Indicators
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  • 📒AgenaTrader Indicators Introduction
  • STANDARD INDICATORS
    • Accumulation/Distribution (ADL)
    • Adaptive Price Zone (APZ)
    • Aroon
    • Aroon Oscillator
    • Average Directional Index (ADX)
    • Average Directional Movement Rating (ADXR)
    • Average True Range (ATR)
    • BBBreakOutSpeed
    • Balance of Power (BOP)
    • Bollinger Bands
    • Bollinger Percent B (%b)
    • Bollinger Band Width (BBWidth)
    • Bollinger MTF (MultiTimeFrame)
    • BuySellPressure
    • BuySellVolume
    • CandleStickPattern
    • ChaikinMoneyFlow (CMF)
    • Chaikin Oscillator
    • ChaikinVolatility (CVL)
    • Chande Momentum Oscillator (CMO)
    • Climactic Distance
    • Commodity Channel Index (CCI)
    • Directional Movement (DM)
    • Donchian Channel
    • Directional Movement Index (DMI)
    • Double Stochastics (DSS)
    • Dynamic Momentum Index (DMIndex)
    • Ease of Movement (EOM)
    • Fisher Transform
    • Forecast Oscillator (FOSC)
    • HighestHighIndex()
    • HighestHighPrice()
    • IchimokuCloud
    • Keltner Channel
    • KeyReversalUp
    • KeyReversalDown
    • KeyReversalUpAtSMA
    • KeyReversalDownAtSMA
    • KeyReversalUpAtEMA
    • KeyReversalDownAtEMA
    • Linear Regression
    • LinRegIntercept
    • LinRegSlope
    • LowestLowIndex()
    • LowestLowPrice()
    • MACD
    • MAEnvelopes
    • Momentum (MOM)
    • Money Flow Index (MFI)
    • Moving Averages
      • DEMA - Double Exponential Moving Average
      • EMA - Exponential Moving Average
      • EMA MTF (MultiTimeFrame)
      • HMA - Hull Moving Average
      • KAMA - Kaufman's Adaptive Moving Average
      • MAMA - Mesa Adaptive Moving Average
      • SMA - Simple Moving Average
      • GapSMA - Gap Simple Moving Average
      • SMA MTF (MultiTimeFrame)
      • SMMA - Smoothed Moving Average
      • TEMA - Triple Exponential Moving Average
      • TMA - Triangular Moving Average
      • TRIX - Triple Exponential Moving Average
      • T3 - Triple Exponential Moving Average
      • VMA - Variable Moving Average
      • VWMA - Volume Weighted Moving Average
      • WMA - Weighted Moving Average
      • ZLEMA - Zero Lag Exponential Moving Average
    • nBarsUp
    • nBarsDown
    • OnBalanceVolume (OBV)
    • OutsideBars
    • Parabolic SAR
    • Percentage Price Oscillator (PPO)
    • PercentEnvelopes
    • Pivot Points
    • Polarized Fractal Efficiency (PFE)
    • Price Oscillator
    • Rainbow
    • Range
    • Range Indicator (RIND)
    • Rate of Change (ROC)
    • Relative Performance
    • Relative Spread Strength (RSS)
    • Relative Strength Index (RSI)
    • Relative Strength Levy (RSL)
    • Relative Volatility Index (RVI)
    • R-Squared
    • Standard Error (StdError)
    • Stochastics
    • Stochastics Fast
    • Stochastics RSI (StochRSI)
    • Summation (SUM)
    • SuperTrend
    • SupportResistanceAreas
    • Swing
    • Time-Series-Forecast (TSF)
    • Constant Lines
    • CurrentDayOHL
    • Daily Performance
    • DailyQuoteMoves
    • DayLines
    • GetDayBar
    • Info
    • Maximum (MAX)
    • Minimum (MIN)
    • PriceLine
    • PriorDayOHLC
    • PriorDayOHLCext
    • SessionBreakLines
    • ShowBidAsk
    • TickCounter
    • True Strength Index (TSI)
    • Ultimate Oscillator
    • Volume (VOL)
    • Volume Moving Average (VOLMA)
    • Volume Profile
    • Volume Rate of Change (VROC)
    • VolumeUpDown
    • Williams %R
    • ZigZag
  • PREMIUM INDICATORS
    • COT AddOn
      • COTLargeTraderActivity
      • COTStockDummy
      • COTReportLegacy
      • COTReportDisaggregated
      • COTOpenInterestLegacy
      • COTOpenInterestDisaggregated
      • COTCommercialIndex
      • COTAggregatedIndexPositionDisaggregated
    • DowTheory AddOn
      • DayLinesAdv
      • InsideBarsMT
      • MarketPhases
      • MarketPhases Pro
      • MTFBoxes
      • OutsideBars
      • P123
      • P123Pro
      • ReversalBars
    • Darvas AddOn
      • Darvas Boxes
    • Relative Currency Strength (RCS)
    • Volume AddOn
      • KlingerVolumeOscillator
      • Volume Oscillator
      • VolumeArea
      • VolumeGraph
      • VolumeKeltnerChannels
      • VolumeRiseFall
      • VolumeSentimentLong
      • VolumeSentimentShort
      • VolumeSessionPro
      • VolumeTickSpeed
      • VolumeUDR
      • Volume Zones
      • VolumeZoneOscillator
      • WyckoffWave
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  1. STANDARD INDICATORS

Average True Range (ATR)

Last updated 3 years ago

Description & Interpretation

The Average True Range (ATR), which was developed by J. Welles Wilder, is an indicator that measures volatility. As is true for most of his indicators, Wilder designed the ATR with commodities and daily prices in mind. Commodities are often more volatile than stocks, and frequently experience gaps and limit moves, which happen when a commodity opens up or down its maximum allowed move for the session. A volatility formula that was based on the high-low range only would be unable to capture volatility from gap or limit moves. Wilder, therefore, developed the Average True Range to capture this "missing" volatility. Keep in mind that ATR does not provide an indication of price direction, but merely volatility.

The ATR is featured in Wilder’s 1978 book, New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems, which also goes into detail about the Parabolic SAR, RSI and the Directional Movement Concept (ADX). Despite having been developed before the computer age, Wilder's indicators are equally functional today and remain extremely popular.

The starting point for Wilder was a concept called True Range (TR), which is defined as the greatest of the following: - Method 1: current high minus the current low - Method 2: current high minus the previous close (absolute value) - Method 3: current Low minus the previous close (absolute value)

Absolute values are used for ensuring positive numbers, since Wilder was interested in measuring the distance between two points, not the direction. If the current period's high is above the prior period's high and the low is below the prior period's low, then the current period's high-low range will be used as the True Range. This is an outside day that would use method 1 to calculate the TR, and is quite straightforward. Methods 2 and 3 are used whenever there is a gap or inside day. A gap occurs when the previous close is greater than the current high (indicating a potential gap down or limit move) or the previous close is lower than the current low (indicating a potential gap up or limit move). The image below shows examples of when methods 2 and 3 are appropriate.

Further information

VTAD:

Usage

ATR(int period)
ATR(IDataSeries inSeries, int period)
ATR(int period)[int barsAgo]
ATR(IDataSeries inSeries, int period)[int barsAgo]

Return value

double

When using this method with an index (e.g. ATR(14)[int barsAgo] ), the value of the indicator will be outputted for the referenced bar.

Parameters

inSeries Input data series for the indicator

period Number of bars included in the calculation

Visualization

Example

//Output of the current value of a 14 period ATR
Print("The current ATR value is: " + ATR(14)[0]);
Average True Range (ATR)
http://vtadwiki.vtad.de/index.php/Average_True_Range