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Pivot Points

From yesterday's high, low and close alone comes the day's mechanical grid: P the balance point, R1/R2 the resistances, S1/S2 the supports. Identical levels for anyone who computes them — useful precisely for that.

On this page

Pivot Points come from the futures pits, before screens: floor traders needed reference levels they could compute in their heads before the bell. The solution, handed down ever since: take yesterday's high, low and close and derive a grid of levels for today. No interpretation, no subjective lines: three numbers in, an identical grid on every screen in the world.

In plain terms — The central pivot is yesterday's "equilibrium price" projected onto today. Buyers operate above it, sellers below, and the grid's steps (R1, R2, S1, S2) are the natural stages of the journey in either direction.

The formulas (classic version)

Level Formula Role
P (H + L + C) / 3 Balance point: above it a buyer bias, below a seller bias
R1 2P − L First resistance: target of the first push up
S1 2P − H First support
R2 P + (H − L) Extension: a trending-up day
S2 P − (H − L) Downside extension

H, L, C are the previous period's high, low and close: the day for intraday use, the week or month for wider horizons. Variants exist (Woodie, Camarilla, Fibonacci pivots) that change the coefficients, not the logic.

How to read the chart — On the left, the "yesterday" box with H, L and C: the only three numbers everything comes from. On the right, today's session against the P/R1/R2/S1/S2 grid, computed with the real formulas. Interactive — the points show the reaction at the central pivot, the test of R1 and the mechanical origin of the levels.

INDICATOR · LEVELS Pivot Points — the day’s grid P = (H+L+C)/3 · R1 = 2P−L · S1 = 2P−H · R2/S2 = P ± (H−L) CYCLEPEDIA DIAGRAM — EMICICLO TODAY: LEVELS COMPUTED FROM YESTERDAY’S H, L, C H L C yesterday R2 R1 P S1 S2 P R1 GRID SPAN R2 → S2 20.0 points CROSSINGS OF PIVOT P 1 Mechanical levels, the same for everyone: useful precisely because many watch them
The whole grid comes from three of yesterday's numbers. The first test of the central pivot is the most watched moment of the morning.
Hover or tap the highlighted points

Reading it in practice

  1. P as the day's watershed — open above P and a first test that holds: buyer bias, natural target R1. Open below and rejection: the mirror image toward S1. The first contact with P is the most informative, while the day is still contestable.
  2. R1/S1 as stages — many intraday traders lighten up at the first level: the reaction there separates a range day (bounce) from a trend day (accepted break, travelling on toward R2/S2).
  3. Confluence — a pivot coinciding with the VWAP, a POC or a structural level is worth more than the sum of its parts: more eyes and more orders on the same price.
  4. Why they "work" — nothing hidden in the coefficients: they are shared levels. With tens of thousands of traders watching the same number, the collective reaction becomes partly self-fulfilling — until the flow decides otherwise.

Limits and traps

Warning — Pivots assume a session with real opens and closes. On continuous markets (crypto) H, L and C depend on the chosen convention (midnight UTC, the reference future's close): two platforms can show different grids — knowing which convention yours uses is not a detail. See market hours and sessions.

  • On very low-volatility days the grid is tight and noise walks through it without meaning.
  • Pivots are attention levels, not a system: the decision belongs to the price reaction (bars, volume) at the level.
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