Qstick

Qstick distills candle color into one line: a simple moving average of close minus open over the last 8 bars, so readings above zero mean recent bodies are net bullish and readings below zero mean intrabar selling has the upper hand. This build renders Qstick with a four-state color scheme (bullish or bearish by side of zero, full-strength while the line extends away from it and faded while it rolls back) plus a 9-period EMA signal line and a gradient fill that grows more opaque the further the average body stretches from zero. Gaps between bars never enter the calculation; only what happens inside each bar counts.

How to Trade the Qstick?

• Zero cross up: average bodies flip net bullish. Buyers are winning the open-to-close battle.
• Zero cross down: the bearish mirror, intrabar selling taking over.
• Signal-line crosses: Qstick crossing its EMA gives an earlier trigger than the zero cross, echoing the signal-line convention.
• Fading segments: the muted line states flag pressure stalling before any cross prints, so acceleration and exhaustion read apart at a glance.

Four alerts cover both zero crosses and both signal-line crosses.

Qstick Settings

• Qstick Length (default 8): bars in the body average. There is no universal setting: short lookbacks time turns, longer ones smooth the line into a bias filter.
• Signal Line (default enabled) with Length (default 9): the EMA overlay, 9 mirroring the classic signal-line convention.
• Gradient Fill (default enabled): the zero-anchored fill; the remaining inputs set the growing/fading, signal-line, and zero-line colors.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Qstick differ from MACD?

Why does Qstick ignore gaps?

Is Qstick comparable across instruments?