Developed by J. Welles Wilder, the Average True Range (ATR) is an indicator that measures volatility. As with most of his indicators, Wilder designed ATR with commodities and daily prices in mind. Commodities are frequently more volatile than stocks. They were are often subject to gaps and limit moves, which occur when a commodity opens up or down its maximum allowed move for the session. A volatility formula based only on the high-low range would fail to capture volatility from gap or limit moves. Wilder created Average True Range to capture this "missing" volatility. It is important to remember that ATR does not provide an indication of price direction, just volatility.
Wilder features ATR in his 1978 book, . This book also includes the Parabolic SAR, RSI and the Directional Movement Concept (ADX). Despite being developed before the computer age, Wilder's indicators have stood the test of time and remain extremely popular.
Wilder started with a concept called True Range (TR), which is defined as the greatest of the following:
Typically, the Average True Range (ATR) is based on 14 periods and can be calculated on an intraday, daily, weekly or monthly basis. For this example, the ATR will be based on daily data. Because there must be a beginning, the first TR value is simply the High minus the Low, and the first 14-day ATR is the average of the daily TR values for the last 14 days. After that, Wilder sought to smooth the data by incorporating the previous period's ATR value.
Current ATR = [(Prior ATR x 13) + Current TR] / 14
- Multiply the previous 14-day ATR by 13.
- Add the most recent day's TR value.
- Divide the total by 14
ATR is based on the True Range, which uses absolute price changes. As such, ATR reflects volatility as absolute level. In other words, ATR is not shown as a percentage of the current close. This means low priced stocks will have lower ATR values than high price stocks. For example, a $20-30 security will have much lower ATR values than a $200-300 security. Because of this, ATR values are not comparable. Even large price movements for a single security, such as a decline from 70 to 20, can make long-term ATR comparisons impractical. Chart 4 shows Google with double digit ATR values and chart 5 shows Microsoft with ATR values below 1. Despite different values, their ATR lines have similar shapes.
ATR is not a directional indicator, such as MACD or RSI. Instead, ATR is a unique volatility indicator that reflects the degree of interest or disinterest in a move. Strong moves, in either direction, are often accompanied by large ranges, or large True Ranges. This is especially true at the beginning of a move. Uninspiring moves can be accompanied by relatively narrow ranges. As such, ATR can be used to validate the enthusiasm behind a move or breakout. A bullish reversal with an increase in ATR would show strong buying pressure and reinforce the reversal. A bearish support break with an increase in ATR would show strong selling pressure and reinforce the support break.
Listed as "Average True Range", ATR is on the Indicators drop-down menu. The "parameters" box to the right of the indicator contains the default value, 14, for the number of periods used to smooth the data. To adjust the period setting, highlight the default value and enter a new setting. Wilder often used 8 period ATR. SharpCharts also allows users to position the indicator above, below, or behind the price plot. A moving average can be added to identify upturns or downturns in ATR. Click "advanced options" to add a moving average as an indicator overlay. for a live example of ATR.