Supertrend indicator
Supertrend is an ATR-based trailing stop plotted on price: a band that trails below price in an uptrend and above it in a downtrend, flipping sides when price closes through it.
Supertrend draws a band a multiple of ATR away from the price midpoint, here the standard (10, 3), meaning three times the 10-period ATR. While the trend is up the band sits below price and ratchets upward, never retreating. When a close breaks through it, the indicator flips to the other side and starts trailing from above. Because the distance is ATR-scaled, the stop sits wide on volatile stocks and tight on quiet ones, one definition fitting both.
In Sift it exposes two members. supertrend().value is the band's price level and supertrend().dir is +1 while bullish, −1 while bearish. The flip is the traded event, a stop-and-reverse, and holders use the value directly as the exit line under a position. On daily NSE bars the standard screen is dir equal to +1 with an ADX condition beside it, because the flip only means something where a trend exists to flip into.
The failure mode is chop. In a rangebound stock price crosses the band repeatedly and Supertrend flips with every swing, a sequence of small losses that is the known and accepted price of the trend-following trade. The indicator has no mechanism for recognising a range and will follow every false start with full conviction. Its popularity also invites the misreading that a flip predicts a trend, when all it confirms is that price closed on the other side of a line that was trailing behind the move.
Its nearest relative is the parabolic SAR, another stop-and-reverse. SAR accelerates toward price as a move ages, so it tightens with time, where Supertrend's distance breathes with volatility. Supertrend is the more forgiving of the two in a trend that pauses; SAR exits sooner when momentum fades.
In Sift
Written as supertrend().value / .dir. A working scan — stocks on the bullish side of their Supertrend with enough trend strength to trust the flip:
where supertrend().dir == 1 and adx(14) > 201
of the 500 most-traded NSE stocks match today, as of 6 Oct 2026
Common questions
Is the Supertrend indicator reliable?
It is reliable at trailing a stop under a trend, which is what it does, and unreliable at predicting one, which is what it is often sold as. In trending stocks it keeps you in for the bulk of the move. In sideways stocks it flips constantly and bleeds small losses. Its record on any scan is replayable here against past sessions.
What do the Supertrend settings (10, 3) mean?
The band is placed three times the 10-period ATR away from the price midpoint, so 10 is the ATR length and 3 the multiplier. A larger multiplier flips less often and gives back more of each move; a smaller one exits earlier and whipsaws more. PatternsRadar precomputes the standard (10, 3).
What does a Supertrend flip mean?
Price closed through the trailing band, moving the indicator to the other side and changing supertrend().dir between +1 and −1. It is a stop being hit and reversed, which confirms the prior swing ended. Whether a new trend follows depends on the regime, which is why flips are usually screened with ADX above 20.