OmniTrader and MTVision can use two different
methods in order to calculate and display higher timeframes.
The Previous Bar Method will use the value returned from the most recently completed bar of the higher timeframe.
In the example for ALL, we have plotted a 14 period Simple Moving Average targeting the Weekly Timeframe on a Daily Chart. Notice how it renders in a “stair-step” manner. That is because it only updates once a weekly bar has competed. So it will return the same value Friday through the following Thursday and then update on the next Friday.
The Dynamic Method will calculate the prior week’s bar on EVERY DAY, e.g., a Tuesday-Monday bar, Wednesday-Tuesday bar, and so on. This provides the benefit of the Weekly view, with the additional benefit of capturing changes that happen during the week.
Here is the same chart for ALL, except we changed the SMA to use the Dynamic Method. Notice it changes on a daily basis. This is because it is using 5 “virtual SMA’s” for calculation. So on Tuesday it is using the Wednesday through Tuesday SMA values, and then on Wednesday it’s using the Thursday through Wednesday SMA values, and so on.
The Dynamic Method is exclusive to Nirvana Systems and OmniTrader users. The benefit of this is clear when you calculate indicators on Dynamic Weekly, because they show the effect of sudden price changes in the middle of the week, without losing the benefit of the weekly timeframe, which is to measure general movement over time.