Technical Indicators - Pivot Points

Pivot Points are used to project potential support and resistance levels. The main time periods used are daily, weekly, and monthly pivots. The formula for the daily pivot point, support, and resistance is shown below:

• Pivot Point = [Yesterday's High + Yesterday's Low + Yesterday's Close] / 3 

A 15-minute chart of the mini-Dow futures contract and the corresponding floor trader pivots are shown below:

1. Pivot Points, Support, & Resistance
2. Pivot Point Trade Examples

Technical Indicators - Pivot Point Trade Examples

In addition to giving buy and sell signals, pivot points give traders a good time to get out of their trade. To illustrate, during a rally some traders will set their sell orders right below the next resistance line. Thus, pivot point resistance and support lines can generate ready made profit targets.
A 5-minute chart of the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQQ) is shown next:

Technical Indicators - Pivot Points, Support, and Resistance

Pivot Point = [Yesterday's High + Yesterday's Low + Yesterday's Close] / 3 A 15-minute chart of the mini-Dow futures contract and the corresponding floor trader pivots are shown below:

Typical Price Moving Average (Pivot Point)

The Typical Price Moving Average combines the Pivot Point concept and the Simple Moving Average. The Pivot Point calculation is shown below:

• Pivot Point = (High + Low + Close) / 3

The calculated Pivot Point number is then inputed into the regular Simple Moving Average equation; rather than the input of the closing price, the Pivot Point calculation is used.
The chart below of the mini-Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures contract shows the slight difference between a 10-day Simple Moving Average and a 10-day Typical Price Moving Average:

The Typical Price attempts to give a more real representation of where price has been by incorporating the high and low price into the most often used closing price. The Typical Price is consequently seen as a more pure Simple Moving Average; nevertheless, as can be referenced by the chart above of the mini-Dow Future, there is not much difference between either Moving Average.