Introduction
If you’ve been trading for any time, you will almost certainly have come across the concept of support and resistance. This powerful and simple concept lies at the heart of technical analysis. It forms the cornerstone of price action trading.
However, you can also think of support and resistance in another way. After all, these are also price areas where a market has paused, reversed, or moved into a congestion phase before moving on. As a result, these price regions are associated with sustained buying and selling, or what Wyckoff called Accumulation and Distribution. These two concepts go hand in hand, and you can think of these in simple terms as follows:
- Accumulation relates to how an area of support performs
- Distribution relates to how an area of resistance performs
It is these two powerful concepts which come together in the Quantum Accumulation and Distribution indicator. It is the act of accumulation (buying) over a sustained period which creates the support region, whilst the act of distribution (selling) over a sustained period creates the resistance region. Having the power to see both gives you unparalleled insights into price behaviour at these key levels, and the confidence to forecast future market behaviour as a result.
Most traders still draw their lines manually, leading to a crude interpretation of these key levels. Even those companies who have developed a trading indicator, have developed an equally imprecise tool. No doubt you’ve seen them. Generally, these appear as wide bands on the chart, indicating vague areas of congestion, with associated support and resistance bands. These are virtually useless. They lack precision, or definition.
So, why has no one ever considered accumulation and distribution and the associated support and resistance as dynamic? After all, wouldn’t a dynamic indicator deliver high quality information where you need it most – at the live edge of the market?
Well perhaps no one has ever thought about it in this way before. After all, price action is dynamic.
Well, that’s what we thought too, and here it is at last – the Quantum Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution indicator. The first, and only dynamic indicator in the world which displays two things simultaneously. The regions of accumulation and distribution, and from that, the associated price levels of support and resistance. Even more so, it also displays the strength of these regions, the number of times they have been tested, and from which direction. This translates into a visual picture of the accumulation and distribution zones.
Finally, on your NinjaTrader 8 platform, you will have an indicator that truly defines, with pinpoint accuracy, those areas of price support and resistance associated with accumulation and distribution which are so important to you as a trader.
It’s an immensely powerful indicator which maps out the direction of price at any given moment. For most traders, the profit that springs from trading comes from determining these levels precisely. This indicator will give you the confidence to forecast where the market is likely to move next, giving you the ability to gauge:
- Optimum entry levels
- Safe exit levels
- Proper stop loss levels
- Excellent take profit levels
But as with all Quantum Trading indicators, there’s more, a great deal more!
The indicator shows you both graphically and numerically, how many times the price region has been tested. Levels which have been tested several times, will appear as deeper lines, whilst those levels tested only once or twice will appear as narrower lines. This instantly reveals the depth of any accumulation or distribution regions, and hence the likelihood of the level holding or being breached. Each level is painted blue or red to show you whether that level has seen accumulation or distribution in the past. If the level is painted red, then this has been an area of price distribution, and if painted blue then this is accumulation. An area of price accumulation is likely to act as support if approached from above, and if breached from below, to then provide bullish support to a further move higher. Conversely, an area of price distribution is likely to act as resistance if approached from below, and if breached from above, to then provide bearish resistance to a further move lower. The indicator is dynamic, which means the support and resistance lines generated coincide with the current price action.
Every market behaves slightly differently. They each have their own price characteristics which are then reflected in the price action, which in turn is reflected in the dynamic accumulation and distribution levels. So, once again, we have included your own fine control. Using the custom option, you can increase or decrease the number of zones that appear on each chart, to suit your own trading style and approach. Some traders prefer more detail, others prefer less. The indicator caters for everyone. It’s a personal choice. It simply means you have full control to customise the indicator the way you want it. Matching the tool to the job means greater consistency and greater profitability.
The Quantum Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution indicator works in all timeframes from tick charts to time-based charts, and from minutes to months.
Installation
Open your NinjaTrader 8 platform and select a chart.
Right click the chart to bring up a menu which looks like the following image:
Select Indicators… which will open the following window. Alternatively, you can open this window by clicking the Indicators button in the chart toolbar or by pressing Ctrl + I while focused on the chart.
In the Indicators window under Available section, go to Quantum > Quantum Currency Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution and click it to select the indicator. Once selected, click “add” under the Configured section which will put it on the list of active indicators to be added in the chart.
Before clicking the OK or Apply button to complete, the indicator has several configurable options. You can click the Apply button at any time, and this will apply any changes you have made to the indicator without closing the window. This will allow you to see the changes you have made to the indicator, without closing with the OK button or the Cancel button.
Configuration
All user input can be configured at the right-hand side of the Indicators window under the Properties section. These are the default settings when you add the indicator in a chart.
Main Settings
Alert
The following settings affect the indicator’s alert notifications displayed in the Alerts Log. You can open the Alerts Log from your NinjaTrader 8 client’s menu bar in the main window at New > Alerts Log.
Alert On Crosses
When enabled, the indicator sends an alert notification in the Alerts Log when price crosses one or more support/resistance lines.
