Pivot point calculator

How do you calculate pivot points?

Take the high (H), low (L) and close (C) of the last completed period. The classic pivot is their average, P = (H + L + C) / 3. The first resistance and support reflect the pivot off the low and the high: R1 = 2P - L and S1 = 2P - H. The second pair sits one full range away, R2 = P + (H - L) and S2 = P - (H - L). The third pair is R3 = H + 2(P - L) and S3 = L - 2(H - P).

The default inputs use a high of 152.40, a low of 147.60 and a close of 150.90, a range of 4.80:

These levels apply to the period that follows. Daily pivots come from yesterday's prices and are fixed for today; weekly pivots come from last week's prices and stay fixed all week.

Classic, Woodie, Camarilla and Fibonacci pivots compared

The four methods start from the same three prices and differ in where they center the levels and how far apart they space them.

• Classic, also called floor trader pivots, uses the plain average of high, low and close.
• Woodie counts the close twice, P = (H + L + 2C) / 4, so the pivot leans toward where the period ended. R1, S1, R2 and S2 then follow the classic rules. A second version uses twice the open of the new period instead of the old close; choose it under Woodie version and the open. The close-based version is known as soon as the old period ends, while the open-based one can only be worked out once the new period has opened.
• Camarilla builds its levels around the close itself, not around a pivot: each level is the close plus or minus the range times 1.1 / 12, 1.1 / 6, 1.1 / 4 or 1.1 / 2. The levels are tighter, so R1 to R4 can all fall inside the previous range.
• Fibonacci keeps the classic pivot and places R1, R2 and R3 at 0.382, 0.618 and 1.000 of the range above it, with S1 to S3 the same distances below.

On the default prices the four methods give these levels:

The Camarilla R1 to S1 band is 0.88 wide on these prices, against 4.80 for classic R1 to S1. None of the methods is more correct than another; they are different conventions, and the right comparison is always like with like.

Camarilla pivot formula, level by level

With a range of 4.80 and a close of 150.90, the Camarilla steps are 4.80 x 1.1 / 12 = 0.44, 4.80 x 1.1 / 6 = 0.88, 4.80 x 1.1 / 4 = 1.32 and 4.80 x 1.1 / 2 = 2.64. Added to the close they give R1 151.34, R2 151.78, R3 152.22 and R4 153.54; subtracted, S1 150.46, S2 150.02, S3 149.58 and S4 148.26.

Because the levels hang off the close, a period that ends near its high puts the whole Camarilla set near the top of the range. Camarilla has no pivot of its own, so when you choose it in the method selector the headline shows the band from S3 to R3 instead, with R4 and S4 among the tiles. Levels beyond the fourth exist under other formulas; this calculator stops at the fourth.

Daily, weekly and monthly pivot points: which prices to use

The period you take the prices from sets the period the levels are for. For daily pivots enter the previous day's high, low and close; for weekly pivots, last week's; for monthly pivots, last month's. A week's range is at least as wide as the range of any day inside it, so weekly and monthly levels tend to sit further apart.

Markets that trade around the clock have no single official close. A forex day can be cut at different hours, and the close your platform shows depends on when its daily candle ends, so two charts of the same pair can give different pivots. Take all three prices from the same candle on the chart you trade from. For shares, a regular-session close and a close that includes extended hours are different numbers; use one rule every time.

Pivot points for forex: decimals and an EUR/USD example

Set Decimal places to five for most currency pairs and three for yen pairs, so the levels keep the precision of the quote. Rounding EUR/USD to two decimals would merge levels that sit only a few pips apart.

Example. EUR/USD had a high of 1.08940, a low of 1.08140 and a close of 1.08650, a range of 80 pips. The classic pivot is 1.08577, R1 1.09013 and S1 1.08213. Under Camarilla the levels sit much closer to the close: R3 is 1.08870 and S3 1.08430, 22 pips either side of it, with R4 at 1.09090 and S4 at 1.08210.

