Hull Moving Average on a Live Gold Chart

What it shows

The HMA is a single line on the candles. Its curves look sharper than other averages because the math pushes it ahead of price.

How Pravex works it out

1. Work out a weighted average over half the length (rounded down) and another over the full length. At the default length of 9 that is 4 candles and 9 candles.
2. Make a new series: 2 × the half-length average − the full-length average. Doubling the fast one and subtracting the slow one pushes the series ahead of both.
3. Smooth that series with a weighted average over the square root of the length, rounded down. At length 9 that is 3 candles.
4. The result is the HMA. It needs a few more candles than the length before its first point appears, because three averages are stacked.

Settings

Setting	Default	What changing it does
Length	9	Sets the full-length average, and through it the half length and the final smoothing. A longer length gives a calmer line that turns later.
Source	close	The price fed into all three weighted averages. Since the HMA already overshoots, a wick-heavy source such as hl2 can make its swings bigger on gold news candles.

How traders read it

Traders watch the HMA mostly for its slope. A line that tips from falling to rising is read as the short-term direction changing, and it often does that a candle or two before a simple average would.

It also works as a tidy trend line on a busy chart. Price holding on one side of it while the line keeps its slope says the move is intact for now.

When it misleads

The speed comes from pushing the line ahead of the data, and that can overshoot. After a sharp spike the HMA can swing past where price ends up and then curl back, which draws a false turn. In a sideways gold range it wiggles more than slower averages do. A turn in the line is also only visible once the candle has closed, so treat the forming candle with care.

Questions and answers

What is the Hull moving average formula?

It is a weighted average over the square root of the length, taken of 2 × a half-length weighted average − a full-length weighted average.

Why does the HMA react quicker than an SMA?

Doubling the fast average and subtracting the slow one pushes the series ahead of both, which cancels part of the lag. The final smoothing step keeps it from being jumpy.

Why does the HMA swing past price after a spike?

Doubling the half-length average stretches every move. When a spike reverses, the line keeps going for a candle or two before the slow part pulls it back, which can look like a turn that never came.

What length of HMA do people use?

Pravex opens it at 9. Short Hull lines are mostly read for slope changes; longer ones, such as 55 on 4-hour candles, act more like a trend line. The square-root step keeps even long ones fairly quick.

Related: Moving Average Weighted, Moving Average Exponential, Double EMA, Triple EMA, every indicator.