Day Trading with Moving Average Envelopes in 2021

A full guide about this easy-to-use indicator

Technical indicators are essential when it comes to trading. Traders use indicators to project where the price of an asset will go to.

As we have written before, there are several types of indicators.

There are oscillators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) that show when a price of an asset is overbought or oversold. There are trend indicators that show whether there is a trend or when a reversal is happening.

In this article, we will look at the moving average envelopes.

What is the Moving Average Envelopes?

As the name suggests, this is an indicator that is derived from the moving averages, one of the most common type of indicator in the market.

The average used to calculate the envelopes can either be a simple moving average (SMA) or an exponential moving average (EMA).

The SMA is simply calculated by adding closing prices and dividing by the number of periods. An exponential moving average, on the other hand, is more weighted to the recent prices.

When applied, the envelopes can help identify reversals or even identify overbought and oversold levels.

How to Interpret the MAE (+ formula)

The moving average envelopes is a trend-based indicator. At the same time, because of the two lines that are derived, the indicator is a channel or oscillator-based. These indicators are usually designed to encompass price action.

As such, you should always look at when the price moves below or above any of the lines. Any move above the upper line is usually an indicator of strength. Similarly, any move below the lower line is also a sign of strength.

The envelopes are calculated by first getting the moving averages. After doing this, you set a certain percentage to below and above the moving averages.

Therefore, you need to first decide the type of moving average to use. We recommend using an exponential moving average.

After calculating the average, you should assign a percentage. The most common percentage is 25%.

  • Upper envelope: 14-day EMA + (14-day EMA x 0.025)

  • Lower envelope: 14-day EMA – (14-day EMA x 0.025)

How to Use the Moving Average Envelopes

This is relatively easy.

First, you should identify a chart that is trending in either direction. You should not use it when the price of an asset is moving in a sideways direction.

Next, you should enter the period you want to use. The default period in most platforms is usually 14. You should also enter the deviation you want to use. The default in most platforms is usually 10%.

A good example of the moving average envelopes is shown below. The red line is the 14-day moving average.

Mae Example

Mae Example (14 days)

As you can see above, when the price moves above the yellow upper line, it usually a signal that the price will continue moving higher. The same is true when the price crosses the lower envelope.

There are other traders who use the two envelopes to identify overbought and oversold levels. However, this can be tricky as a price can remain in “overbought” and “oversold” levels for a continued period of time.

As such, it is tricky to short when the price tests the lower line and vice versa.

Short Selling Stocks

Key Take-away

The moving average envelopes is an important indicator that is also easy to use.

While it is simple to use, we recommend (as usual) that you use it well, and combine it with other indicators. Also, we recommend that you take a considerable amount of time testing it.

External Useful Resoures

Live Trading with DTTW™ on YouTube


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