Prices are typed as the chart quotes them and are never converted, so the page has no currency selector. To put a money value on the distance between two levels, use the pip value calculator.

Worked examples on shares in pounds and euros

• A UK share in pounds, classic method. Yesterday's high was £5.12, the low £4.96 and the close £5.08, a range of £0.16. The pivot is (5.12 + 4.96 + 5.08) / 3 = £5.0533. R1 is £5.1467 and S1 £4.9867; R2 is £5.2133 and S2 £4.8933. A share quoted in pence works the same way: enter 512, 496 and 508 and the levels come out in pence.
• A share in euros, Fibonacci method. Last week's high was €92.40, the low €88.10 and the close €89.00, a range of €4.30. The pivot is €89.83. R1 is 89.833 + 4.30 x 0.382 = 91.476, or €91.48, R2 €92.49 and R3 €94.13; S1 is €88.19, S2 €87.18 and S3 €85.53.

In the euro example the close sits below the pivot, near the bottom of the week's range. Under the Fibonacci method the levels sit symmetrically around that pivot. Camarilla levels sit symmetrically around the close instead, so on these prices they would cluster lower.

How each input moves the levels

• The close. Raise the default close by 1.00, to 151.90, and the classic pivot rises by a third of that, to 150.63, while R1 rises by two thirds, to 153.67. The Woodie pivot rises by half, to 150.95, and its R1 by the full 1.00, to 154.30. Every Camarilla level moves the full 1.00: R3 becomes 153.22.
• The range. Move the high up 1.00 and the low down 1.00 with the close unchanged, so the range grows from 4.80 to 6.80. The classic pivot stays at 150.30, R1 moves out to 154.00 and S1 to 147.20, and R2 moves out by the full 2.00, to 157.10. Camarilla R3 moves out by only 0.55, to 152.77, because its multiplier is 1.1 / 4.
• The method. Changes the spacing, as the comparison chart shows.

On a very wide range the lower levels can work out below zero. With a high of 10, a low of 2 and a close of 3, classic S2 is -3 and S3 is -8, which no share price can reach, so the calculator shows them as below zero.

How to calculate pivot points in Excel or Google Sheets

Put the high in B1, the low in B2 and the close in B3. Then enter:

• Pivot in B5: =(B1+B2+B3)/3, which returns 150.3 for the default prices.
• R1: =2*B5-B2 and S1: =2*B5-B1.
• R2: =B5+(B1-B2) and S2: =B5-(B1-B2).
• R3: =B1+2*(B5-B2) and S3: =B2-2*(B1-B5).
• Woodie pivot: =(B1+B2+2*B3)/4.
• Camarilla R3: =B3+(B1-B2)*1.1/4, which returns 152.22.
• Fibonacci R1: =B5+(B1-B2)*0.382.

Fill the formulas down a column of daily prices and each row gives the next day's levels. Use ROUND(value, 5) for forex pairs when comparing with a chart.

What pivot points can and cannot tell you

Pivot levels are fixed arithmetic on three past prices. This page computes them to the decimal you pick, but no formula here can tell whether price will stall, turn back or run straight through a given level, and the page makes no such claim. A chart carrying seven to nine of these lines will often show one near any turning point you look back at, simply because there are so many of them.

• Mixing periods. Taking the high from one day and the close from another gives levels that belong to no period.
• Session times. Pivots built from one platform's daily candle will not match another platform that cuts the day at a different hour.
• Comparing across methods. A Camarilla R3 and a classic R3 are different prices with the same name.
• Ignoring gaps. A new period can open beyond R1 or S1, and the levels are unchanged by that.
• Rounding early. Keep the full decimals of the quote until the end.

Glossary

Pivot point (P): the central level, an average of the previous period's prices. Resistance (R1 to R4): the names for levels above the pivot. Support (S1 to S4): the names for levels below it. The names describe position only. Range: the previous high minus the previous low. Floor trader pivots: another name for the classic method. Gap: a new period opening away from the previous close.

Frequently asked questions

Courses behind pivot levels

Sources and review