What it does
The Standard Deviation indicator measures how widely prices are dispersed around their average over a lookback window, typically 20 bars. It computes the moving average of price, takes each bar's squared deviation from that average, averages those squares, and plots the square root. High readings mean prices are swinging far from the mean (high volatility); low readings mean tight clustering (calm conditions).
How to add it
Click Indicators (ƒx) in the header.
Search “Standard Deviation” and click the result.
Hover its legend row and click the gear to open settings.
How traders use it
- Compare the current reading to its own recent history: multi-week lows in standard deviation mark volatility squeezes that often precede strong breakouts.
- Spikes in standard deviation frequently accompany climactic moves and can flag exhaustion after an extended trend.
- Use it to adapt trade management: widen stops and reduce size when the reading is elevated, tighten and size up when it is compressed.
- It is the engine inside Bollinger Bands; watching the raw value tells you why the bands are widening or squeezing.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Default | Range / Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Periods | number | 5 | 1–500 |
| Deviations | number | 1 | 0.1–10 |
Plots & styling
| Plot | Style | Default color |
|---|---|---|
| Std Dev | line | #089981 |
Every plot's color, line width and visibility can be changed on the Style tab. Precision (default 2 decimals), price-scale labels and status-line values are configurable at the bottom of the Style tab.
Tips
- Resize the pane by dragging its divider; collapse it from the legend row when you need the space back.
- Use Add to favorites in the legend menu; starred studies surface at the top of the picker.
- Reference levels (where the study has them) are editable — tune them to the instrument you're trading.
Watch out for
- It measures magnitude only, with no directional information, so it cannot generate entries by itself.
- It is backward-looking and lookback-sensitive; a single extreme bar inflates the reading for the whole window and then drops out abruptly.