SMA
The simple moving average — the plain average of the last closing prices, with every candle counted the same.
Plain average of the last N candles. Every candle counts the same.
- Candles
- 1m, 3m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1h, 2h, 4h, 6h, 12h, 1d, 1w, 1M
- Footprint
- 1m, 5m, 15m, 1h
- Alerts
- no
What it shows
A line through the plain average of the last closing prices, drawn over the price. Every candle inside the length counts the same, and a candle drops out completely once it is older than the length. The line is steady and easy to reason about, and it turns later than an EMA of the same length.
The info bar names each copy by its length — SMA (50).
How to read it
- Slope. A rising SMA means the average close over its length is climbing; a falling one, dropping. A flat SMA that price keeps crossing describes a sideways market.
- Price against the line. Closes above a rising SMA describe an uptrend, closes below a falling SMA a downtrend.
- Two lengths. With a short and a long SMA on the panel, the short one crossing above the long one is the classic sign of a trend turning up, and crossing below, of one turning down. Such crosses come late by design: the average has to catch up with the move first.
- Round numbers. The 50 and the 200 are watched widely, so price often reacts near them.
Parameters
| Setting | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Number | How many candles go into the average. Larger is smoother and slower to react. Common: 20, 50, 200. 1–1000 · default 50 |
| Colour | Colour |
Length is counted in candles, so an SMA of 50 covers 50 minutes on 1m and 50 days on 1d. Because each candle drops out whole, the line can bend when a large candle leaves the window, even if price did nothing new — a long length makes that less noticeable.
Limitations
- It is computed from the candles loaded on the panel. The first candles of that history have no value until there are enough to fill the length.
- The newest candle's close is the live price, so the last point of the line moves until that candle closes.
- It follows the candle shape: on Heikin Ashi it uses the real closes, and on Renko, range bars and line break the closes of the bricks and bars drawn — see Where an indicator can be drawn.
- It prints no value: read it against the price axis.
- It takes no alert. Its Alert tab says it draws no signal; for a price level, set a price alert.