These functions implement the Directional Movement System developed by J. Welles Wilder Jr.. They are used to evaluate trend strength and trend direction, and to detect bullish or bearish momentum shifts via crossovers. They are commonly used in screening rules, ranking systems, and timing models to identify trending securities and directional breakouts.
ADX(period, offset [,series])
Returns the Average Directional Movement Index (ADX) as defined by Welles Wilder. ADX is commonly used to measure trend strength (not direction). The offset parameter can be used to compare current ADX to previous values to identify strengthening or weakening trends.
DMIPlus(period, offset [,series])
Returns the DMI+ component of Wilder’s Directional Movement System. DMI+ represents positive directional movement. Use offset to retrieve historical values.
DMIMinus(period, offset [,series])
Returns the DMI- component of Wilder’s Directional Movement System. DMI- represents negative directional movement. Use offset to retrieve historical values.
DMICrossOver(period, offset [,series])
Returns TRUE (or 1) if DMI+ crossed above DMI- within the previous offset bars. This is commonly interpreted as a shift toward positive directional dominance.
DMICrossUnder(period, offset [,series])
Returns TRUE (or 1) if DMI- crossed above DMI+ within the previous offset bars. This is commonly interpreted as a shift toward negative directional dominance.
Examples
1) Screen for stocks whose ADX increased over the past 10 bars
Compare the current ADX value to the ADX value from 10 bars ago:
ADX(14,0) > ADX(14,10)
2) Find stocks whose DMI+ crossed over DMI- within the last 2 bars
Use the crossover function with an offset window of 2 bars:
DMICrossOver(14,2)=TRUE
3) Find stocks with strong positive directional movement
Compare DMI+ to DMI- on the current bar:
DMIPlus(14,0) > DMIMinus(14,0)
Notes
- ADX measures trend strength; DMI+ and DMI- help indicate direction.
- offset is useful for detecting changes over time (e.g., “today vs. 10 bars ago”) and for “within the last N bars” crossover logic.
- Functions that return TRUE/1 can be used directly in screens and conditional logic.
Series Parameter
By default, technical functions access the time series of the instrument in context. You can specify a different time-series in several ways like: using GetSeries(), specifying a StockID directly, or using a time series id. See the examples below.
Examples
Get the latest close price using Close(0, series) using different methods for different time series.
| Using the ID directly | |
| Using the StockID for SPY:USA* | Close(0, 24262) |
| For the Industry series of the stock being evaluated | Close(0,#Industry) |
| Using a Time Series Id | Close(0,$RUI) |
| For the benchmark | Close(0, #Bench) |
| Using GetSeries | |
| Using a fully qualified ticker | Close(0, GetSeries("SPY:USA")) |
| When USA is your default | Close(0, GetSeries("SPY")) |
| See GetSeries() for more examples like for aggregate series | |
| * StockIDs never change | |
Predefined Series IDs
These are special series ids. Additional Series Ids can be found in the reference under: MISC→TIME SERIES IDs
| Id | Description | Freq | OHLC |
| Industry and Sector | |||
| #Sector | Stock's Sector | Daily | C |
| #SubSector | Stock's SubSector | Daily | C |
| #Industry | Stock's Industry | Daily | C |
| #SubIndustry | Stock's SubIndustry | Daily | C |
| Miscellaneous | |||
| #Bench | Benchmark closing prices | Daily | C |
| #TNX | 10Y Treasury Note | Daily | OHLC |
| FED Model series (chart) | |||
| #SPRP | SP500 Risk Premium | Weekly | C |
| #SPEPSCY | SP500 EPS CurrentY | Weekly | C |
| #SPEPSNY | SP500 EPS NextY | Weekly | C |
| #SPEPSCNY | SP500 EPS Blend Y | Weekly | C |
| #SPEPSQ | SP500 EPS Blend Q | Weekly | C |
| #SPEPSTTM | SP500 EPS Trailing 12 months | Weekly | C |
| #SPYield | SP500 Yield | Weekly | C |
Special Series Ids for Moving Averages & Highest/Lowest functions
| Id | Description | Context |
| #Open | Open prices | Stock & ETF |
| #High | High prices | Stock & ETF |
| #Low | Low prices | Stock & ETF |
| #Vol | Volumes | Stock & ETF |