What it does
The Hull Moving Average (HMA), created by Alan Hull, aims for both smoothness and minimal lag. It takes a WMA of half the period, doubles it, subtracts a full-period WMA, and then smooths the result with a WMA of the square root of the period. The outcome is a remarkably smooth curve that turns almost in step with price, with color-by-slope a popular way to display it.
Typedraws on the price chart
How to add it
Click Indicators (ƒx) in the header.
Search “Hull Moving Average” and click the result.
Hover its legend row and click the gear to open settings.
How traders use it
- Trade slope changes: the HMA turning up is a buy cue and turning down a sell cue, often used with the line colored by direction.
- Use a longer HMA (55 to 200) as a smooth trend filter that defines bias with fewer flip-flops than a raw EMA.
- Combine two HMAs (for example 9 and 21) for fast, clean crossover signals on intraday charts.
- Use it as a trailing reference in trends, exiting when price closes across the HMA against your position.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Default | Range / Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | number | 9 | 2–500 |
| Source | select | close | Close / Open / High / Low / HL2 / HLC3 / OHLC4 |
Plots & styling
| Plot | Style | Default color |
|---|---|---|
| HMA(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
- The lag-cancelling math causes the HMA to overshoot price around sharp reversals, so it can exaggerate turns.
- Slope-change signals still arrive after the turn begins and whipsaw in flat markets.