What it does
The Weighted Moving Average (WMA) averages the last N closes but assigns linearly increasing weights, so the most recent bar counts the most and the oldest counts the least. For a 10-period WMA the latest close gets weight 10, the previous 9, and so on down to 1, with the sum divided by the total of the weights (55). This makes the WMA more responsive than an SMA while still smoother than raw price.
Typedraws on the price chart
How to add it
Click Indicators (ƒx) in the header.
Search “Weighted Moving Average” and click the result.
Hover its legend row and click the gear to open settings.
How traders use it
- Use it where you want SMA-style smoothing with quicker turns, such as identifying short-term trend shifts on intraday charts.
- Trade price crossing the WMA as an early trend-change alert, then confirm with a longer moving average or trendline.
- Pair a fast WMA with a slow SMA: the WMA crossing the SMA gives earlier signals than two SMAs of the same lengths.
- Watch the slope: a steepening WMA indicates accelerating momentum, a flattening one warns the move is stalling.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Default | Range / Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | number | 9 | 1–10000 |
| Source | select | close | Close / Open / High / Low / HL2 / HLC3 / OHLC4 |
| Offset | number | 0 | -10000–10000 |
Plots & styling
| Plot | Style | Default color |
|---|---|---|
| WMA(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
- Greater responsiveness means more whipsaws in sideways markets than an equally sized SMA.
- Like all moving averages it is a lagging tool and says nothing about how far a move will travel.