DPO (Detrended Price Oscillator)¶
What it shows: price with the longer trend taken out, so short up-and-down cycles are easier to see. Above zero, price is above its shifted average.
How people use it: to spot short cycles: crossing above zero marks the upswing of a cycle.
Pairs well with: a moving average for the main trend.
Settings¶
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 20 | The cycle length it looks for. Longer looks for longer swings. |
You set the defaults on the Indicators page. A condition can use its own settings, which override the defaults for that condition only.
Ready-made conditions¶
| For | Condition | Fires when |
|---|---|---|
| Buy | DPO crosses above zero | the one candle DPO moves from below 0 to above it |
| Buy | DPO above zero | every candle DPO is above 0 |
| Sell | DPO crosses below zero | the one candle DPO moves from above 0 to below it |
| Sell | DPO below zero | every candle DPO is below 0 |
"Above", "below", "is" and "rising" / "falling" stay true on every candle the state lasts, so they can fire many candles in a row. "Crosses" and "flips" fire once, on the candle it happens, so you get one signal per move.
Warnings you may see¶
- "It can never be true: a cross happens on one candle, so it cannot happen on N candles in a row. Use 'within the last N candles' instead.": a "crosses" condition with a "… in a row" lookback of 2 or more. Switch the lookback to Within the last.
- "Length must be between 1 and 1000" / "Length must be a whole number": shown in the condition editor when a condition's own value is out of range. Fix the number; the condition can't be saved until then.
Where they show: on the Strategies page, open Create entry conditions / Edit entry conditions (or the exit ones). Each condition's messages appear right under it. The setting messages ("must be between", "whole number", "must be one of", "must be smaller than") start with the indicator's short name, for example "MACD: Fast must be between 1 and 1000", and keep the conditions from being saved until fixed. The other warnings never block saving and are repeated in the strategy's Entry or Exit section, starting with the condition's name.
Good to know¶
- It is worked out from closing prices only (not volume).
- Values are in price units; use the zero line.
- It needs some history before its value settles: one and a half times the length + 1 candles (31 at length 20). Apathia loads that history for you.