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Directional Trend Index Trading Strategy

Author: ChaoZhang, Date: 2023-09-18 17:07:55
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Overview

This strategy uses the Directional Trend Index (DTI) to determine price trend direction for trend following trades. DTI compares the change in highest and lowest prices over a period to judge the trend, with upper and lower thresholds generating signals. Go long when DTI crosses above upper band, and short when crossing below lower band.

Strategy Logic

Calculate price change value from highest and lowest price changes over a period. Apply multiple exponential moving averages to this to derive the DTI curve. Set upper and lower thresholds for DTI. When the indicator crosses above the upper threshold, a long signal is generated. Crossing below the lower threshold gives a short signal. Hold position until next signal occurs.

Advantages

  • DTI accurately determines trend direction with fewer signals
  • Thresholds filter insignificant breakouts avoiding noise trades
  • Continuously following trends, unaffected by short-term fluctuations
  • Large parameter tuning space to balance responsiveness

Risks

  • Trend reversal points cannot be accurately determined, risks losses
  • Poor DTI parameter tuning risks missing opportunities
  • Prolonged holding may result in larger drawdowns
  • Low trade frequency unsuitable for high frequency trading

Risks can be mitigated by shortening calculation period, adjusting thresholds, or adding reversal indicators.

Enhancements

  • Test different parameter combinations for calculating DTI
  • Optimize long/short threshold levels
  • Consider adding stop loss strategies to control risk
  • Test robustness across different products

Conclusion

DTI strategy accurately determines trend direction from clear signals, enabling steady long-term profits. Further refinements like parameter optimization can make it a high-quality trend following system.


/*backtest
start: 2023-08-18 00:00:00
end: 2023-09-17 00:00:00
period: 4h
basePeriod: 15m
exchanges: [{"eid":"Futures_Binance","currency":"BTC_USDT"}]
*/

//@version=2
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//  Copyright by HPotter v1.0 29/03/2017
// This technique was described by William Blau in his book "Momentum,
// Direction and Divergence" (1995). His book focuses on three key aspects 
// of trading: momentum, direction and divergence. Blau, who was an electrical 
// engineer before becoming a trader, thoroughly examines the relationship between 
// price and momentum in step-by-step examples. From this grounding, he then looks 
// at the deficiencies in other oscillators and introduces some innovative techniques, 
// including a fresh twist on Stochastics. On directional issues, he analyzes the 
// intricacies of ADX and offers a unique approach to help define trending and 
// non-trending periods.
// Directional Trend Index is an indicator similar to DM+ developed by Welles Wilder. 
// The DM+ (a part of Directional Movement System which includes both DM+ and 
// DM- indicators) indicator helps determine if a security is "trending." William 
// Blau added to it a zeroline, relative to which the indicator is deemed positive or 
// negative. A stable uptrend is a period when the DTI value is positive and rising, a 
// downtrend when it is negative and falling. 
//
// You can change long to short in the Input Settings
// Please, use it only for learning or paper trading. Do not for real trading.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
strategy(title="Directional Trend Index (DTI)", shorttitle="DTI")
r = input(14, minval=1)
s = input(10, minval=1)
u = input(5, minval=1)
OS = input(45, minval=1)
OB = input(-45, maxval=-1)
reverse = input(false, title="Trade reverse")
hline(0, color=green, linestyle=line)
xHMU = iff(high - high[1] > 0, high - high[1], 0)
xLMD = iff(low - low[1] < 0, -(low - low[1]), 0)
xPrice = xHMU - xLMD
xPriceAbs = abs(xPrice)
xuXA = ema(ema(ema(xPrice, r),s),u)
xuXAAbs = ema(ema(ema(xPriceAbs, r),s),u)
Val1 = 100 * xuXA
Val2 = xuXAAbs
DTI = iff(Val2 != 0, Val1 / Val2, 0)
pos = iff(DTI > OS, -1,
	     iff(DTI < OB, 1, nz(pos[1], 0))) 
possig = iff(reverse and pos == 1, -1,
          iff(reverse and pos == -1, 1, pos))	   
if (possig == 1) 
    strategy.entry("Long", strategy.long)
if (possig == -1)
    strategy.entry("Short", strategy.short)	   	    
barcolor(possig == -1 ? red: possig == 1 ? green : blue )
plot(DTI, color=maroon, title="DTI")
plot(OB, color=blue, title="OB")
plot(OS, color=red, title="OS")

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