John Ehlers Instantaneous Trendline Using a Smoothed Slope

Summary

This brief indicator description explains a John Ehlers trendline plotted on a price chart. It defines the instantaneous trendline as a moving average of price adjusted by half of a smoothed slope. The slope is the difference between the current price and the price from one period-window earlier.

To smooth that slope, the calculation combines the current value with three prior slope values, assigning double weight to the two middle observations before dividing by six. This provides a compact formula for a trend-following technical indicator, but the description does not specify a recommended period, asset, or timeframe. It includes no chart examples, backtest results, performance comparison, or guidance on signals and risk controls, so it describes the construction rather than establishing trading effectiveness.

Key ideas

• The indicator plots a John Ehlers trendline on price.
• It adjusts a moving average by half of a smoothed price slope.
• The slope compares current price with price one period-window earlier.
• The smoothed slope weights the current and prior slope observations before adjustment.
• The description gives no tested parameters or evidence of trading performance.

Tags

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