Classic Pivots (Floor-Trader Pivots)

The standard pivot/resistance/support levels computed from a completed candle's high, low, and close. Three resistances and three supports above and below the central pivot, derived from the typical price (H + L + C) / 3. These are the textbook "floor-trader pivots" — the most widely-used reference levels in intraday and short-swing trading.

Quick reference

Item	Value
Family	Pivots & S/R
Input type	Candle (uses high, low, close)
Output type	ClassicPivotsOutput { pp, r1, r2, r3, s1, s2, s3 }
Output range	unbounded (price-units)
Default parameters	none — ClassicPivots::new()
Warmup period	1
Interpretation	Fixed reference levels for the next session

Formula

PP = (H + L + C) / 3

R1 = 2·PP − L          S1 = 2·PP − H
R2 = PP + (H − L)      S2 = PP − (H − L)
R3 = H + 2·(PP − L)    S3 = L − 2·(H − PP)

The (H − L) width drives R2/S2; the doubled-range additions drive R3/S3. See crates/wickra-core/src/indicators/classic_pivots.rs.

Parameters

None — ClassicPivots::new() takes no arguments.

Inputs / Outputs

Indicator<Input = Candle, Output = ClassicPivotsOutput> with seven fields (pp, r1, r2, r3, s1, s2, s3).

• Python. ClassicPivots().batch(high, low, close) returns an (n, 7) float64 array with columns [pp, r1, r2, r3, s1, s2, s3].
• Node. Returns a flat number[] of length n * 7 interleaved in the same order. Streaming update(candle) returns an object with the same field names.

Warmup

warmup_period() == 1. The first candle produces the first set of levels.

Edge cases

• Session aggregation. Pivots are conventionally built from the previous session's bar (daily/weekly/monthly) and used as fixed levels for the next session. This indicator simply evaluates the formula on every candle it sees — wire it to a pre-aggregated session bar from wickra-data or a custom aggregator.
• H == L (flat bar). All seven levels collapse to PP (or to H/L); not actionable.
• H < L. Rejected by Candle::new upstream.
• Reset. Stateless; reset() is a no-op functionally.

Examples

Rust

use wickra::{Candle, ClassicPivots, Indicator};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let prev = Candle::new(100.0, 110.0, 90.0, 105.0, 1.0, 0)?;
    let mut cp = ClassicPivots::new();
    let levels = cp.update(prev).unwrap();
    println!("PP={}  R1={}  S1={}", levels.pp, levels.r1, levels.s1);
    // PP = (110 + 90 + 105)/3 = 101.667
    // R1 = 2·101.667 − 90 = 113.333
    // S1 = 2·101.667 − 110 = 93.333
    Ok(())
}

Python

import numpy as np
import wickra as ta

high  = np.array([110.0])
low   = np.array([ 90.0])
close = np.array([105.0])

cp = ta.ClassicPivots()
out = cp.batch(high, low, close)
print('shape:', out.shape)        # (1, 7)
print('row 0:', out[0])           # pp, r1, r2, r3, s1, s2, s3

Node

const wickra = require('wickra');

const cp = new wickra.ClassicPivots();
const flat = cp.batch([110], [90], [105]);
console.log('pp:', flat[0], 'r1:', flat[1], 's1:', flat[4]);

Streaming on session bars

use wickra::{Candle, ClassicPivots, Indicator};

let mut cp = ClassicPivots::new();
let session_aggregator: Vec<wickra::Candle> = Vec::new(); // your stream of completed session bars
for session_bar in session_aggregator {
    let levels = cp.update(session_bar).unwrap();
    // Use `levels.pp`, `levels.r1`, etc. as reference for the next session
}

Interpretation

• Central pivot. Bias gauge. Price > PP = bullish bias for the session; price < PP = bearish bias.
• R1 / S1. First reaction targets. Most intraday systems expect price to test R1 or S1; the further bands (R2+, S2+) only trade on strong directional days.
• R3 / S3. Trend-day extension targets. Reached only on high-conviction directional sessions.
• Vs other pivots. Classic Pivots are widely watched, so levels carry self-fulfilling reaction value even when the underlying math is not theoretically motivated.

Common pitfalls

• Feeding bar-by-bar. Pivots are session-anchored. Feeding every minute bar produces minute-by-minute pivots, which is not the conventional use. Aggregate to daily/weekly first.
• Wrong session window. US equity pivots traditionally use the RTH (9:30-16:00) session only. Including overnight or extended hours changes H/L and shifts the pivots.
• Treating R3/S3 as common targets. They're reached < 10% of trading days; using them as default profit targets will underfill.

References

• The standard floor-trader pivot formula is uncredited; it dates to floor traders' rules-of-thumb in the 1970s.
• Robert Miner, High Probability Trading Strategies (2008) — modern treatment of pivots for swing systems.

See also

• FibonacciPivots — Fib-ratio variant.
• Camarilla — close-anchored four-tier variant.
• WoodiePivots — close-weighted variant.
• DemarkPivots — conditional one-tier variant.
• Indicators-Overview — full taxonomy.