Trend Engine in 30 seconds
A trailing stop that follows price. While price holds on the right side of the line the trend is intact; a close through the line flips it. It tells you where the trend stands, not where price is going.
The line is a trailing stop
In an uptrend it sits under price and only ever moves up. In a downtrend it sits above price and only moves down. How far it sits from price is set by recent volatility, so it gives a calm stock less room than a wild one.
Green: TREND UP
The last close is above the stop. The line ratchets higher as price rises. The stop level and how far away it is tell you how much room the trend has before it would flip.
Pink or grey: the trend has flipped
A close below the stop ends the up leg. With Long only ticked the tool steps aside (grey) instead of going short; untick it to see the down legs in pink.
Choose your pace
Quick, Balanced, Patient and Very patient set how far the stop sits: 2, 3, 3.5 or 4.5 times the average daily range. The timeframe sets the bar size. Faster settings react sooner but flip more often; Balanced on 3-day bars is the tested default.
What every number on this page means
- Trend pill
- TREND UP, TREND DOWN or STAND ASIDE: what the rules say right now, from the last completed session.
- Stop level
- Where the trailing stop sits, and how far price is from it in percent. A close beyond it flips the trend.
- Long-term trend
- Price now against price about a year ago on this timeframe. Used by the optional confirmation, which only takes legs that agree with it.
- Rule position
- What the rules would hold (long, short or nothing). Shown for study, not as a recommendation.
- This leg
- How many bars the current leg has run and what price has done since it started.
- Legs taken
- How many legs the rules took over the loaded history, and the median result of one leg.
- Time in market
- The share of bars the rules were in a position.
- Strategy vs hold
- What following the rules would have returned against simply holding, over the same span, before costs.
- Timeframe line
- The coloured dots and sentence under the chart show whether the 2-day, 3-day and 2-week versions agree.
Good to know. Everything is computed from completed sessions, so a session still trading is added after it closes and the stop never moves intraday. Leg statistics are descriptive history for this symbol, not a backtest you can bank on and not a forecast. Nothing here is advice to buy or sell.
Educational tool. Tradetus indicators describe market data using fixed rules. They are not investment advice or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold anything, they are the same for everyone, and historical or hypothetical results do not predict future results. Formulas, settings and past readings can change as the tools are updated. See the Terms and Disclaimer.