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TradingView offers a wide range of technical indicators—hundreds catering to traders of all experience levels. Whether you’re just starting out or an experienced market participant, having the right tools at your fingertips can significantly improve your trading decisions.
In this article, we explore three widely used TradingView indicators that can help traders serve as useful tools for building a clearer understanding of price movements and market behaviour.
Key Points
- TradingView offers a wide range of indicators that can help traders analyse market trends and price momentum across different timeframes.
- Using tools like RSI, Moving Averages, and MACD together can improve clarity, reduce false signals, and support better trading decisions.
- Testing indicator combinations in real or demo environments is essential to refining your strategy and aligning tools with your trading style.
The Role of TradingView Indicators in Developing Strategic Trading Strategies
TradingView indicators can play a role in shaping trading strategies when applied appropriately. By combining multiple indicators and testing them in real market conditions, traders can gain additional insights that may help refine their decision-making process and improve consistency over time.
Choosing your indicators based on your trading strategy
With the wide range of TradingView indicators available, it’s important to understand how each one can complement your specific trading approach. For example, an intraday trader with limited screen time may prioritise fast-reacting tools, while a swing trader with more flexibility might focus on indicators suited to longer timeframes.
Using different indicators that align with your trading style—short-term or long-term—you can gain insights that may help support your overall trading decisions.
Relative Strength Index (RSI): What It Is and How It Can Support Your Trading Decisions
The RSI or Relative Strength Index measures the strength or weakness of any asset by comparing its up move versus its down over a certain time period. The indicator helps traders identify price momentum, overbought and oversold trading conditions, as well as divergence signals.
When to Use the RSI Indicator in Trading
The RSI measures the speed or velocity of market price movements. It is displayed as an oscillator – a line that varies between two extremes – and moves between 0 and 100. A reading above 50 shows a price movement that is typically rising, while a reading below 50 shows a price movement that is typically falling.
The RSI is considered “overbought” when above 70 and “oversold” when below 30. Between 30 and 70 is seen as neutral.
Traders often use the RSI to help confirm the presence of a new trend. It can also highlight when an asset may be entering “overbought” or “oversold” territory, which could suggest potential entry or exit points. Additionally, the RSI may signal a possible price reversal when there is divergence between the asset’s price movement and the RSI reading.
How to Set Up the RSI Indicator on TradingView
To add the RSI indicator on TradingView, begin by clicking the “Indicators” tab and searching for “RSI” or “Relative Strength Index.” Once selected, it will appear on your chart. You can then customise the indicator by clicking the settings icon, where you can adjust parameters such as the RSI length and data source, as well as visual preferences like colour and display options.
Combining This with Other Tools
Using a single technical indicator can be helpful, but combining it with other tools may offer a more comprehensive view of the market. When multiple indicators align to confirm signals, chart patterns, or key price levels, it can strengthen the overall strategy. This approach may help filter out false signals and provide greater confidence when making trading decisions.
Moving Averages (EMA/SMA): What They Are and How to Use Them
Moving averages are one of the most commonly used technical indicators as they can be useful in determining the future direction of a market.
A moving average is calculated by taking the closing prices of an asset—such as a currency pair—over a specified “x” number of periods. Commonly used timeframes include the 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day moving averages.
The moving average is simply a way to smooth out price variations which can help traders recognise the difference between trend direction and market “noise”.
In very simple terms, when price action generally stays above the moving average, prices are in an uptrend. Conversely, if price action tends to remain below the moving average, then that points to a downtrend.
A SMA is the most basic moving average. This is just a simple calculation of the mean price of a set of values over a given time period. An exponential moving average (EMA) assigns more value to recent prices to make the data more reactive to new information.
Using Moving Averages to Identify Trends for Entry and Exit Points
A moving average can help traders spot a trend pattern, by identifying an entry and exit point to reduce the impact of random price moves in a market.
They may also act as dynamic support or resistance levels—where traders might consider buying when the price pulls back to the moving average, or selling when the price approaches it from below.
Golden and Death Crosses: What They Are and How to Identify Them?
A “Golden Cross” refers to a bullish indicator where a shorter-term moving average, typically a 50-day MA, crosses above a longer-term moving average, typically a 200-day MA. This move is often seen as a buy signal as the market is changing from a downtrend into an uptrend.
A “Death Cross” is the opposite of a golden cross. That means it is viewed as a bearish indicator when the 50-day MA crosses below the 200-day MA. This pattern is typically considered as a possible indication that the market is transitioning from an uptrend to a downtrend.
