34-EMA Wave and GRaB Candles Indicator for ThinkorSwim

[BenTen]

Raghee Horner is the Managing Director at Simpler Trading and one of the things that she's known for is her 34-EMA Wave and GRaB Candles. I got the chance to test out the GRaB candles indicator on ThinkorSwim and it works really well. Raghee was kind enough to make her indicators public so I'm re-posting it here for you guys to check it out.

The EMA GRaB indicator produced a wave consists of:

• The high of 34 period exponential moving average
• The low of 34 period exponential moving average
• The close of 34 period exponential moving average

The 34-EMA GRaB indicator helps to identify the following:

• Uptrend market (green)
• Downtrend market (red)
• Sideways market (blue)

A trend reflects organized sentiment and momentum in the market. In an upward trend characterized by higher highs and higher lows, green candles should dominate, indicating bullish momentum. Conversely, in a downtrend with lower lows and lower highs, red candles should prevail, signaling bearish sentiment. When the market is in consolidation, blue GRaB candles are prevalent, suggesting a period of indecision and equilibrium between buyers and sellers. Quick shifts between green, red, and blue candles indicate increased volatility and congestion, requiring traders to exercise caution and adapt their strategies accordingly.

When using this to trade, you want to avoid trading when there are a lot of blue candles. When the candlesticks are just moving up and down between the wave, that means the stock is moving sideways. You don't want to trade in a choppy market.

thinkScript Code

# 3 color GRaB candles for ThinkorSwim
# Copyright 2014 Simpler Options
# Modified for 6 Color Light/Hollow and Solid/Dark Green, Red and Blue Colored Candles for ThinkorSwim by Robert Kling

declare upper;
declare once_per_bar;

plot ema1 = ExpAverage (high, 34);
plot ema2 = ExpAverage (close, 34);
plot ema3 = ExpAverage (low, 34);
ema1.SetDefaultColor(Color.GREEN);
ema1.SetLineWeight(2);
ema2.SetDefaultColor(Color.BLUE);
ema2.SetLineWeight(2);
ema3.SetDefaultColor(Color.RED);
ema3.SetLineWeight(2);

AssignPriceColor(if close > ema1 and open < close then Color.GREEN
  else if close > ema1 and open >= close then Color.DARK_GREEN
  else if close < ema3 and open < close then Color.RED
  else if close < ema3 and open >= close then Color.DARK_RED
  else if open < close then Color.CYAN
  else if open >= close then Color.BLUE
  else Color.BLUE);

Shareable Link

https://tos.mx/qOne4N

Credit:

• Raghee Horner

 

[RocketShip]

Has anyone found this to work?

 

[BenTen]

@RocketShip There is no holy grail. This thing definitely has potential though. I don’t use it as my main trading strategy. However, it helps to determine the intraday trend and support / resistance.

 

[Tom4235]

Ben do you use GRaB candles or do you use any other ones?

 

[BenTen]

@Tom4235 I use a variety of different indicators, but the 34 ema is definitely top on my list.

 

[Monopod]

Some indicators change color only after the close of the candle. This can be too long to wait if you're using 3000+ tick candles. Other indicators turn sooner and may flash back and forth for a bit within that single candle until the inflection point is truly crossed. What makes the difference?

I tested this indicator in onDemand and the candles did not change colors until well after any decent entry had passed. Is anyone using this with 5-10 minute candles and does it change only after the entire candle has printed?

The HACOLT indicator, for example, is one that does not wait until the candle has completely printed before it kicks out a signal. Of course, this means there will be times when it flashed and then reverses, but those are rare.

 

[dolcea23]

Some indicators change color only after the close of the candle. This can be too long to wait if you're using 3000+ tick candles. Other indicators turn sooner and may flash back and forth for a bit within that single candle until the inflection point is truly crossed. What makes the difference?

I tested this indicator in onDemand and the candles did not change colors until well after any decent entry had passed. Is anyone using this with 5-10 minute candles and does it change only after the entire candle has printed?

