Technical indicators and trend analysis
For one symbol, read MACD, the SMA 5 / 20 crossover, ADX trend strength, slow stochastics and a 30-day implied volatility index, plus Up / Down / Neutral trend tables for 7 days, 6 weeks, 6 months and 6 years.
Overview
Technical indicators and trend analysis gives one page per symbol with four classic indicators computed from daily bars (MACD, a 5 / 20-day simple moving average crossover, ADX with +DI / -DI, and slow stochastics), a 30-day implied volatility index built from the option chain, and trend tables that label each recent day, week, month and year as Up, Down or Neutral.
Use it to describe what a stock or ETF has been doing (trend direction, trend strength, momentum) and how much volatility the option market is pricing, before you look at options on it.
The indicators and trend tables use end-of-day data; the line next to Analyze shows "Daily bars through" the last session used. The delay of market data depends on your plan and is shown on every view. Indicators describe past prices, and the volatility index is a model estimate from option snapshots; neither predicts future prices.
Before you start
- This tool is a Pro feature. On another plan the page shows that technical indicators, trend analysis and the volatility index are part of the Pro plan, with a See plans link.
- The symbol must be one the platform covers. Indicators need enough history: MACD needs 34 sessions, ADX 28 and slow stochastics 18; the volatility index needs stored option snapshots.
Steps
- Open Research → Tools and click Technical indicators and trend analysis. It opens on
SPY; a link of the form/tools/technical-analysis?symbol=XYZopens it on another symbol. - Type a symbol in Symbol and press Analyze.
- Read the five tiles at the top for the latest values.
- Read the four charts (the last 120 sessions) for how the indicators got there.
- In Trend analysis, switch between the 7 Days, 6 Weeks, 6 Months and 6 Years tabs. Hover a period to see its first and last session dates.
Inputs and outputs
| Input | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Symbol | Ticker of the stock, ETF or index (letters, digits, ., - or ^, up to 12 characters). |
| Output / indicator | What it means / formula |
|---|---|
| MACD (EMA12 - EMA26) | 12-day exponential moving average of the close minus the 26-day EMA. Signal = 9-day EMA of MACD; histogram = MACD - signal. The tile reads bullish when MACD is above 0, bearish below 0. |
| SMA 5 / 20 tile | 5-day and 20-day simple moving averages of the close. bullish when the 5-day is above the 20-day, bearish when below. The tile also shows the date and direction of the last cross (up = 5-day crossed above the 20-day). |
| ADX (14) | Wilder's Average Directional Index over 14 sessions: trend strength from 0 to 100, regardless of direction. Bands: under 25 Absent or Weak Trend, 25-50 Strong Trend, 50-75 Very Strong Trend, 75-100 Extremely Strong Trend. |
| +DI / -DI (on the ADX chart) | Directional indicators: +DI above -DI points to upward pressure, -DI above +DI to downward pressure. |
| Slow stochastic %K / %D | Settings 14, 3, 3. Fast %K = 100 x (close - lowest low) / (highest high - lowest low) over 14 sessions; slow %K = 3-session average of fast %K; %D = 3-session average of slow %K. Zone: 80 or above overbought, 20 or below oversold, otherwise neutral. |
| Volatility index (30-day ATM IV) | At-the-money implied volatility at a constant 30 calendar days, in index points (IV x 100), from the latest stored option snapshot. Per expiry, ATM IV is interpolated between the two strikes around the underlying price (average of call and put IV). The two expiries around 30 days are combined by total variance; method interpolated. If all expiries are on one side of 30 days, the nearest one is used; method nearest. |
| Price and moving averages chart | Close with the two moving averages. |
| MACD chart | MACD line, signal line and histogram. |
| ADX (trend strength) chart | ADX with +DI and -DI, guide lines at 25, 50 and 75. |
| Slow stochastics (14, 3, 3) chart | %K and %D with guide lines at 80 and 20. |
| Trend analysis tables | Per period: Open = first session's open, Close = last session's close, Change = Close - Open (and as a percent of Open). Up when Close is above Open, Down when below, Neutral when unchanged (shown as UNCH). A summary line counts the Up, Neutral and Down periods. The most recent week, month or year may still be in progress. |
How to read it
- Direction, then strength, then stretch. The SMA crossover and MACD describe direction; ADX describes how strong a trend is (not which way); stochastics describe where the close sits within its recent range.
