Sigma Bands
This is a powerful addition to your MetaTrader 4 toolkit designed to optimize market analysis and performance. This technical indicator acts as a specialized analysis tool designed to visualize market data. It helps traders identify emerging trends, momentum shifts, and key support or resistance levels by plotting statistical calculations directly onto price charts.
How to Setup and Use Sigma Bands
1. Installation: Place your file in the MQL/Indicators folder via "Open Data Folder" and restart your terminal.
2. Loading: Find the indicator in the Navigator, drag it onto your chart, and configure the input parameters in the popup window.
3. Customization: Press Ctrl+I to open the indicator list, select your tool, and click "Properties" to change colors, levels, or visual styles.
4. Updating: Replace the old file in the Indicators folder with the new version and restart the platform to apply changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is my indicator not showing? A: Verify the file is in the MQL/Indicators folder, or try right-clicking the "Indicators" tree in the Navigator and clicking "Refresh."
Q: Do custom indicators slow down the platform? A: Too many complex indicators can impact performance; remove unused ones via the "Indicator List" (Ctrl+I).
Q: Can I use MT4 indicators on MT5? A: No, MQL4 and MQL5 are distinct languages; ensure the indicator is compiled specifically for your platform version.
Description & Settings
Specifically, in this indicator I have studied the movement of the price for a certain number of bars (
BarsCount = 200
). For this purpose, the MA with a period of 1 was used (
MAPeriod
). For that matter, any MA and any number of bars could have been used for analysis. As a result, two channels will be plotted. One displays the limits where the price ranges 68% of the time for the specified number of bars. The other shows the limits where the price ranges 95% of the time for the specified number of bars.
Supported MA types:
Simple MA
Exponential MA
Smoothed MA
Linear-weighted MA
Prices that can be used for plotting the channel:
Close price
Open price
The maximum price for the period (High)
The minimum price for the period (Low)
Median price (high + low)/2,
Typical price (high + low + close)/3
Weighted close price (high + low + close + close)/4
All these settings are not available for the standard Bollinger Bands.
By learning how to determine the limits where any indicator or price ranges most of the time, I eneded up with making an example of calculating the standard deviation and Sigma implemented as this indicator. Its formulas can now be adapted for any indicator you like. Sometimes, interesting results can be obtained for indicators that are plotted in separate windows, for example, the RSI, or others.
Recommendations:
The difference between conventional Bollinger Bands and Sigma Bands can be seen only when using non-default settings and
MAPeriod > 1
.
Settings: The analyzed MA is colorless by default. If you want to see it, set a color in the
MAColor
parameter.
