How to apply an indicator or strategy to another indicator

On TradingView, you can apply an indicator or strategy not only to price data, but also to another indicator. This opens a world of possibilities for both technical analysis and fundamental analysis to find new opportunities for trading and investment.

Technical data is presented as calculations of asset price, trading volume, and their various relationships. Some indicators can be called first-layer indicators — they use these three basic values for their calculation. There are also second-layer indicators — they take other indicators' readings and add one more level of calculation, thus providing additional information on the asset's performance.

! Note: Not all indicators can be calculated based on another indicator due to various technical nuances.

But you can create your own second- or even third-layer indicators.

Click the "More" button (the three horizontal dots) next to the title of the indicator you wish to use as an external input, select "Add indicator/Strategy on…" and then choose the indicator or strategy that will be using the first indicator as an input
Right-click on an indicator's plot. Then select "Add indicator/Strategy on…"
First, make sure both scripts are loaded on your chart. Click the "Settings" button next to the title of the indicator or strategy to which you want to connect an external input. Then, from the "Inputs" tab, click on the "Source" dropdown and select a plot from the other indicator you want to use as an external input.

Sources used as external inputs must come from indicators, not strategies.

To see how this feature works, check out our video and find much more educational content on our YouTube channel.