14 most used TradingView indicators

Indicators are outputs from mathematical calculations based on specific market data, such as past price movements, trading volume, and other market data, used mainly by traders to conduct technical analysis. They are displayed as visual signals that traders could use in their analysis to assess the current and possible future market direction, possible recurring patterns, potential price movements, and levels of liquidity and volatility.

Traders can also use indicators to look for possible signals on market entry and exit points, which could assist with their overall decision-making process.

These indicators are meant to act as guidelines for traders to use, as they are purely data-driven. 

The choice of indicators might depend on a trader’s trading style, strategy, and preference because indicators can, for the most part, be used individually or in combination with each other.

TradingView has an extensive list of indicators traders could add to their charts. However, as mentioned above, for the purpose of this article, we’ll cover the ten most used TradingView indicators that come standard within the platform and are available to users regardless of whether they’ve got a free or paid subscription account.

1. Moving average

A moving average, also known as a simple moving average (SMA), is probably one of the most used technical indicators. However, it falls into the category of lagging indicators because it is generally used only to confirm the current trend rather than predict the future trend.

The indicator works by averaging the closing price data of a financial instrument over a certain period of time and presenting it as a solid moving line. So, for example, if we look at the 200 SMA, it takes the closing price of the last 200 days, adds up the prices of those days, and divides it by 200.

Once completed, the data will be assembled and presented on the chart, giving a trader a better overview of the overall trend.

Apart from using it to confirm the trend, many traders might also look at the moving average to try to spot potential reversals in the market.

A trader could look for a potential reversal when two moving averages cross over each other, such as when the 20 SMA and the 50 SMA cross over each other from above or below.

When the 20 SMA crosses above the 50 SMA, it’s called a golden cross, which could indicate that the market might move into an uptrend. Conversely, if the 20 SMA crosses below the 50 SMA, it’s called a death cross, and the market might move into a downtrend.

Another use case for the moving average is to act as a moving support or resistance level, depending on where the price is situated during the analysis. If the moving average is above the price, it could be seen as a resistance level. Conversely, if the moving average is below the price, it could be seen as a support level.

2. Exponential moving average (EMA)

The exponential moving average (EMA) is another popular indicator traders use. However, there is a slight difference between the EMA and the SMA.

The EMA uses a slightly different formula to give more weight to the most recent price data and less to earlier data in the calculation, potentially giving traders a better understanding of the market direction.

3. Stochastic oscillator

The stochastic oscillator is a momentum indicator that could be used to identify possible levels where the price could be seen as overbought or oversold, which could assist traders looking for potential reversals.

The indicator works by taking the most recent closing price and comparing it to the previous trading range over a specific period, typically 14 days.

When this indicator is placed on the charts, you’ll see two moving lines: the blue line is the indicator line (%K), and the orange line is the signal line (%D), as seen in the picture below. These two lines move between levels of 0 to 100, with a horizontal line placed at the 80-level mark and another at the 20-level mark.

When both lines are at or above the 80-level line, the price could be considered overbought, and when the two lines are at or below the 20-level line, the price could be considered oversold. These are also the areas where traders could look for possible reversals.

If the indicator line (%K) crosses above the signal line (%D) at or below the 20 level, it could indicate a possible reversal towards the upside. Conversely, when the indicator line (%K) crosses below the signal line (%D) at or above the 80 level, it could indicate a possible reversal towards the downside.

This indicator also allows traders to look for possible bullish or bearish divergences in the market.

When the price on the chart makes a higher high while the indicator line makes a lower high, this is known as a bearish divergence, which could indicate that the market is about to reverse downwards. The same is true when the price on the chart makes a lower low while on the indicator, the price is making a higher low; this is known as a bullish divergence, which could signal that a possible reversal towards an uptrend is imminent.

4. Relative Strength Index (RSI)

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum indicator indicating possible market levels that could be seen as overbought or oversold. This indicator calculates the ratio between a financial instrument’s highest closing and lowest closing price over a specific period.

When this indicator is placed on the charts, you’ll see two lines. The purple line is the indicator line that follows the price, and the additional line displayed in yellow is a simple moving average (SMA). That said, the user can change the colour of these two lines depending on their preference.

Depending on your preference, you can change it to an exponential moving average (EMA), smoothed moving average (SMMA), or Bollinger Bands. You can also change the periods of the moving averages or Bollinger Bands.

These two lines move between 0 and 100, with three horizontal lines:

• The top one is set at the 70 level.
• The middle one is set at the 50 level.
• The bottom one is set at the 30 level.

