Trend confirmation
Labels each minute +1 when price, momentum and volume agree on an uptrend, -1 for a downtrend, 0 otherwise.
Each bar runs three tests: whether the close is above a simple average of the last ma_period closes, whether the move over the last momentum_period bars clears +0.1% up or -0.1% down, and whether volume holds up against its recent average. +1 needs the close above the average, upward momentum and passing volume. -1 needs the close at or below the average, downward momentum and passing volume. Everything else reads 0, including the warm-up bars, and the high and low inputs must be connected but are never read.
How to read it
- Drawn in its own pane below the price, and the line only ever sits at +1, 0 or -1.
- A +1 means the close is above its average, momentum is up past 0.1% and the volume test passes. A -1 is the mirror image.
- Most minutes read 0, so a run of +1 or -1 that holds across several bars stands out more than a single flip.
What it outputs
- Trend confirmation
- +1 when all up-trend tests pass, -1 when all down-trend tests pass, 0 otherwise or while the averages are still warming up.
Settings
- ma_period
- Length of the average the close is judged against. Longer needs a slower trend, so +1 or -1 follows bigger, older swings. Shorter tracks the last few minutes and flips sides more often. Below 5, it still waits for 5 closes.
- momentum_period
- Bars back the move is measured over. Shorter covers only the last few minutes, where a 0.1% move is harder to clear, so fewer bars pass. Longer clears the 0.1% gate more easily. At or above ma_period, the move is one bar short.
- volume_confirmation
- On (1): the current bar's volume must be above 70% of its 10-bar average before a +1 or -1 counts. Off (0): that test is dropped, so quiet minutes can also read +1 or -1 and the line fires more often.
- adx_threshold
- Only used when an ADX series is wired into adx_val. A +1 or -1 then needs ADX above this value, so raising it fires less often and lowering it lets weaker trends through. With no ADX wired, this has no effect.
Pitfalls
- It confirms a move already under way: every test uses closes that have printed, so +1 or -1 arrives after the turn rather than before it.
- Rare at defaults: at least 90% of minutes read 0 on SPY in September 2026, so a flat line is normal here, not a sign the indicator is broken.
- At or above ma_period, momentum measures one bar fewer than momentum_period says. The default 20 and 10 are not affected.