The HACOLT indicator, for example, is one that does not wait until the candle has completely printed before it kicks out a signal. Of course, this means there will be times when it flashed and then reverses, but those are rare.

what's the hacolt indicator script?

 

[Monopod]

TD Ameritrade IP Company, Inc. (c) 2012-2019
#

declare lower;

input temaLength = 55;
input emaLength = 60;
input candleSizeFactor = 1.1;

assert(candleSizeFactor >= 0, "'candle size factor' must not be negative: " + candleSizeFactor);

def haOpen = CompoundValue(1, (haOpen[1] + ohlc4[1]) / 2, ohlc4);
def haClose = (haOpen + Max(high, haOpen) + Min(low, haOpen) + ohlc4) / 4;
def temaHaClose = TEMA(haClose, temaLength);
def zeroLagHaClose = 2 * temaHaClose - TEMA(temaHaClose, temaLength);
def temaTypPrice = TEMA(hl2, temaLength);
def zeroLagTypPrice = 2 * temaTypPrice - TEMA(temaTypPrice, temaLength);
def shortCandle = BodyHeight() < (high - low) * candleSizeFactor;

def keepGreen = haClose >= haOpen or haClose[1] >= haOpen[1] or close >= haClose or high > high[1] or low > low[1] or zeroLagTypPrice >= zeroLagHaClose;
def keepGreenAll = keepGreen or (keepGreen[1] and (close >= open or close >= close[1]));
def holdLong = shortCandle and high >= low[1];
def utr = keepGreenAll or (keepGreenAll[1] and holdLong);

def keepRed = haClose < haOpen or haClose[1] < haOpen[1] or zeroLagTypPrice < zeroLagHaClose;
def keepRedAll = keepRed or (keepRed[1] and (close < open or close < close[1]));
def holdShort = shortCandle and low <= high[1];
def dtr = keepRedAll or (keepRedAll[1] and holdShort);

def upw = !dtr and dtr[1] and utr;
def dnw = !utr and utr[1] and dtr;
def upwSave = if upw or dnw then upw else upwSave[1];
def buy = upw or (!dnw and upwSave);
def longTermSell = close < ExpAverage(close, emaLength);
def neutral = buy or (if longTermSell then no else neutral[1]);

plot HACOLT = if buy then 100 else if neutral then 50 else 0;
HACOLT.DefineColor("Up", Color.UPTICK);
HACOLT.DefineColor("Neutral", Color.GRAY);
HACOLT.DefineColor("Down", Color.DOWNTICK);
HACOLT.AssignValueColor(if HACOLT == 100 then HACOLT.Color("Up") else if HACOLT == 50 then HACOLT.Color("Neutral") else HACOLT.Color("Down"));

 

[diazlaz]

Hi @Monopod, try commenting out #declare once_per_bar; in the script and see if you notice any improvements in the refresh. this script should be pretty close to real time.

 

[Monopod]

Thanks. Show me exactly what that should look like and I'll put it in there.

Not a coder

 

[BenTen]

@Monopod Take a look at the 34-ema code above. In that script there is a line: declare once_per_bar; Add # in front of it.

 

[dolomick]

Hello,

I would like this script to use a Hull moving average instead of an EMA, can anyone help with that? It might not be possible for all I know, because of the way the Hull mov avg is calculated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[tomsk]

Hello,

I would like this script to use a Hull moving average instead of an EMA, can anyone help with that? It might not be possible for all I know, because of the way the Hull mov avg is calculated.

Thanks in advance!

@dolomick Here's your modified study that uses a Hull Moving Average.

