Concept
TD Auxiliary Studies
TD Auxiliary Studies, also known as TD Lines, TD Trend Factor, TD Range Projection, are Momentum & Oscillators concepts. A reference entry: the Library explains it rather than implements it.
What are the TD Auxiliary Studies?
TD Auxiliary Studies is an umbrella label for the supporting tools in Tom DeMark's TD suite, the studies that surround the well-known exhaustion counts. The best-known members are TD Lines, mechanically constructed supply and demand trendlines with objective breakout qualifiers; TD Trend Factor, which projects proportional price targets after a qualifying reversal; and TD Range Projection, which estimates the likely trading range of the next bar.
They answer questions momentum oscillators do not. Bounded gauges such as RSI or the Stochastic Oscillator describe the speed and stretch of a move; the auxiliary studies instead put levels on the chart: where an objectively drawn trendline sits, how far a move might carry, what range the next session might occupy.
The unifying idea is the removal of discretion. Two traders draw the same trendline differently and pick targets by feel; DeMark's aim across these studies was to make anchor selection, qualification, and projection fully mechanical, so a signal is either present by rule or it is not.
Why there's no indicator for this
The specifications are proprietary to DeMark Analytics: which points qualify as anchors for a TD Line, the conditions that validate or disqualify a breakout, and the projection arithmetic behind Trend Factor and Range Projection are maintained as licensed methodology. DeMark's books sketch earlier versions of some of these tools, but the studies as maintained today require authorization, which is why the genuine articles appear on licensee platforms such as Bloomberg and on Symbolik by DeMark rather than as freely redistributable scripts.
Generic auto-trendline and price-projection tools capture the spirit, objectivity instead of hand-drawing, but each implements its author's own rules. They can be useful on their own terms; they cannot honestly be labeled TD studies, and the Library will not present an approximation as the real thing.
How traders use it
- Qualified breakouts: desks using TD Lines care less about the line break itself than whether it met the study's qualifying conditions; unqualified breaks are treated as suspect until proven otherwise.
- Target setting: TD Trend Factor levels give a mechanical answer to how far a move might run, which traders weigh against measured moves and prior structure.
- Session preparation: day traders use TD Range Projection as a pre-open map; an open outside the projected range reads as an imbalance worth respecting rather than fading immediately.
- Context for counts: auxiliary levels tell practitioners where an exhaustion signal would matter most, for example a completed count arriving right at a projected target.
Related concepts · Exhaustion-count cluster (DeMark)
Concept family
Momentum & Oscillators
91 concepts mapped · 72 in the Library
TD Auxiliary Studies FAQ
Are TD Lines just trendlines?
They are trendlines with two differences: the anchor points are chosen mechanically rather than by eye, and breakouts must satisfy qualifying conditions before they count. The qualifiers are the substance of the study.
Do I need TD Sequential to use the auxiliary studies?
No. They were designed to complement the counts but stand on their own; licensed users often run TD Lines or Range Projection alongside conventional tools such as MACD or an overbought/oversold gauge.
Where can I access the real studies?
Through platforms that license them from DeMark Analytics, such as Bloomberg, and through Symbolik by DeMark. Scripts circulating in chart communities are reconstructions of varying and unverifiable accuracy.
Why are they called auxiliary?
Because they play a supporting role around the flagship exhaustion studies, supplying the lines, targets, and projected ranges that give the counts a location on the chart.
Build TD Auxiliary Studies your way.
Quant writes, tests, and refines it with you — then it runs on LuxAlgo charting or ports to TradingView.