Trend strength meter
How far the fast price average sits above or below the slow one; as shipped it reads zero everywhere.
TrendStrengthMeter keeps two exponential moving averages (EMAs, which weight recent closes more) of the one-minute close, one with the span short_window and one with long_window, defaults 8 and 21. It divides the fast average minus the slow one by the slow one. The result is a fraction, not a percent: 0.001 means the fast average sits 0.1% above the slow one. As shipped, the two averages never receive price updates, so the output is exactly 0 on every bar at any setting.
How to read it
- The line sits in its own pane below the price, centred on zero.
- Above zero, the fast average is above the slow one, so short-term prices are trending up; below zero, down.
- Read the number as a fraction: 0.002 is a 0.2% gap between the two averages.
- As shipped it is a flat line at zero at every setting, so there is nothing to read until the averages are wired up.
What it outputs
- Trend gap
- Fast EMA minus slow EMA, divided by the slow EMA. Positive means a short-term uptrend, negative a downtrend. Flat zero as shipped.
Settings
- short_window
- Length of the fast average. Shorter reacts within minutes and swings more with each bar. Raising it toward long_window shrinks the gap toward zero, and above long_window the sign flips.
- long_window
- Length of the slow baseline. Raising it lets the gap grow during sustained moves, since the baseline lags further behind. Lowering it toward short_window shrinks the gap, and below short_window the sign flips.
Pitfalls
- As shipped the two averages are never fed price updates, so the output is exactly 0 on every bar at every setting. The presets show the intended reading only after that is fixed.
- Both averages start from the first close and take several dozen bars to settle, so readings near the start of a series are biased.
- A positive gap says the short-term trend is above the longer one, not that price will keep rising. It lags recent closes.