STARC Bands

What are STARC Bands?

STARC bands (Stoller Average Range Channels, developed by Manning Stoller) are a volatility channel: a simple moving average with upper and lower bands offset by a multiple of the average true range. Published parameters vary by source; a short centerline of five or six bars with bands about two ATRs away is a common form. Because the offset comes from true range rather than the standard deviation behind Bollinger Bands, the channel tracks realized range directly, widening in fast markets and tightening in quiet ones.

Stoller's framing was about risk rather than signals: with price pressed against the upper band, a new long is entered at a level already stretched relative to recent average range, so the band argues for taking profits or hunting countertrend setups, with mirror-image logic at the lower band. In construction the bands sit closest to Keltner channels; the practical differences are the shorter centerline and the explicitly contrarian reading.

How traders use it

• As entry-risk zones: near the upper band, fresh longs are stretched by construction, so trend traders wait for a rotation back toward the centerline instead of chasing.
• As mean-reversion fades in ranging conditions: a band touch paired with a reversal trigger, accepting that strong trends can ride a band for many bars.
• As volatility-aware exits: the centerline or opposite band as a trailing reference that adapts to current range instead of a fixed distance.