DeMark Pivots

Tom DeMark's conditional pivot formulation. The pivot is derived from a sum X that depends on whether the bar closed up, down, or flat — making the open carry information that other pivot variants discard. Only one resistance and one support are produced; DeMark's intent is a tighter, condition-sensitive set rather than a multi-tier fan.

Quick reference

Item	Value
Family	Pivots & S/R
Input type	Candle (uses open, high, low, close)
Output type	DemarkPivotsOutput { pp, r1, s1 }
Output range	unbounded (price-units)
Default parameters	none — DemarkPivots::new()
Warmup period	1
Interpretation	Single resistance / support level pair; bar-direction-aware

Formula

X = 2·H + L + C       if C  < O   (down bar)
    H + 2·L + C       if C  > O   (up bar)
    H + L + 2·C       if C == O   (doji)

PP = X / 4
R1 = X / 2 − L
S1 = X / 2 − H

The branching on bar direction (C vs O) makes DeMark Pivots unique — every other pivot variant ignores the open. See crates/wickra-core/src/indicators/demark_pivots.rs.

Parameters

None — DemarkPivots::new() takes no arguments.

Inputs / Outputs

Indicator<Input = Candle, Output = DemarkPivotsOutput> with three fields (pp, r1, s1).

• Python. DemarkPivots().batch(open, high, low, close) returns an (n, 3) float64 array.
• Node. Flat number[] of length n * 3.

Warmup

warmup_period() == 1. First candle emits the first set.

Edge cases

• Doji (C == O). Takes the H + L + 2C branch. Equivalent to the Woodie-style weighting on a single bar.
• Up bar (C > O). Doubled low — the formula assumes buyers were defending the low; PP shifts down relative to the typical- price midpoint.
• Down bar (C < O). Doubled high — assumes sellers were defending the high; PP shifts up.
• Floating-point equality. C == O uses strict equality; near-doji bars (|C - O| < ε) take the up or down branch depending on the rounding.
• Reset. Stateless.

Examples

Rust

use wickra::{Candle, DemarkPivots, Indicator};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    // Up bar: O=100, H=120, L=80, C=110 → X = H + 2L + C = 120 + 160 + 110 = 390
    let prev = Candle::new(100.0, 120.0, 80.0, 110.0, 1.0, 0)?;
    let mut d = DemarkPivots::new();
    let l = d.update(prev).unwrap();
    // PP = 97.5, R1 = 195/2 − 80 = 17.5, S1 = 195/2 − 120 = −22.5  (raw)
    println!("PP={}  R1={}  S1={}", l.pp, l.r1, l.s1);
    Ok(())
}

Python

import numpy as np
import wickra as ta

# Up bar
o = np.array([100.0])
h = np.array([120.0])
l = np.array([ 80.0])
c = np.array([110.0])

d = ta.DemarkPivots()
print(d.batch(o, h, l, c))  # [pp, r1, s1]

Node

const wickra = require('wickra');
const d = new wickra.DemarkPivots();
console.log(d.batch([100], [120], [80], [110]));

Streaming on session bars

use wickra::{Candle, DemarkPivots, Indicator};

let mut d = DemarkPivots::new();
let session_aggregator: Vec<wickra::Candle> = Vec::new(); // your stream of completed session bars
for bar in session_aggregator {
    let levels = d.update(bar).unwrap();
    // Use levels.r1 / levels.s1 as the only S/R for the next session
}

Interpretation

• Sentiment-aware pivot. The branching on bar direction encodes the previous session's "tape sentiment". Up bars suggest buyers were active near the low; the next-session pivot tilts down toward where buyers will defend. Down bars do the opposite.
• Tighter R1/S1. Compared to Classic Pivots, DeMark's R1/S1 are typically tighter (closer to PP) because the formula uses X / 2 rather than the full-range 2·PP − L.
• One-tier only. DeMark deliberately stops at R1/S1. Multi-tier variants (Classic R2/R3) are not part of DeMark's methodology.

Common pitfalls

• Forgetting the open. All other pivot variants ignore the open. If you copy DeMark levels into Classic Pivots logic, you get different (and incorrect-for-DeMark) numbers.
• Floating-point doji. Strict C == O rarely holds in real data. If you want to treat near-doji as doji, pre-process the candle by snapping close to open within a tolerance.
• Comparing to Classic / Fibonacci R3. DeMark Pivots have no R2/R3. Don't try to extrapolate beyond R1/S1 with the same formula.

References

• Tom DeMark, The New Science of Technical Analysis (1994) — original DeMark Pivot formulation and the broader DeMark methodology this fits into.

See also

• ClassicPivots — non-conditional variant.
• FibonacciPivots — Fib-ratio variant.
• Camarilla — close-anchored four-tier variant.
• WoodiePivots — close-weighted variant.
• TdSetup / TdSequential — DeMark's main oscillator system.
• Indicators-Overview — full taxonomy.