Most traders will generally remove the line set at the 50 level because they’re mainly focused on the 70 and 30 levels, which they look at to see whether the price could be overbought or oversold. But again, this comes down to personal preference.

Theoretically, the price could be considered overbought when the indicator line is situated at or above the 70 level. When it is at or below the 30 level, it could be considered oversold. 

When looking for a possible reversal to the downside, a trader could wait for the indicator line to cross below the moving average at or above the 70 level.

On the other hand, when looking for a possible reversal towards the upside, a trader could wait for the indicator line to cross above the moving average at or below the 30 level.

Lastly, much like the Stochastic oscillator, traders could also use this indicator to look for bearish or bullish divergence in the market.

5. Aroon indicator

The Aroon indicator assists in identifying changes in an instrument’s trend and how strong that specific instrument’s trend is. Traders can also use it to determine whether the instrument is trending or ranging, looking for possible signals when there is a potential change in the trend.

The indicator measures how often the price makes new highs and new lows over a specific period.

The indicator consists of two lines:

• Aroon-Up (generally presented as an orange line on TradingView): This line measures the number of days that have passed since a new 14-day high has been recorded.
• Aroon-Down (generally presented as a blue line on TradingView): This one measures the number of days that have passed since a new 14-day low has been recorded.

On TradingView, the indicator is standardly set for a 14-day period. However, some traders might prefer a 25-day period. Nevertheless, traders can choose their own periods based on personal preferences and strategies.

Unlike some indicators, which focus on the magnitude of price changes, the Aroon indicator looks at the time that has passed relative to these price changes.

The indicator’s lines are plotted as percentages and range between levels 0 and 100. When the Aroon-Up line crosses above the Aroon-Down, it could signal a new uptrend might occur, whereas if the Aroon-Down crosses below the Aroon-Up, it could signal a new downtrend might occur.

Once the Aroon-Up has reached the 100 level, it could signal a new uptrend has begun. If it remains between 70 and 100 with the Aroon-Down indicator remaining between 0 and 30, it could signal a new uptrend is underway.

When the Aroon-Down indicator reaches the 100 level, it could signal that a new downtrend has begun. If it remains between 70 and 100 and the Aroon-Up remains between 0 and 30, it could signal that a new downtrend is underway.

The calculations involve tracking the high and low of an instrument for the number of periods being used and works as follows:

• Aroon-Up: [(number of periods – number of periods since the high)/number of periods] x 100
• Aroon-Down: [(number of periods – number of periods since the low)/number of periods] x 100

6. Ichimoku Cloud

The Ichimoku Cloud indicator is a collection of multiple indicators used to identify an instrument’s momentum, trend, and possible support and resistance levels. Some traders might also use this indicator to look for potential entry points in the market.

The information from this indicator is gathered using five moving averages together with a cloud. These five moving averages and cloud are calculated as follows:

• Tenkan-sen: Takes the sum of the 9-period high and 9-period low and divides the total by two.
• Kijun-sen: Takes the sum of the 26-period high and 26-period low and divides the total by two.
• Senkou Span A: Takes the sum of Tenkan-sen and Kijun-sen and divides the total by two, displayed as the middle point of these two lines. This is the top line of the cloud.
• Senkou Span B: This one takes the sum of the 56-period high and 56-period low and divides the total by two. This is the cloud’s bottom line.
• Chikou Span: This shows the closing price, 26 periods behind the current closing price of an instrument.
• The cloud: This is used to provide possible indications of support and resistance levels. It is formed using data from the Senkou Span A and B lines. It appears red when the market is in a downtrend and green when it is in an uptrend.

This indicator could be used as a stand-alone indicator or combined with other indicators, such as the Fibonacci retracement tool when the market is trending or RSI when looking for possible breakouts from the cloud.

Whether an indicator is used alone or combined with other indicators might depend on the trader’s strategy.

7. Bollinger Bands

Bollinger Bands are used to determine periods of high and low market volatility. Some traders also use this indicator to look for possible entry and exit opportunities.

Within this indicator, there are three lines present: an upper line (red band), a bottom line (green band), and a middle line (blue). The middle line is a 20-period simple moving average (SMA), while the top and bottom lines represent a default two standard deviations from the moving average.

When the bands are close together, it could indicate that the market is experiencing low volatility. In contrast, when the bands are relatively far apart, the market is experiencing high volatility.

8. Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD)

The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is a momentum indicator because it identifies possible market trends and price movements to look for potential entry points.