Alert Rearm Time (Seconds)
This adds a delay to the next alert notification, expressed in number of seconds.
Alert Text Color
This setting allows you to customize the color of the text as the indicator’s messages appear in the Alerts Log.
Alert Sound File
You can change here the sound file the platform uses when this indicator triggers an alert. By default, it uses the Alert1.wav file packaged with your NinjaTrader installation. Please make sure that the file is supported and the absolute path to the sound file is entered correctly.
Parameters
Period
This sets the number of bars the indicator processes starting from the nth bar equal to the value of this parameter up to the current bar. Increasing its value will increase the number of support and resistance lines as decreasing its value will also decrease the support and resistance lines.
Offset
Adds an offset to the line labels’ vertical position, valued in pixels.
Label Position
Increasing the value of this setting moves the line labels toward the right side of the chart. Its value is expressed in number of bars.
Cluster Factor
Sets a constant in calculating the size of groups or clusters of lines generated by the indicator. It gives you full control over the number of accumulation and distribution zones that appear on the chart. Increasing its value causes the indicator to reduce the number of zones as it groups more of them together into larger clusters.
Support Line Color
Sets the color of support lines which indicate accumulation zones.
Support Text Color
Sets the color of text labels of support lines.
Resistance Line Color
Sets the color of resistance lines which indicate distribution zones.
Resistance Text Color
Sets the color of text labels of resistance lines.
Line Style
Sets the style of support and resistance lines. It can be Solid, Dash, Dash Dot, Dash Dot Dot or Dot.
Other Settings
Data Series
Input Series
Opens the indicator Input Series dialogue which allows you to select the source of data for your indicator’s calculations.
Setup
Calculate
Sets the frequency at which the indicator performs its calculations.
Label
The label of the indicator’s instance displayed on the chart.
Maximum bars look back
Determines the maximum number of bars the indicator can look back to perform calculations on historical data. This is set to 256 by default (the most memory-friendly setting), but it can be changed to “infinite” to allow for a greater look back period.
Visual
Auto scale
When enabled, the indicator will be included in the chart panel’s vertical automatic scaling.
Displacement
Sets the number of bars by which to displace the indicator plots.
Display in Data Box
Enables or disables the inclusion of the indicator’s plot values in the Data Box
Panel
Sets the panel in which the indicator is plotted. If you select “Same as input series,” the indicator will be linked to the Input Series and automatically move if the Input Series is modified to a different panel.
Price marker(s)
When enabled, the indicator value is plotted in the axis selected under the “Scale Justification” property.
Scale justification
Sets the scale on which the indicator will be plotted. Possible values are “Right,” “Left,” and “Overlay”.
Visible
Enables or disables visibility and function of the indicator on the chart.
Unloading the indicator
Here are the steps to remove the indicator in the chart.
Right-click on the chart then select Indicators… from the menu. Select Quantum Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution from the Configured section and click “remove” then OK to confirm and the indicator should be unloaded from your chart.
Using the Quantum Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution in the NinjaTrader Market Analyzer
Valid Rows
The Quantum Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution indicator works in any instrument.
Adding the Quantum Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution as a Market Analyzer Column
Here are the basic steps to add the Quantum Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution in the Market Analyzer:
Make sure valid rows are present in the Market Analyzer window.
Right-click anywhere in the Market Analyzer window then select “Columns…” in the context menu.
The Columns window appears. In the Available section, go to QuantumMarketAnalyzerColumns folder then double-click the Quantum Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution to add the indicator as one of the columns in the Market Analyzer.
Select the type of information you like to display using the Column drop down menu under the Properties section of the indicator.
Set the timeframe of the indicator in Properties > Data Series section with the following user inputs:
Type – select a time-based series such as Minute or Day
Value – set the interval for the type of series selected above
When running the indicator in timeframes less than Hourly intervals, please configure the “Load data based on” property to “Days” and the “Days back” property to the default value of 5 days to ensure that there is enough data for the indicator to work with.
After you have finished all your configurations, click OK to confirm your chosen settings and to add the indicator as a column in your Market Analyzer window.
Column Options
The Quantum Dynamic Accumulation and Distribution is a multi-faceted indicator that can display different types of signals which can be selected through its Column drop down menu found under the Properties section. You can customize the indicator’s function in the Market Analyzer by selecting any of the options enumerated below.
- NearestSR – displays the price level of the nearest support or resistance line.
- NearestSRTests – displays the number of times the nearest support or resistance line has been tested within the given period.
- NearestResistance – displays the price level of the nearest resistance line.
- NearestResistanceTests – displays the number of times the nearest resistance line has been tested within the given period.
- NearestSupport – displays the price level of the nearest support line.
- NearestSupportTests – displays the number of times the nearest support line has been tested within the given period.
- DIstanceFromNearestSR – displays the “distance” of the current price from the nearest support or resistance line. The distance is expressed in Tick Size (see NinjaScript API).
- PriceDiffFromNEarestSR – displays the difference between the current price and the price level of the nearest support or resistance line.
Tip: You can change the Label property of the column to describe what type of signal you choose to display.