Multi-Timeframe Moving Average Crossover Strategy
Combining a number of moving averages on one chart instead of just one MA can help traders give them a clearer signal of a trend.
A shorter-term MA is a faster moving indicator so makes it more reactive to daily price changes. A longer-term MA is slower moving and less sensitive to short-term price deviations. Together, these levels can help traders observe and interpret trend patterns more effectively.
MACD: What It Is and How to Use It to Support Trading Decisions
The MACD (Moving Average Convergence / Divergence) is a trend-following momentum oscillator used to identify trend direction.
The first line or MACD, calculates the difference between two exponential moving averages (EMAs) to find whether the bullish or bearish momentum is either strengthening or weakening.
The second line is called the “Signal Line”, is a moving average of the MACD line itself—making it slower to react.
The difference between the MACD line and the Signal Line is displayed as a histogram, which provides a visual representation of momentum shifts.
MACD – Key Histogram Interpretations
- Positive Values
When the histogram is positive (i.e. above the baseline), that means that the MACD is higher than its nine-day average. That indicates a recent increase in upward momentum.
- Negative Values
When the histogram is negative (i.e. below the baseline), that means that the MACD is lower than its nine-day average. That indicates a recent decrease in upward momentum.
- Zero Crosses
When the MACD line crosses above zero, it is generally viewed as a bullish signal. Conversely, a cross below zero is seen as bearish. Some traders also look for the Signal Line to cross the zero line as an additional point of confirmation.
- Histogram Reversals
The histogram represents the difference between the MACD line and the Signal Line. As these two lines diverge—indicating stronger price momentum—the histogram moves further away from the zero line and increases in height.
When the histogram begins to contract, it may signal that momentum, whether bullish or bearish, is starting to weaken.
- Divergence & Divergence Spotting
Divergence between the MACD and the price can be a significant signal. Typically, when the price forms a higher high or a lower low, the MACD is expected to do the same. Both should generally move in the same direction. When they do not, this divergence may indicate a potential shift in the current trend.
How to Combine These Indicators on TradingView
Combining indicators can make your trading strategies more robust, especially in different market conditions and when prices are volatile. This may mean false signals are avoided. This might be especially useful during the current trading environment, when price action is very choppy and there is a lot of two-way price action.
Identify Combined Indicators with Pre-Built Scripts
Combining moving averages with momentum indicators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) can offer a more balanced view of market trends. Where possible, these combinations should be tested in advance to ensure familiarity.
Add Indicators to Your Charts Manually
Adding multiple indicators to your chart setup on TradingView is straightforward. Its user-friendly interface, along with the ease of editing or removing indicators, contributes to TradingView’s popularity among traders worldwide—across hundreds of markets and asset classes.
Customisation and Analysis
The enduring appeal of TradingView is also its easy customisation of any technical indicator. Traders can adjust technical indicators to suit their preferred strategies and trading styles, allowing them to explore, experiment, and refine their analysis with greater flexibility.
Avoiding Conflicting Signals
Using multiple indicators can mean traders receive inconsistent signals. These can be conflicting or unreliable, so testing signals from multiple indicators in a live trading environment is always preferable under real-life market conditions.
Start Testing Using TradingView Indicators
Technical indicators play a role in helping traders analyse price action, identify trends, and make more informed decisions. From momentum indicators like the RSI and MACD to trend-based tools like moving averages, each offers unique insights depending on the strategy, timeframe, and market being traded.
Exploring different combinations—such as pairing moving averages with the RSI or combining the MACD with trendlines—can help refine your approach. Testing these combinations in a risk-free environment is a practical step towards building confidence in your strategy.
Open an account with Vantage today to explore how TradingView indicators can be used together and identify which combinations best suit your trading style.
Disclaimer: This material is provided for educational purposes only and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial circumstances, or needs. It does not constitute investment advice. We encourage you to seek independent advice if necessary. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the interviewee and the author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Vantage. This article is based on information the author considers reliable; however, Vantage does not warrant its accuracy or completeness, and it should not be relied upon as such. This material has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research. It may contain historical or past performance data, which should not be relied upon as an indicator of future results. Additionally, any estimates, projections, or forward-looking statements are not guaranteed. The information on this site and the products and services offered are not intended for distribution to any person in any jurisdiction where such distribution or use would be contrary to local law or regulation.
