Smoother Introduction

What a smoother does

The toolbox includes a number of smoothers to help reduce false signals and whipsaw trades. A smoother pre-filters the data so that minor, meaningless wiggles do not trigger trades, leaving the indicator to respond to the moves that matter.

When you pick a smoother such as the WMA, the amount of smoothing is set by the Smoother Periods parameter — the more periods, the heavier the smoothing.

Smooth the input, not the output

Smoothing the input to an indicator introduces very little lag, but smoothing too heavily will certainly add lag, so use a light touch. As a rule we recommend that you smooth only the input to an indicator and never its output: smoothing the output adds lag to the signal and strips away information you need.