Whipsaw
Technical analysisA signal that triggers and immediately reverses, producing a loss with no real move.
In plain terms
Usually a symptom of the wrong regime rather than a missing filter.
1678 terms
Glossary
Every term is defined twice: once the way a filing would put it, and once the way somebody would explain it to you across a table. The second one is usually the one that sticks.
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Range-bound
Technical analysisAlso called: Sideways market, Rangebound
A market condition in which price oscillates between a roughly horizontal support and resistance rather than trending — the regime where mean-reversion works and trend-following tools whipsaw.
In plain terms
Price stuck going sideways between a floor and a ceiling. The regime where trend indicators fail.
Parabolic SAR
Technical analysisAlso called: SAR, Stop and reverse
A trend-following indicator plotting dots that trail price and accelerate towards it over time, used as a trailing stop; SAR stands for “stop and reverse”.
In plain terms
Dots that chase price and flip to the other side when hit. Like Supertrend, it whipsaws in ranges.
Signal line
Technical analysisA nine-period EMA of the MACD line, used as the trigger for MACD crossovers.
In plain terms
The classic MACD signal, and a late one. It whipsaws badly in ranging markets, which is precisely why the zero-line filter exists.
Smoothing
Technical analysisAveraging price data to suppress short-term noise, as Heikin-Ashi does by blending each bar with the one before it.
In plain terms
It buys clarity by discarding information, and it flatters backtests badly — because the whipsaws it removed are exactly the ones that would have stopped you out live.