Force index

Elder's force index multiplies a price change by volume. A short force index is used as a pullback tool inside a trend identified by a longer average. The idea is to buy a dip in an uptrend when selling force spikes and then fades, instead of buying every touch of a moving average.

Not investment advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell anything. Backtests and historical studies are not guarantees, and a rule that worked in one sample can fail in the next. Trading can lose money. Links are for education, not endorsements. Do your own research.

Rules

A 2-period EMA of force is the short version. A 13-period EMA is the longer version. In an uptrend defined by a rising 22-day EMA, a long setup is a negative 2-period force reading that turns back up, with a stop under the pullback. Exit at a multiple of risk or when the 13-period force turns down. Skip the buy if the longer EMA is falling.

Where AI fits

AI can enforce the trend gate so the short force index is never traded as a standalone oscillator. It can test the 2-period and 13-period lengths as published defaults first, before any search. Volume outliers should be winsorized or the force number will be one print.

Markets

Stocks and futures with usable volume.

Timeframes

Daily for the classic lengths. Intraday needs a new definition of the trend average.

Risks

Volume spikes make force unreadable. Without the trend gate this becomes a noisy mean-reversion oscillator. The published lengths are conventions. Price-only traders who copy the shape without volume have a different indicator.

← Back to all strategies