What is Multiple Moving Average?
Moving Average Multiple draws six moving averages of the same price at 14, 21, 35, 50, 100 and 200 bars by default. All six share one averaging method, chosen with a single setting, so changing it moves every line together. The value is in the spacing: lines fanned out evenly suggest a steady trend, lines bunched together suggest indecision, and in a turn the crossings run from the shortest line through to the longest.
It shows how several time horizons line up at once. It does not mark crossings, confirm trend strength or predict future prices, and the six lines can make a busy chart harder to read.
How to use Multiple Moving Average
- Even fan. All six lines in order, shortest nearest price, with steady gaps between them, is the picture of an established trend.
- Bunched lines. When the averages crowd together, the different horizons agree on one level, which usually means a range or a pause.
- Crossings cascading. As a move matures, the short lines cross the middle ones and later the 100 and 200. How far that cascade has got shows how long the move has been running.
- The longest lines. The 100 and 200 change slowly and are often watched as a backdrop. Price above or below them is the long-horizon context.
These are ways to read the lines, not entry signals on their own.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Method | SMA | The averaging method for all six lines. Options are SMA, EMA, SMMA (RMA), WMA and VWMA. |
| Source | Close | Which price all six averages use. Open, high, low and the averaged sources such as hl2 and hlc3 are also available. |
| Length 1 | 14 | Bars in the first average. Minimum 1. |
| Length 2 | 21 | Bars in the second average. Minimum 1. |
| Length 3 | 35 | Bars in the third average. Minimum 1. |
| Length 4 | 50 | Bars in the fourth average. Minimum 1. |
| Length 5 | 100 | Bars in the fifth average. Minimum 1. |
| Length 6 | 200 | Bars in the sixth average. Minimum 1. |
Each line keeps its own colour whatever length you give it.
Calculation
All six lines are the same kind of average of the same source, at six lengths:
MA 1 to MA 6 = average(price, n) for n = 14, 21, 35, 50, 100, 200
SMA: plain average of the last n bars
EMA: alpha = 2 / (n + 1)
SMMA: alpha = 1 / n (Wilder's smoothing)
WMA: weights n, n - 1, ... 1, newest heaviest
VWMA: average of price weighted by each bar's volumeEach line is drawn once it has enough bars for its length. The 14-bar line starts on the 14th bar and the 200-bar line on the 200th, so on a 500-bar history the longest line is missing for the first two-fifths of the chart. Lines starting at visibly different points are expected. The EMA and SMMA methods start from a simple average of the first bars and settle from there.
Limitations
- It lags. All six lines are built from past prices, and the 200-bar line lags by a long way.
- It needs history. The longest line is absent until 200 bars have loaded, which on higher timeframes can be a large part of the chart.
- Sideways markets tangle the lines. With no trend, the averages crowd together and cross often.
- It is busy. Six lines over the candles can hide price on a small screen.
- It is not a strategy. On its own it carries no risk management, sizing or exit.
Frequently asked questions
It is six moving averages of the same price, 14, 21, 35, 50, 100 and 200 bars by default, sharing one averaging method so their spacing and order can be read as a group.
Look at the group rather than single lines. An even fan in order suggests a steady trend, a bunch suggests indecision, and crossings working through from the short lines to the long ones show a move maturing.
Yes. The indicator declares eight inputs: Method, default SMA, with EMA, SMMA (RMA), WMA and VWMA also available; Source, default close; and Length 1 to Length 6, defaults 14, 21, 35, 50, 100 and 200, each with a minimum of 1.
No. Values on closed bars are not revised. The current candle's values move while that candle is live and settle when it closes. With the EMA or SMMA method, loading older history recalculates the averages and values near the start of the loaded range can shift.
Each average needs as many bars as its length before it is drawn. The 200-bar line needs 200 bars of history, so it starts well after the 14-bar line.
Use the Add to chart button at the top of this page. It opens BTC/USDT on Binance in the Altrady Charts terminal with the built-in Moving Average Multiple already applied. On any other market, open the indicator picker on the chart and choose Moving Average Multiple from the Moving Average group.