Andrews Pitchfork Indicator: Meaning, Calculation, and Examples (2025)

Andrews Pitchfork Indicator: Meaning, Calculation, and Examples (1)

Trading Education Guides Technical Analysis

  • ByBullish Bears
  • Updated April 15, 2024

5 min read

  • Reviewed by Angelica Rieder
  • Fact checked by Lucien Bechard

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Andrews’s pitchfork indicator is a handy tool to help guide traders in a choppy market. It uses three parallel trendlines to show possible levels of support and resistance. This could help to determine the breakout and breakdown levels of a stock. It’s very similar to trendlines. Alan Andrews developed this indicator.

Andrews Pitchfork Indicator: Meaning, Calculation, and Examples (3)

Table of Contents

  • Andrews Pitchfork Indicator Introduction
    • How to Draw It in an Uptrend
    • Plotting
    • Trigger Lines
    • Final Thoughts: Andrews Pitchfork Indicator

Andrews Pitchfork Indicator Introduction

Alan Andrews developed the Andrews Pitchfork Indicator. It is very similar to standard trend lines in that it helps to give the direction of probablesupport and resistance. It accomplishes this with an upper and lower line surrounding a “median” line; this configuration shows a pitchfork pattern to use as guidance. This pattern can also be configured with median lines between the main lines.

Stock market trading is a battle between buyers and sellers, one of the basics of stock trading.

As a result, the market gets choppy, forming important levels of support and resistance to which every seasoned trader pays close attention.

In some representations, these will be colored much like theIchimokucloud. The color helps to see what quadrant the currentprice actionis holding the pattern.

Planning your profit around these signals will help remove the emotion from the trade. Setting your stops at either the major support can help manage risk.

Also, waiting for the pattern to retrace to these levels can be a great time to buy to maximize your return on investment. Check out our serviceto learn more about stock trading.

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How to Draw It in an Uptrend

When plotting out the Andrews pitchfork indicator in an up-trending fashion, it is best to remember this method Low-High-Low. Begin by finding the tool in the drawing section on Thinkorswim byTD Ameritrade. Thisis in the Active Tool section.

Find a historic low; the next plot is a recent high, followed by the next highest low. Once completed, the pitchfork appears, and the bar chart moves around the median line.

You can now access the properties section to adjust the numbers to be accurate. Keep in mind that the Andrews pitchfork indicator can be subjective. You want to see what the chart says, not what you want it to say.

In the properties section, you can adjust the lines to help you make a quick trade decision. Having the indicator is insufficient if you end up with what professional traders call “analysis paralysis.”

This is just a point where you have overloaded yourself with information and missed the trade due to too much information. We discuss these in our trade rooms.

Andrews Pitchfork Indicator: Meaning, Calculation, and Examples (7)

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Plotting

Plotting the Andrews Pitchfork Indicator in a downtrend is much like doing so in an uptrend. Select the Pitchfork tool from the active tool selection list. Then, plot the first point on the most recent highest high.

Next, go to the closest high and then to the in-between low. This gives a good base—the top line acts as resistance, and the lower line as support.

These lines give you a good perspective of what you can expect from the downtrend waiting to play in the within or waiting for a tread. Down-recombining this with a Bollinger band indicator can indicate when to see a profit forming.

Trigger Lines

The trigger lines on the Andrews pitchfork indicator trading strategy are the major buy or sell signals. When plotting the chart pattern upward, the trigger line will start at plot one and continue through plot 3.

When the chart pattern is downward, it will start at plot one and continue through plot 2. Think of these as the “major” support or resistance lines.

​A break below the lower trigger line in the uptrend will be a solid sell signal. A break above the upper trigger line in a down tread configuration is a solid buy signal.

Using these as a rule of thumb will help you keep your risk management in check. But as always, these should not be your only trading parameters, as many things could affect the market.

Final Thoughts: Andrews Pitchfork Indicator

The Andrews Pitchfork Indicator can be a very useful tool. Much like MACD and other chartingpatterns, it has its place and time. I prefer to use it after the morning rush, but even more so in longer time framecharts such as the 4-hour and 1-day charts.

A solid point to remember is that practice is key when learning new patterning styles. The pitchfork is no exception to this. You may have to move the points around when drawing the chart pattern to give you the most accurate representation.

