falls when things calm down. Being in price units, it is not comparable between symbols without dividing by price.

Volume · own pane

On-Balance Volume (OBV)

What it measures

A running total of volume that adds on up-closes and subtracts on down-closes.

How it is calculated

If a candle closes above the previous close, add its volume to the total; if it closes below, subtract it; if unchanged, leave the total alone. The absolute number is arbitrary — only its direction matters.

Default settings

Inputs: None

Reading it carefully

OBV treats a tiny up-close exactly like a large one, so a few heavy-volume candles can dominate it. Compare its slope with price rather than reading its level.