Signs of the Times: A Bar-Attribute Directional Strength Oscillator

Summary

Signs of the Times (SOTT) estimates directional bar strength by scoring ten price and volume attributes, then normalizing the difference between bullish and bearish scores by the maximum possible weight. Inputs include candle polarity, changes in open, high, low, and close, body and wick relationships, gaps, an Efficient Work measure, and volume change when volume data is available. Most attributes contribute a discrete weight, while Efficient Work contributes a scaled value. The result oscillates from -1 to +1 around zero and deliberately ignores the size of price moves.

The indicator smooths the raw reading with a configurable moving average, then can apply another average for context. Its display uses the zero line, optional threshold levels, and the relationship between the two averages to show directional and stronger directional states. The author presents it as a complement to momentum oscillators and notes that the instant series is noisy. The description supplies no performance tests or evidence of predictive results; the weighting scheme is a heuristic, and lower-timeframe use can be unhelpful when only the last intrabar value is represented.

Key ideas

• SOTT scores bullish and bearish bar attributes independently and normalizes their difference into a bounded oscillator.
• Its inputs include bar direction, changes from the prior bar, gaps, wick and body structure, Efficient Work, and available volume.
• The calculation is insensitive to price-move amplitude because most features receive fixed weights.
• A moving average smooths the noisy raw value, and a second average provides additional context for interpreting direction.
• The indicator description provides a construction and display method but no backtest or predictive-performance evidence.

Tags

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