- Agreement matters more than any one reading. MACD bullish, SMA bullish and +DI above -DI together describe a consistent upward picture; mixed readings describe a market without a clear trend.
- ADX under 25 suggests no strong trend, the situation in which crossover signals are least consistent.
- Overbought or oversold is not a turn. A strong trend can keep stochastics above 80 or below 20 for many sessions.
- Volatility index: higher values mean the option market is pricing larger moves over the next 30 days. Compare a symbol's reading with its own history rather than across symbols. It is a platform-defined measure for one underlying, not the Cboe VIX.
- Trend tables: the summary line (for example
Summary: Up- 4 Days, Neutral- 1 Day, Down- 2 Days) gives a quick count. Each period compares its own open and close, so gaps between periods are not counted.
Example
Illustrative readings for the invented symbol XYZ:
| Tile | Reading |
|---|---|
| MACD (EMA12 - EMA26) | 0.412, bullish, signal 0.305 |
| SMA 5 / 20 | 51.20 / 49.80, last cross up |
| ADX (14) | 31.4, Strong Trend |
| Slow stochastic %K / %D | 84.2 / 79.5, overbought |
| Volatility index (30-day ATM IV) | 32.16, interpolated |
The volatility index comes from two expiries: 21 days at an ATM IV of 30 % and 49 days at 34 %. Total variance at 30 days = [0.30² x 21 x (49 - 30) + 0.34² x 49 x (30 - 21)] / [(49 - 21) x 30] = 86.8896 / 840 = 0.10344, and the square root is 0.3216, so the index reads 32.16.
A weekly trend row with an open of 50.00 and a close of 52.00 shows Up and a change of +2.00 (4.00 %).
Reading it together: a strong upward trend (MACD and SMA agree, ADX above 25) with the close near the top of its 14-session range, and option prices implying about 32 % annualised volatility. All numbers are illustrative.
Using it in your research
- Is the underlying trending or range-bound? ADX and the trend tables answer this before you choose which kind of option structure to study in the Strategy builder and P&L heat map.
- Is the implied volatility you plan to type into the Option pricing calculator in line with the 30-day volatility index?
- Did the latest SMA cross line up with a change in the MACD histogram, or is it an isolated signal?
- How do the 6-week and 6-month tables compare: is a short-term pullback happening inside a longer uptrend?
- Run the same checks across the symbols of a watchlist (Watchlists) or a Stock screener result to compare them on one footing.
FAQs
Can I change the indicator settings?
Not on the page. It uses SMA 5 / 20, MACD 12 / 26 / 9, ADX 14 and slow stochastics 14 / 3 / 3, and charts the last 120 sessions.
Why is today's session missing?
The tool uses end-of-day bars. The last session shown appears after the daily data load.
Troubleshooting
"Please select a symbol"
The symbol box is empty or contains characters that are not allowed. Use up to 12 letters, digits, ., - or ^.
"Stock Not in Report-XYZ"
The platform has no price history or instrument record for that symbol. Check the spelling; symbols outside the covered universe cannot be analysed.
A tile says "needs 34 sessions" (or 28, or 18)
There are not yet enough daily bars for that indicator, typically for a recent listing or a symbol added to coverage recently.
The volatility index shows "no option snapshots" or "—"
No option chain snapshot is stored for the symbol, or none had usable implied volatility. The other indicators still work.
The page says the tools are part of the Pro plan
Technical analysis needs the Pro plan. Use See plans to compare plans.