Tales from the Trenches: A Simple Bollinger Band® Strategy

The beginning of the movement is evidenced by the breakout of one of the bollinger bands. For a bearish trend, this will be the crossing of the lower level, and for a bullish trend, it will be the crossing of the upper level. In it, we will set the period equal to 20 bars and two standard deviations. And in this chart, the red channel marks the bands plotted by the WMA, and the blue one – by the middle line of the moving average. As you can see, in this case the differences are noticeable, especially at the extreme points. Bollinger noticed that most trends are born when BandWidth is at its lowest.

The analyst considers the ability of the chart to approach the upper band during an upward movement and the lower one during a downward movement as a sign of strength. Additionally, the strength is confirmed by the MFI readings. To understand what this is about, let’s add them to the chart.

Bollinger Bands

For trend trading with MFI, it is recommended to set a period that is half the period of Bollinger Bands %b, which for us is 10 bars. In the chart, I have marked the moment of the breakout of the lower level with a red arrow. As John Bollinger argued, periods of low market activity are cyclically replaced by periods of high volatility where the bands widen. This statement is the essence of the Bollinger Squeeze strategy. The stop loss is set just below the low level of the breakout candle.

This range is approximately equal to the number of trading days in a month. If for some reason the period has to be shortened, in order to obtain the optimal width of the band, you need to cut the number of standard deviations. If the period is lengthened, the number of standard deviations must be increased. Bollinger Bands® were created by John Bollinger in the ’80s, and they have quickly become one of the most commonly used tools in technical analysis. Bollinger Bands® consist of three bands—an upper, middle and lower band—that are used to spotlight extreme short-term prices in a security. The upper band represents overbought territory, while the lower band can show you when a security is oversold.

How To Use Bollinger Bands

During the squeeze, one unusual phenomenon often happens that confuses most beginners. This is a false breakout that occurs in anticipation of the end of the squeeze. At this moment, the chart makes an intense but short-term movement. After that, it also reverses sharply and starts to move in the direction of the emerging trend. This phenomenon can also be used as a signal for the end of market consolidation.

This is a case where the selling continued in the face of clear oversold territory. During the selloff there was no way to know when it would end. Settings can be adjusted to suit the characteristics of particular securities or trading https://www.bigshotrading.info/ styles. Bollinger recommends making small incremental adjustments to the standard deviation multiplier. Changing the number of periods for the moving average also affects the number of periods used to calculate the standard deviation.

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This pattern is used in some strategies to identify the beginning or end of a trend. To measure how close the price action is to one of the bands, we will use the Bollinger Bands %b indicator. I talked about it in detail in the section “How the Bollinger Wave Indicator Works”. The essence of this approach boils down to predicting the birth of trends using price strength analysis.

• However, traders can customize the number of periods in the moving average as well as the number of deviations.
• We enter the market as soon as one of the candles closes above or below the line.
• Candles entering the period are marked with a blue rectangle in the chart.
• You shouldn’t overestimate the capabilities of the Bollinger Bands either.

To do this, they open a position at the very beginning of the movement. After that, a trailing stop is set in such a way that it falls into the breakeven zone as soon as possible. Further moving of the stop order in the direction of the candlestick formation will give profit when triggered. The next narrowing of the channel is marked by green arrows in the chart. It signals a reversal, which means it’s time to close the short position. At the same time, Alligator does not show any crossings between its lines (in a blue circle), which indicates an early sign of an overbought asset and a possible trend change.

It occurs when a reaction low forms close to or below the lower band. One technical indicator is not better than the other; it is a personal choice based on which works best for the strategies being employed. The Market Timing Report is a collection of charts John Bollinger uses to forecast stock market movements.

This is a formation in which retesting occurs at a higher level. This is true only when analyzing the absolute location of the lows, i.e. the location relative to the coordinates of the chart. As for the Bollinger Bands, both low points cross the lower line at approximately the same distance. We can talk about the equality of the lows of the left and right sides and equilibrium in the market.

Double tops and double bottoms are essential technical analysis patterns used by traders. A double top has an M shape and signals a bearish price movement. A double bottom has a W shape and indicates a bullish reversal in trend. Some technical indicators attempt to measure volatility, like Average True Range (ATR), standard deviations, or the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX). Others are designed to identify trends, such as moving averages, Parabolic SAR, and average directional index (ADX). Bollinger Bands typically use a 20-period moving average, where the “period” could be 5 minutes, an hour or a day.