What it does
The Arnaud Legoux Moving Average (ALMA) smooths price using a Gaussian-shaped weighting curve that can be shifted along the lookback window. Two parameters control it: offset (default 0.85) slides the weight peak toward recent bars to reduce lag, and sigma (default 6) controls how wide and smooth the curve is. The design tries to get EMA-like responsiveness with SMA-like smoothness at the same time.
Typedraws on the price chart
How to add it
Click Indicators (ƒx) in the header.
Search “Arnaud Legoux Moving Average” and click the result.
Hover its legend row and click the gear to open settings.
How traders use it
- Use it as a cleaner trend line: price above a rising ALMA is long bias, below a falling ALMA is short bias, with fewer noise wiggles than an EMA.
- Trade price crossovers of the ALMA for entries, favoring the direction of a higher-timeframe trend.
- Run two ALMAs of different lengths for crossover signals that are smoother than the equivalent EMA pair.
- Tune offset toward 1 for faster reaction in momentum trading or lower it toward 0.5 for extra smoothing in swing trading.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Default | Range / Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Window Size | number | 9 | 0–5000 |
| Offset | number | 0.85 | 0–1 |
| Sigma | number | 6 | 1–100 |
Plots & styling
| Plot | Style | Default color |
|---|---|---|
| ALMA(9) | line | #2196F3 |
Every plot's color, line width and visibility can be changed on the Style tab. Precision, price-scale labels and status-line values are configurable at the bottom of the Style tab.
Tips
- Its price-scale label can be switched off per-indicator at the bottom of the Style tab if the axis gets crowded.
- Drag the indicator to its own pane from the legend ⋯ menu if it crowds the price chart.
- Double-click any of its lines to jump straight into the settings dialog.
Watch out for
- Reducing lag via the offset trades away some smoothing, so aggressive settings reintroduce whipsaws.
- Its two extra parameters invite curve-fitting; settings tuned to past data may not hold up forward.