Trading signals for laggard indicators are based on past price data, while leading indicators provide traders with predictions about future price movements. In the case of leading versus lagging indicators, how should traders choose? Individual preference will determine this question after understanding each’s advantages and limitations.
What is a leading technical indicator?
Traders use a leading indicator to predict market movements in advance to predict market direction before it happens.
Theoretically, if a leading indicator indicates the right direction, the trader can get in before the market and ride the trend until it ends. Leading indicators, however, do not guarantee 100% accuracy, which is why they often work in conjunction with other forms of technical analysis.
What is a lagging technical indicator?
As the name suggests, a lagging indicator provides delayed feedback, i.e., a signal after the price action has already happened or is still taking place. A trader uses these to confirm the price trend before entering a trade.
Trend traders use these indicators to confirm that a trend is underway. They don’t show any upcoming price movements, but they confirm that a trend is underway. It is more probable that traders will be right when they have a specific entry point than when they are not.
Should you use leading or lagging indicators?
It is impossible to find a perfect indicator. However, traders will benefit from indicators if they are used to discover likely outcomes instead of certain ones. The trader is responsible for conducting a thorough analysis to secure the best odds possible.
Using EUR/USD as an example, below, you will compare leading versus lagging indicators, with the leading indicator providing a better signal. However, please remember that the lagging indicator is equally essential, strictly for demonstration purposes.
After aggressively selling off, the market reversed to 61.8%. Based on a simple moving average (21, 55, 200), we can see that the faster blue line (21) has not crossed below the slower black line (55) yet, indicating that this lagging indicator has not yet provided a short signal.
Upon further evaluation, traders may observe that the market has not broken and held above the 200-day moving average. 200 SMAs serve as significant indicators of long-term trends, and in this case, they serve as resistance. Traders aiming for a bounce lower off the 61.8% level may be inclined to go short.
Leading vs lagging indicators on EUR/USD
When seeking fast signals, traders tend to use leading indicators. Lagging indicators, however, can also be adjusted to make them more responsive by reducing the period setting. If the market moves in the opposite direction, the stop loss should always be tight.
Traders tend to prefer lagging indicators and seek a higher confidence level. In addition, traders who operate over more extended time frames do so to profit from continued momentum after entering at a relatively late time frame while implementing sound risk management techniques.
Bottom line
A leading indicator reacts quickly to price changes, making it prone to false signals. It is possible to have more accuracy with lagging indicators, but they are much slower to react. Some popular leading indicators fall under oscillators, including the RSI, stochastic oscillator, Williams per cent, and OBV. Moving averages, the MACD, and Bollinger bands are lagging indicators drawn on the price chart. As a result, traders often aim to balance the two, as relying on either could negatively affect their strategies.
