As its name suggests, the ATR Trailing Stop is normally used to trail a stop-loss for a long position. It can also be used to identify an outsized decline that could reverse an uptrend. Today’s example will show how to apply the ATR Trailing Stop on a breakout and use it to define the current uptrend in the Technology SPDR (XLK). ATR is the Average True Range, which is a volatility indicator developed by J Wells Wilder. The bottom indicator window shows ATR (22) at 3.091 for the Technology SPDR (XLK). The green line on the chart is the ATR Trailing Stop (5 x ATR(22)). 5 is the multiplier. This means it is 5 ATR(22) values below the highest close since November 6th, which is when XLK broke out. When prices rise, this stop will trail prices higher and always remain 5 ATR(22) values below the highest close of the…
