Multi-Timeframe Moving Averages for ThinkOrSwim (Free Download)

Overview

In this tutorial I build a moving average indicator for ThinkOrSwim that plots averages from four different time frames on one chart: a 10-period simple moving average from the daily chart, and exponential moving averages from the 1-hour, 30-minute and 15-minute charts. On a 5-minute chart, you see all four lines at once.

It's for traders who want more information on one screen, such as traders working from a laptop or anyone tired of keeping five chart windows open. Along the way I explain aggregation periods, the ThinkOrSwim limit on which time frames a chart can read, and the if/else blocks that stop the indicator from breaking when you change time frames.

Key Takeaways

What the Indicator Plots

The multiple time frame moving averages indicator puts four moving averages from four different time frames on the chart you're trading. My goal in the video was a 5-minute chart that shows a moving average from the 15-minute chart, one from the 30-minute chart, one from the 1-hour chart and one from the daily chart.

Each length is an input, so you can change it from the study's settings window without opening the code. The indicator is for anyone who wants to fit more information on one screen instead of keeping several chart windows open.

Aggregation Periods and the Time Frame Limit

An aggregation period is ThinkOrSwim's term for a time frame. Every line in this indicator reads its prices from an aggregation period that can differ from the chart's. Our earlier tutorial on plotting a daily indicator on an intraday chart covers the same idea with a 50-day simple moving average.

There are three things to know before writing any code, and all three come from one ThinkOrSwim limit.

1. A chart can only read time frames greater than or equal to its own. On a 5-minute chart you can't access 1-minute candles, so you can't plot a 1-minute moving average either. Nothing smaller than 5 minutes is available on a 5-minute chart.
2. The code needs if/else blocks. On a 30-minute chart, I'd want to see the daily, 1-hour and 30-minute lines. Without if/else blocks, the 15-minute line triggers an error, and ThinkOrSwim plots none of the four, even the three that are allowed.
3. Start with the largest time frame. If a chart can't access daily data, it can't access the 1-hour, 30-minute or 15-minute data either. Checking from the top down means the code doesn't test time frames it knows it can't read.

How to Build the Indicator in ThinkOrSwim

The multiple time frame moving averages indicator is a regular ThinkOrSwim study, built in the study editor.

1. Click the Studies icon on your chart, then click Create.
2. Give the study a name. I called mine TI_multiple time frame moving averages.
3. Paste in the code from the Code tab on this page, click OK, then Apply.
4. Load a 5-minute or 15-minute chart to see all four lines.

The download has the same code as a .ts file. If you'd rather import it, our guide on how to import a study into ThinkOrSwim covers the steps.

How the Code Works

The multiple time frame moving averages code has three parts: the inputs, the plot declarations, and a chain of if/else blocks that give each plot a value. I built it in the video in the order below, including the mistake that made the if/else blocks necessary.

Step 1: The Inputs

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Each length is an input variable, so it shows up in the study's settings window.

Step 2: The First Version, Without If/Else Blocks

My first version defined the four averages directly, as plots. Here it is with the names and calls the download uses. The key piece is the period parameter on close, which tells ThinkOrSwim which time frame's closing prices to use.

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The daily line is a 10-period simple moving average of daily closes. The other three use the exponential average function with the 1-hour, 30-minute and 15-minute closes.

On a 5-minute chart, all four lines plotted. On a 15-minute chart, all four still plotted, and the 15-minute line smoothed out a little because it was on its own time frame. On a 30-minute chart, every line disappeared.

The error in the top left of the chart said the secondary period cannot be less than the primary. The study was asking for 15-minute data, the secondary period, on a 30-minute chart, the primary period.

Step 3: Declare the Plots Without Values

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Each plot is declared with a semicolon and no value. Each one gets its value inside the if/else blocks, depending on the chart's time frame. ThinkOrSwim flags the four variables as already used until you delete the four lines from Step 2.

Step 4: The If/Else Blocks

getAggregationPeriod() returns the time frame of the chart the study is on. The first block covers charts above 1 hour and below 2 days, where only the daily data is accessible.

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Double.nan means "not a number", so a plot set to it draws nothing. The daily SMA gets a value, and the other three stay blank.

The next three blocks open with these checks. Each one adds one more line, and the fourth block, for 15-minute and smaller charts, is the only one that gives all four plots a value.

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The last block is the fallback. If none of the checks match, all four plots are set to Double.nan, so the study shows nothing and no error icon appears. In the download's code, only a chart between 15 and 30 minutes, such as 20 minutes, reaches this block.

