Pivot Points
Calculates repeatable session reference levels from prior price data.
Start with the input, not the story.
Prior-session central tendency and projected support or resistance bands.
The fixed PP, R1 and S1 lines come from the previous session's high, low and close. Their exact values depend on where your broker draws the daily boundary, so settle that detail before comparing charts.
A calculated line does not prove that orders are waiting there. Fix the feed, timezone and day boundary before you test any reaction.How traders commonly use Pivot Points
Pivot levels are used to organise touch, rejection and close-through research when the broker day and formula are fixed.
Calculate repeatable intraday reference levels from the prior completed session.
Keep this job separate from entry timing, stop placement and position size.
A useful counterexample
A calculated line is not evidence of resting orders, and different daily cut-offs can produce different levels.
Pivots for location, candle structure for response, ATR for scale
Each part has a different job. If two tools answer the same question, remove one and compare the result.
Provide pre-calculated session reference prices.
Defines rejection, acceptance or invalidation at a level.
Expresses proximity and buffer size in volatility units.
Follow the same order every time
- Fix the pivot formula, broker timezone and daily cut-off.
- Plot levels using only the prior completed session.
- Choose touch, rejection close or close-through as separate observations.
- Measure the response and invalidation distance in ATR units.
- Compare with evenly spaced control levels to test whether the pivots add information.
The indicator is one part of the method
These strategy pages show the market conditions, entry, stop and exit around the indicator.
Support and resistance rejection
A framework for testing reactions at levels that genuinely predate the trade.
- ENTRY
- Enter at the next H1 open after the first qualifying rejection close back above the prior-day low or below the prior-day high.
- STOP
- Place stop 0.20 × ATR beyond the rejection candle extreme. Risk 0.50% of equity and round down to 0.01 lot.
- EXIT
- Take profit at 2R. Exit after 12 completed H1 bars if neither stop nor target trades.
Daily open pullback
Uses a fixed daily open as context for a directional pullback hypothesis.
- ENTRY
- Enter at next H1 open after a pullback-zone candle closes in the impulse direction beyond the prior H1 high/low.
- STOP
- Stop 0.15 × ATR beyond the pullback extreme. Risk 0.50% equity and round down to 0.01 lot.
- EXIT
- Target the frozen impulse extreme. Close any unresolved trade at 20:00 UTC.
London range breakout
Studies expansion beyond a precisely timed pre-London range.
- ENTRY
- Enter at the next M15 open after the first completed 07:00–10:00 candle closes at least 0.10 × ATR beyond the frozen range high or low.
- STOP
- Place the stop at the frozen range midpoint. Risk 0.25% of equity, rounded down to 0.01 lot, because session gaps and spread expansion are material.
- EXIT
- Place a fixed 1.5R target. Close any remainder at the 10:00 London bar close.
Set up Pivot Points on your platform
Match the lesson's period, price input, smoothing and candle timing. Similar names can still produce different values across feeds and platforms.
MT4
Use manuallyThe idea can be marked with ordinary chart or drawing tools, but the work is not automatically maintained for you.
MT4 technical analysisWickAtlas MT4 setup guideMT5
Use manuallyThe idea can be marked with ordinary chart or drawing tools, but the work is not automatically maintained for you.
MT4 and MT5 comparisonWickAtlas MT5 setup guideTradingView
Built inAvailable in the standard TradingView indicator library. Names and default settings can differ.
TradingView indicatorsWickAtlas TradingView guide“Built in” means the standard platform library contains the underlying indicator. It does not mean its defaults or calculation match every third-party version. Compare the platforms.
Plain-language formula
The same indicator can look slightly different across platforms because the price input, smoothing and rounding may change. Note your settings before comparing two charts.
Where it may help
Intraday context when broker session boundaries are controlled.
Where it struggles
Feeds with different daily cut-offs and markets ignoring historical session levels.
What to pair it with
Pair it with something that answers a different question, such as volatility or market direction. Try the indicator on its own before adding more tools.
The shortcut to avoid
Treating a calculated line as an order-flow fact.
Try this on a chart
Fix timezone and feed, then compare touch, rejection and breakout rules.