Drawing a Quadratic Arc Channel from Three Price Points

Summary

This brief technical note explains the mathematical basis of an arc-shaped price channel. It models price as a quadratic function of bar number, with three coefficients representing the constant, linear, and squared terms. Because a quadratic has three unknown coefficients, three price points are sufficient to determine the curve.

The implementation is presented as training material and a prompt for possible development of a standard drawing tool in MetaTrader 5. The author lists substantial omissions: it is not packaged as a reusable class, does not preserve parameters across timeframe changes, and lacks multiple channels, smoothness controls, and extension beyond the last bar. The note provides no trading rules, empirical tests, or evidence that the resulting channel predicts or improves trading decisions.

Key ideas

• The channel curve models price as a quadratic function of the bar number.
• Three price points determine the three coefficients of the quadratic.
• The described MetaTrader 5 implementation is an incomplete training example.
• It lacks timeframe parameter persistence, multiple channels, smoothness controls, and right-side continuation.
• No trading performance or predictive value is demonstrated.

Tags

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.