# 3 color GRaB candles for ThinkorSwim
# Copyright 2014 Simpler Options
# Modified for 6 Color Light/Hollow and Solid/Dark Green, Red and Blue Colored Candles for ThinkorSwim by Robert Kling

declare upper;
declare once_per_bar;

plot ema1 = HullMovingAvg (high, 34);
plot ema2 = HullMovingAvg (close, 34);
plot ema3 = HullMovingAvg (low, 34);
ema1.SetDefaultColor(Color.GREEN);
ema1.SetLineWeight(2);
ema2.SetDefaultColor(Color.BLUE);
ema2.SetLineWeight(2);
ema3.SetDefaultColor(Color.RED);
ema3.SetLineWeight(2);

AssignPriceColor(if close > ema1 and open < close then Color.GREEN
else if close > ema1 and open >= close then Color.DARK_GREEN
else if close < ema3 and open < close then Color.RED
else if close < ema3 and open >= close then Color.DARK_RED
else if open < close then Color.CYAN
else if open >= close then Color.BLUE
else Color.BLUE);

 

[horserider]

@dolomick Just made the ema into hma to avoid any possible confusion.

# 3 color GRaB candles for ThinkorSwim
# Copyright 2014 Simpler Options
# Modified for 6 Color Light/Hollow and Solid/Dark Green, Red and Blue Colored Candles for ThinkorSwim by Robert Kling
# Modified to HullMovingAvg by Horsrider 11/20/219

declare upper;
declare once_per_bar;

plot hma1 = hullMovingAvg (high, 34);
plot hma2 = hullMovingAvg (close, 34);
plot hma3 = hullMovingAvg (low, 34);
hma1.SetDefaultColor(Color.GREEN);
hma1.SetLineWeight(2);
hma2.SetDefaultColor(Color.BLUE);
hma2.SetLineWeight(2);
hma3.SetDefaultColor(Color.RED);
hma3.SetLineWeight(2);

AssignPriceColor(if close > hma1 and open < close then Color.GREEN
  else if close > hma1 and open >= close then Color.DARK_GREEN
  else if close < hma3 and open < close then Color.RED
  else if close < hma3 and open >= close then Color.DARK_RED
  else if open < close then Color.CYAN
  else if open >= close then Color.BLUE
  else Color.BLUE);

 

[Sneaky_Swings]

Yea a grabcandle scanner would be nice. Scan for new green candles.

I was wondering if anyone ever successfully created a scanner for this study?

 

[MerryDay]

@Sneaky_Swings What error are you getting when running a scan?

 

[Sneaky_Swings]

@Sneaky_Swings What error are you getting when running a scan?

Thanks for your help. What I had wrong is that instead of putting is true I was putting is greater than or equal to.

 

[wtf_dude]

Real simple edit I made here to be used for weekly charts. 6.8 bars vs 34 to accocmodate for scale change and I changed to the line weight and styles slightly to aid visibility.

# 3 color GRaB candles for ThinkorSwim   (weekly variation)
# Copyright 2014 Simpler Options
# Modified for 6 Color Light/Hollow and Solid/Dark Green, Red and Blue Colored Candles for ThinkorSwim by Robert Kling

declare upper;
declare once_per_bar;

plot ema1 = ExpAverage (high, 6.8);
plot ema2 = ExpAverage (close, 6.8);
plot ema3 = ExpAverage (low, 6.8);
ema1.SetDefaultColor(Color.GREEN);
ema1.SetLineWeight(1);
ema2.SetDefaultColor(Color.BLUE);
ema2.SetStyle(Curve.SHORT_DASH);
ema2.SetLineWeight(1);
ema3.SetDefaultColor(Color.RED);
ema3.SetLineWeight(1);

AssignPriceColor(if close > ema1 and open < close then Color.GREEN
  else if close > ema1 and open >= close then Color.DARK_GREEN
  else if close < ema3 and open < close then Color.RED
  else if close < ema3 and open >= close then Color.DARK_RED
  else if open < close then Color.CYAN
  else if open >= close then Color.BLUE
  else Color.BLUE);

 

[ukd1506]

Hello Ben,

I'm seeing CYAN color Candle b/w Grenn,Red,Blue, what does that Cyana candle?

 

[BenTen]

@ukd1506

open < close then Color.CYAN