Weekly, 2-day and other charts larger than a day never reach the fallback. They pass the second check, greater than or equal to 1 hour, which asks for daily and 1-hour data. That data is smaller than the chart's own time frame, so those charts hit the secondary period limit and nothing plots.

Step 5: The Bug on the 5-Minute Chart

With the if/else blocks in place, the 30-minute, 15-minute and daily charts worked, but a 5-minute chart showed zero moving averages. At that point the fourth block checked for a time frame greater than or equal to 15 minutes.

A 5-minute chart failed every check: it isn't above 1 hour, it isn't 30 minutes or more, and it isn't 15 minutes or more. Changing the last check to less than or equal to 15 minutes fixed it, because 1, 2, 3 and 5-minute charts can all read 15-minute data. The download has the fixed version.

Which Lines Plot on Each Time Frame

The multiple time frame moving averages indicator shows a different number of lines depending on the chart's time frame. This table follows the if/else blocks in the download.

A time frame between 15 and 30 minutes, such as 20 minutes, matches none of the blocks in the download, so the fallback block runs and nothing plots. On 2-day and larger charts, the 1-hour block matches and asks for data smaller than the chart's own time frame, so nothing plots there either.

Checking the Values on Johnson & Johnson

The Johnson & Johnson chart in the video is how I checked the finished code. I removed my drawings so only the moving averages showed, then stepped through the time frames.

• 30-minute chart. Three moving averages plotted: the 30-minute, the 1-hour and the daily. That's what the code should do.
• Daily value. The daily SMA read 165.23, on its line and its price bubble. In the study settings, the daily line was the cyan one.
• Daily chart. Switching to a daily chart showed the same 165.23, so the daily line on the intraday chart was reading the right data.
• 15-minute chart. All four moving averages plotted.
• 5-minute chart. Zero moving averages plotted, which led to the bug fix in Step 5.

Run the same check on your own symbol. Load a daily chart next to your intraday chart and compare the daily SMA's value on both. If they match, the study is reading the daily closes correctly.

How I Use It

The multiple time frame moving averages indicator is about fitting more information on one screen. One intraday chart shows where price sits against the daily, 1-hour, 30-minute and 15-minute averages, so you don't need a window open for each time frame.

The lines show you where those averages are. They don't tell you where to enter or exit. Before you trade off any of them, decide where your stop goes and size the position so a stop-out costs a small, fixed share of your account.

For a different view of the same idea, our stacked moving averages indicator plots the 8, 21 and 34 EMAs with the 50 and 200 SMAs on one time frame and marks when they stack in order. To test how a pair of averages has traded, our moving average crossover backtester totals the profit and loss of every crossover on a chart.

Ways to Customize It

The multiple time frame moving averages code is a template you can change in a few places.

• Colors. Change each line's color in the Plots section of the study's settings.
• Lengths. Change the 4 inputs in the settings window.
• 20-minute charts. To get the daily, 1-hour and 30-minute lines on a 20-minute chart, change the third check to getAggregationPeriod() > AggregationPeriod.Fifteen_Min. A 15-minute chart still reaches the fourth check, less than or equal to 15 minutes, and keeps all four lines.
• Types. I started with an SMA and three EMAs. You could swap in a Hull or another moving average by replacing the average function in each block.
• Other indicators. The same if/else structure works for any study you want to read from a larger time frame. Our multi-time frame Squeeze indicator is another example of a multi-time frame tool.
• A shaded version. If you want two averages on one time frame with the space between them colored, see our moving average clouds indicator.

More examples of these thinkScript concepts are on our tutorials page. Most of the tutorials there are free.

Common Problems

The multiple time frame moving averages indicator has four problems people run into. The download fixes the first three, and the fourth is how the finished code handles some time frames.

• All the lines disappear and an exclamation icon shows in the top left. The code is reading a time frame smaller than the chart's. Use the if/else version from the download.
• An error that the variables are already used. You declared the plots with a semicolon but left the original four definitions in place. Delete them.
• No lines on a 5-minute chart. The fourth block checks for greater than or equal to 15 minutes. Change it to less than or equal to.
• No lines on a 20-minute, 2-day or weekly chart. A 20-minute chart matches none of the blocks, so the fallback plots nothing. Charts of 2 days or more match the 1-hour block, which asks for daily and 1-hour data those charts can't read. Use the indicator on charts from 1 minute to daily. Our guide on how to fix bugs in thinkScript code covers tracking down issues like these.

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