When the MACD is placed on the chart, you’ll see two lines moving over a histogram. The MACD line in blue comprises two exponential moving averages over two different time periods. The first is a 12-period EMA, and the second is a 26-period EMA. The data displayed through the MACD line is calculated by subtracting the 12 EMA from the 26 EMA.

The second line is the signal line, displayed in orange, which is a standard 9-period EMA of the MACD line.

The histogram can be seen as a visual representation of market sentiment. Depending on the timeframe a trader might be using, they could determine the current market momentum by looking at where the MACD and the signal line are in relation to the histogram.

If the MACD line is above the signal line, the histogram will generally appear green, indicating bullish sentiment. Conversely, when the MACD line is below the signal line, the histogram generally appears red, indicating a bearish sentiment.

The length of the histogram bars could identify the strength of the market sentiment. If the bars become higher, bullish sentiment will be stronger. However, the lower the bars, the stronger the bearish sentiment.

Some traders might look for potential buying opportunities when the MACD line crosses above the signal line or selling opportunities when it crosses below the signal line.

9. Average True Range (ATR)

The ATR indicator measures volatility and can be used to determine a position’s stop-loss level. It works by measuring the average pip movement of an instrument over a specific period of time. To determine the stop-loss level on a long trade, traders would take the current ATR value, or a multiple of it,  and subtract that number from the entry price.

For example, in the picture below, the ATR level is 2.71, and the entry price is 2301.68. To calculate the stop-loss level, you’ll take the ATR level, 2.71 x 2, giving you 5.42. Then, you’d take the entry price, 2301.68 – 5.42, giving you a potential stop-loss level of 2296.26.

It might be worth noting that the stop-loss level could be adjusted according to a trader’s risk-to-reward ratio depending on their overall risk management strategy.

10. Fibonacci Retracement

Even though Fibonacci retracement is considered a drawing tool, TradingView offers an indicator called the Auto Fibonacci Retracement that automatically places the tool onto your charts when selected.

When the indicator is placed on the charts, six lines will be displayed. The first is at a 100% level; the second is at 61.8%, then 50%, 38.2%, 23.6%, and lastly 0%.

These specific levels are marked up because this indicator follows the Fibonacci golden ratio, which consequently occurs at levels 61.8%, 50%, 38.2%, and 23.6%. In trading, these levels can be seen as possible support and resistance levels as well as areas of interest for possible entry points.

Theoretically, if the price is in an uptrend and retraces to one of these levels, it could be a possible entry point for a long (buy) position. The same applies when the market is in a downtrend, where if the price retraces back, it could be a possible entry point for a short (sell) position.

Scripts are indicators created by users using TradingView’s programming language, Pine Script. TradingView offers this feature for users with coding experience to create their own indicators and strategies, which they can then share with other platform users.

The indicators are generally free to use; however, a few require authorisation by the creator and generally require payment as well.

If you’d like access to a specific restricted indicator, you can go to the indicators tab in the top toolbar of the charts and search for the indicator in the search bar. After you’ve found the indicator, you can click on it, and a pop-up will appear with a button “Contact author” where you can request permission.

Let’s have a closer look at the top 4 TradingView script indicators with a full breakdown of each.

1. Squeeze Momentum Indicator

LazyBear created the Squeeze Momentum Indicator. It measures volatility levels and identifies potential breakouts when the price moves from consolidation to an up or downtrend.

The indicator combines two different indicators, Bollinger Bands and Keltner Channels.

• Bollinger Bands: As we saw earlier, it’s used to identify volatility levels in the market between the bands’ contraction and expansion.
• Keltner Channels: This indicator has the same visual appearance as the Bollinger Bands; however, all lines appear blue instead of the colour-coded distinctions used in the Bollinger Bands. The Keltner Channel indicator is derived from the Average True Range (ATR) indicator. It also identifies levels where the price could be overbought or oversold.

When the indicator is placed on the charts, you’ll see a histogram with green and red bars and black and grey dots on the zero line.

When the dots appear black, they indicate periods of low volatility, which essentially means the Bollinger Bands move within the Keltner Channels. The dots will turn grey once the Bollinger Bands expand, indicating increased volatility.

The height of the histogram bars, whether green or red, indicates the strength of market sentiment. When the green bars increase in height on the histogram, it indicates strong bullish momentum; when the red bars decrease in height, it signals strong bearish momentum.

2. MacD Custom Indicator-Multiple Time Frame

Chris Moody created this indicator, which is essentially the same as the standard MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) indicator; however, the author added some different features.

Once the indicator is placed on the charts, the MACD line, signal line, and histogram remain visible.

