Parabolic SAR + ADX (Wilder)¶
What it does: Enters when the Parabolic SAR flips under price in a confirmed trend; exits on the flip back. Parabolic SAR places dots that trail the price and 'flip' sides when the trend changes. This buys when the dots flip below the price while ADX (trend strength) is above 25, and sells when they flip back above, or at the stop-loss.
Style: Trend · Difficulty: Beginner · Risk: medium · Ready: 2 of 2 variants
When people use it: It tends to work in strong trends.
Where it struggles: It struggles in sideways markets; Wilder himself warned it flips back and forth there.
Markets it was written for: BTC, ETH. Timeframes: 4h (1h-1d).
Open it in the Strategy Library (on the Strategies page), pick a variant, adjust the settings and press Add to my strategies. It becomes your own strategy: edit, backtest or trade it like any other.
Long¶
Enters when the Parabolic SAR flips under price in a confirmed trend; exits on the flip back.
Labels: Trend Following, Long, Spot, Beginner, Medium
- Direction: Buy (long) · Market: spot
- Trigger: On candle close · Main timeframe: Auto (4h)
Entry
- IF PSAR(0.02,0.2) Direction crosses above 0 (4h) and ADX(14) > 25 (4h)
Exit: Indicator-Based Exit
- IF PSAR(0.02,0.2) Direction crosses below 0 (4h)
- Loss controls: Stop-loss % 6%
Settings
| Setting | Default | Editable | What changing it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acceleration | 0.02 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | How quickly the dots catch up with the price. Higher follows the price more tightly (earlier flips, more trades); lower gives the trend more room. |
| Max acceleration | 0.2 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | The cap on that speed. Higher lets the dots close in faster in long trends (earlier exits); lower keeps them further away. |
| ADX threshold | 25 | Yes | How strong the trend must be to enter. Higher trades less; lower trades more, including weaker trends. |
How it works (as shown in the app)
- Parabolic SAR places dots that trail the price and 'flip' sides when the trend changes. This buys when the dots flip below the price while ADX (trend strength) is above 25, and sells when they flip back above, or at the stop-loss.
- It tends to work in strong trends.
- It struggles in sideways markets; Wilder himself warned it flips back and forth there.
- Built for 4-hour candles (1 hour to 1 day also work).
Short (perp)¶
Shorts when the Parabolic SAR flips above price in a confirmed trend; closes on the flip back.
Labels: Trend Following, Short, Futures, Medium, Backtest Only
- Direction: Sell (short) · Market: swap
- Trigger: On candle close · Main timeframe: Auto (4h)
Entry
- IF PSAR(0.02,0.2) Direction crosses below 0 (4h) and ADX(14) > 25 (4h)
Exit: Indicator-Based Exit
- IF PSAR(0.02,0.2) Direction crosses above 0 (4h)
- Loss controls: Stop-loss % 6%
Settings
| Setting | Default | Editable | What changing it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acceleration | 0.02 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | How quickly the dots catch up with the price. Higher follows the price more tightly (earlier flips, more trades); lower gives the trend more room. |
| Max acceleration | 0.2 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | The cap on that speed. Higher lets the dots close in faster in long trends (earlier exits); lower keeps them further away. |
| ADX threshold | 25 | Yes | How strong the trend must be to enter. Higher trades less; lower trades more, including weaker trends. |
How it works (as shown in the app)
- Parabolic SAR places dots that trail the price and 'flip' sides when the trend changes. This shorts when the dots flip above the price while ADX (trend strength) is above 25, and buys back when they flip back below, or at the stop-loss.
- It tends to work in strong downtrends.
- It struggles in sideways markets; Wilder himself warned it flips back and forth there.
- Built for 4-hour candles (1 hour to 1 day also work).
- Shorting means you profit if the price falls and lose if it rises.
- Suggested leverage is at most 3x. On isolated margin, at 3x the exchange closes the position (liquidation) if the price moves about 33% against you, and you lose the margin you put into it. Keep your stop well inside that.
- For now this version runs in backtests only; paper and live futures trading are coming later.
Warnings¶
- "Backtest only for now: paper and live trading of shorts are coming later.": shown on short variants. They need perpetual or futures pairs.
- Some variants suggest leverage. On isolated margin a liquidation loses the margin in that position; keep any stop well inside the liquidation distance (the Trade Builder warns you when it isn't).
- Once added, the strategy's conditions get the usual condition checks. Messages show under each condition on the entry / exit conditions screen; setting errors start with the indicator's short name (for example "MACD: Fast must be between 1 and 1000") and block saving, while the other warnings never block saving and repeat in the strategy's Entry or Exit section. See the indicator pages below for each one.
- "You already have this strategy with these settings (…). Change a setting to add another copy.": shown on the variant's page in the Strategy Library when you already added this variant with the same settings.
Good to know¶
- After you add it, the strategy keeps the library's trigger and an Auto main timeframe; you can change both in the builder. Nothing links it back to the library, except that the builder still shows the library's explanations in the info bubbles.
- Changing a setting before adding it also changes the saved name, so you can tell copies apart.
- Past results don't predict future ones. Try it in a backtest and on paper before using real money.
- Indicators used: ADX, PSAR.