Random Walk Index

Random Walk Index tests every move against the displacement pure noise would have produced. Each bar, the build scans lookbacks between the configured bounds, computes the Random Walk Index of highs and of lows at every horizon — ground covered divided by ATR × √n — and keeps each line's maximum, so RWI High and RWI Low each speak from whichever horizon is hardest to dismiss as noise. A dashed benchmark line, a dominance gradient and a dashboard pairing each reading with its lookback (n) and regime call complete the pane.

How to Trade the Random Walk Index?

• RWI High above the threshold: upward travel larger than a random walk explains — the regime reads Trending Up while it leads, alerted as Uptrend Confirmed; RWI Low mirrors the logic.
• Both lines below the threshold: displacement consistent with noise — the Random Walk Regime alert marks the shift, a cue to trade the range or step back.
• Filtered crossovers: one line overtaking the other above the threshold prints optional circles, alerted both ways; sub-threshold crossings are ignored.
• Exhaustion checks: a declining RWI peak at a new price extreme draws a dashed line and label when enabled — alerted even with drawings hidden.

Random Walk Index Settings

• Minimum Lookback (default 8) and Maximum Lookback (default 64): bounds of the scan; equal values fix one horizon.
• Random Walk Threshold (default 1.0): the benchmark anchoring regime events and filtering crossovers.
• Show Exhaustion Checks (default off) with Peak Pivot Length (default 5) and Max Peak Distance (default 80): drawings, peak confirmation, and max spacing between paired peaks.
• Show Dashboard (on) with Location (Top Right) and Size (Small); Crossover Markers (off), Gradient Fill (on).

Frequently Asked Questions

How does this differ from the Vertical Horizontal Filter?

The Vertical Horizontal Filter scores path efficiency with no volatility scaling and no direction. This build instead scales every move by an ATR-based random-walk yardstick and holds the up and down lines apart, reporting both that a trend exists and which side owns it.

Why do the dashboard readings show different n values?

Each line's scan peaks independently at whatever horizon flatters its own displacement most — an aging decline and a young advance can register on very different lookbacks at once.

Do the exhaustion checks repaint?

A peak confirms Peak Pivot Length bars after printing, so events arrive with that delay; drawings never move afterward. A pair only counts when the earlier peak cleared the threshold and both sit within Max Peak Distance bars.