The first difference is with the MACD line, which changes colour depending on its position in relation to the signal line. When the MACD line is above the signal line, it appears green; when it’s below the signal line, it appears red.

Another exciting feature is that a green or red dot will appear when the MACD line crosses the signal line, depending on whether it’s crossing below or above. This could indicate a shift in the market from an uptrend to a downtrend or vice versa and be a possible entry point for a long (buy) or short (sell) position.

The colour of the bars on the histogram is also different; instead of the standard MACD’s green bars, this version uses blue for bullish sentiment, while red still indicates bearish sentiment, as with the standard MACD.

There is also the option to change the histogram colour to only one colour, by default grey, so that both up and down bars are the same.

Lastly, you can change the indicator’s timeframe when you click on the setting icon next to its name. For example, if you’re trading on a 1-hour timeframe, you can set the indicator’s timeframe to daily to compare and better understand the momentum of the daily timeframe.

3. WaveTrend Oscillator [WT]

This is another indicator created by LazyBear and is a momentum indicator used to identify trends and the strength of those trends within a financial instrument. The indicator was created by combining the simple moving average (SMA) and the Average True Range (ATR) indicators.

Combining those two indicators provides traders with a clearer picture of how strong or weak the current trend is and whether the trend will continue or reverse. There is also the possibility of looking for bullish or bearish divergences with this indicator.

When the indicator is placed on the charts, you’ll be able to see the following:

• A red line and red dots at the top indicate the overbought level.
• A green line and dots at the bottom indicate the oversold level.
• A green moving line is the oscillator line.
• Red dots above or below the green line are the signal line.

A line blue line running in the middle is the zero line.

The middle line has a histogram (cloud) indicating the strength at which the price moved in the specific trend direction.

This indicator can be used by examining the oscillator line in relation to the signal line. If the oscillator line is above the signal line, it could indicate the market is in an uptrend, and if it is below the signal line, it could indicate the market is in a downtrend.

You could also look for potential reversals in the market.

When the oscillator line crosses above the signal line at or below the green (oversold) level, it could indicate that the market might reverse into an uptrend. Conversely, when the oscillator line crosses below the signal line at or above the red (overbought) level, it could indicate that the market might reverse into a downtrend.

There is also the opportunity to look for potential divergences, such as when the price is making a higher high, but the oscillator is making a lower high. This could indicate a bearish divergence, which means the market might move into a downtrend.

The opposite is true when the price makes a lower low, but the oscillator makes a higher low. This could indicate a bullish divergence, meaning the market might move into an uptrend.

4. SuperTrend

KivancOzbilgic created the SuperTrend indicator, which is mainly used to track a financial instrument’s trend movements and provide a possible indication of where to place stop-losses.

The indicator calculates its value using volatility data from the ATR. It also uses trend detection and is presented as a solid moving line on the charts. When the market is in an uptrend, a green line follows the price movement, and when the market is in a downtrend, a red line follows the price.

When the market’s trend direction shifts and the price closes above the red line, a possible buy signal label will appear, indicating the market might move into an uptrend. Conversely, a potential sell signal label will appear when the price closes below the green line, indicating the market movements might shift downward.

As mentioned, Pine Script is TradingView’s own programming language, which traders with coding experience can use to customise built-in indicators, create new indicators, and develop new strategies.

The Pine Script is accessible through Pine Editor and is available on the main chart window on the TradingView platform.

Once you’ve opened the supercharts on TradingView, you can find Pine Editor in the bottom toolbar of the screen.

After you’ve clicked on the “Pine Editor” tab, a new window will appear where you can write your code. If you want to customise any built-in indicators, click “Open” and select “Built-in script”, where a pop-up menu will appear, and you can choose any of the built-in indicators available on TradingView. If you want to create a new indicator or strategy, you can click “New indicator” or “New strategy.”

Once you’ve created a new indicator or strategy, you can click “Publish indicator”, which will save it under the “My scripts” option.

It might be worth noting that if you modify a built-in indicator, the changes will only appear on your side and will not affect the original script when other traders decide to use the same indicator.

There is also the option to modify script indicators created by other users. To do this, you can start by clicking on the “Indicators” tab on the top toolbar, search for the specific indicator you want to modify and click on the brackets “{}” icon. Before modifying the indicator, you’ll have to create a copy of it first, though.

Also, just like with the built-in indicators, modifying custom indicators won’t influence the original indicator when others want to use it; the changes will only appear on your chart.

Once you’ve made the necessary changes, you can again click on the “Publish indicator” option.