When drawing the pattern, place the points in a manner that gives you the most conformation points—reminding yourself that this gives you the overall resistance and support points. So, having the most contact points on the pattern will help you build your trades more securely.

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Andrews Pitchfork Indicator: Meaning, Calculation, and Examples (18)

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Andrews Pitchfork Indicator: Meaning, Calculation, and Examples (2025)

FAQs

How to use Andrews pitchfork correctly? ›

The Andrew's Pitchfork lines are drawn by placing three different points at a previous trend's end and then drawing a line starting from the first point, running through the middle of the second and third points. This series of three trend lines are used to identify the market trend and reversals.

What is the Andrew's pitchfork indicator? ›

It is created by placing three points at the end of previous trends and then drawing a line from the first point that runs through the midpoint of the other two points. The reason this indicator is called a "pitchfork" becomes apparent from the shape that is created in the chart.

What is the pitchfork strategy? ›

The pitchfork consists of three parallel trendlines: a median line flanked by two equidistant, parallel lines, representing potential support and resistance levels. These lines are drawn by selecting three distinct points on a price chart, typically based on significant highs or lows.

When to use pitchfork in trading? ›

Higher and lower trend lines denote support and resistance. Andrews' Pitchfork can provide momentum traders with signals in the long- or intermediate-term, where it is most useful in predicting more protracted market swings.

How do you read a pitchfork? ›

Andrews' Pitchfork can be easily applied to price charts without a specialized drawing tool.
  1. Point 1: starting point of uptrend or downtrend.
  2. Points 2 and 3: reaction high and reaction low in the uptrend or downtrend.
  3. Point 1 = starting point of median trend line.
  4. Distance between Points 2 and 3 = channel width.

How do you use pitchfork analysis? ›

Using Andrew's pitchfork

If you have drawn your pitchfork correctly, then the median line should follow the broad trend. The upper and lower lines act as support and resistance levels, sending the price back towards the median. Occasionally, the median line itself can act as support or resistance.

What does the pitchfork symbol mean? ›

The pitchfork is a richly symbolic item. Referred to as a trident in greek mythology, it was the symbol of the mighty Poseidon, god of the sea. In christianity, the pitchfork came to be associa-ted with the Devil and with wicked activity. It is still often seen on Halloween as a symbol of dark forces. 1.

What is the difference between Andrews pitchfork and Schiff pitchfork? ›

The Andrews pitchfork is the standard pitchfork but there are two other versions of Schiff pitchforks and modified Schiff pitchforks. The difference is that with the Schiff setting is that the angle or slope of the median line is much flatter than that of a standard setting.

What is the average score on pitchfork? ›

It seems that both publications typically post scores above 5, with the average score of Fantano being a 6.27, and the average Pitchfork score being around a 7.29. The mean difference between the scores of an album rated by Pitchfork and by Fantano is -1.017.

What is the pitchfork in math? ›

In bifurcation theory, a field within mathematics, a pitchfork bifurcation is a particular type of local bifurcation where the system transitions from one fixed point to three fixed points. Pitchfork bifurcations, like Hopf bifurcations, have two types – supercritical and subcritical.

How do you trade pitch fork? ›

How to Trade Andrews' Pitchfork. The pitchfork shows continuous points of support and resistance. Andrews' Pitchfork tool allows traders to trade channels when the market is trending. One would also buy if price falls to the lower tine, which is line C, and take profit when it rises back to the middle tine, line A.

How to use pitchfork in TradingView? ›

To utilize the pitchfork indicator, first draw a trend line connecting two extreme points to form a pitchfork. Depending on the analyst's preferred pitchfork location, a third point is then set either above or below the second point.

How to use the pitchfork tool on TradingView? ›

To utilize the pitchfork indicator, first draw a trend line connecting two extreme points to form a pitchfork. Depending on the analyst's preferred pitchfork location, a third point is then set either above or below the second point.

How do you use inside pitchfork? ›

The Inside Pitchfork's origin is located at 1/2 the vertical distance and 1/2 the horizontal distance between the high and low points (first two points set). An Inside pitchfork (just like a Standard pitchfork) is created by first drawing a trend line between two extreme points.

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