Pivot point calculator

The five methods

Standard (Classic)

The original. P = (H + L + C) / 3, then R1 = 2P − L, S1 = 2P − H, with R2/S2 adding and subtracting the range. The most widely watched set, which is the main argument for using it.

Fibonacci

Same pivot, but the levels are placed at 38.2%, 61.8% and 100% of the previous range above and below it. Suits traders already working with Fibonacci retracements, and tends to sit better on trending instruments.

Woodie

Weights the close twice: P = (H + L + 2C) / 4. The resulting pivot sits closer to where the period actually finished, which makes it more responsive when a session closes near its extreme.

Camarilla

Derives eight levels from the close and the range using multipliers of 1.1. The inner levels are tight and are used for mean-reversion entries; a break of the outer levels is read as a genuine breakout.

DeMark

Conditional on the relationship between open and close, producing a projected high and low rather than a symmetric ladder. Fewer levels, and a different question being asked.

Using pivots without over-trusting them

Pivots are reference points, not signals. They tell you where a large number of other participants have drawn a line, which is a genuine reason for price to react there, and no reason at all for it to reverse.

Three uses that hold up:

• Bias. Price holding above the daily pivot through the session is a simple, mechanical way to define an intraday bias without an indicator.
• Targets. R1 and S1 are natural places to take partial profit, because that is where a lot of resting orders sit.
• Confluence. A pivot that coincides with a prior swing high, a round number or a moving average is worth more than one sitting alone.

What does not hold up is treating a pivot touch as an entry on its own. MarketPro's signal desk uses levels like these as one input among several, never as the trigger. The editorial policy covers how a setup gets published.