Concept
Elder Ray
Elder Ray is a Momentum & Oscillators concept. The Library holds 1 implementations, each one a working definition you can pull into Quant.
bull/bear power
Top Elder Ray indicators
1 total
What is Elder Ray?
Elder Ray is Alexander Elder's pair of gauges for separating buying and selling pressure around consensus value, introduced in Trading for a Living (1993). With a 13-period EMA standing in for the market's average value, Bull Power is the bar's high minus the EMA and Bear Power is the bar's low minus the EMA. Bull Power measures how far buyers could push price above value during the bar; Bear Power, normally negative, measures how far sellers could drag it below.
The tool is designed to be asymmetric and trend-gated: the EMA's slope defines the trend, and the two histograms time entries within it. In uptrends the focus is Bear Power, watching for pullbacks that lose their downward force; in downtrends it is Bull Power, watching for rallies that fail at value.
How traders use it
- Buying pullbacks in uptrends: with the EMA rising, a negative Bear Power that stops deepening and ticks up flags sellers weakening; a bullish divergence in Bear Power against a lower price low is the stronger version of the signal.
- Shorting rallies in downtrends: with the EMA falling, a positive Bull Power that rolls over marks buyers failing to sustain price above value, with bearish divergence again the higher-conviction variant.
- Strength checks at new extremes: fresh price highs on weaker Bull Power peaks, or fresh lows on shallower Bear Power troughs, warn the move is being made with less force than the prior push.
Related concepts · Classic single-name oscillators
Concept family
Momentum & Oscillators
91 concepts mapped · 72 in the Library
Elder Ray FAQ
Why does Elder Ray use a 13-period EMA?
Elder's default is 13 periods, treated as a reasonable proxy for the market's consensus of value rather than a magic number. The construction works with other lengths: the EMA stands in for average value and the two power series measure how far each bar's extremes stretch beyond it. Longer EMAs track slower trends and produce smoother, less frequent power signals.
Can Bull Power and Bear Power be traded without the trend filter?
They can be plotted alone, but Elder's method depends on the gate: long entries only while the EMA rises, shorts only while it falls. Without it, fading every Bear Power upturn or Bull Power rollover generates constant counter-trend entries in strong markets. The histograms describe pressure at the margins; the EMA slope decides which side of that pressure to trade.
Build Elder Ray your way.
Quant writes, tests, and refines it with you — then it runs on LuxAlgo charting or ports to TradingView.