METATrading Academy

Technical analysis

Bollinger Bandsprice ke upar-neeche ke bands

Three lines around price: a moving average plus upper and lower bands set by standard deviation, showing whether volatility is expanding or shrinking.

Bollinger Bands are drawn around a stock's price using a moving average, usually 20 periods, with an upper and lower band two standard deviations away. When the stock is calm, the bands squeeze together; when it moves sharply, they widen. Traders watch the squeeze because a period of low volatility often, though not always, comes before a large move. Price touching the upper band is not automatically a sell, and touching the lower band is not automatically a buy. In a strong trend, price can ride along a band for days. Suppose Nifty has drifted sideways for two weeks and the bands narrow to their tightest in months; a trader might prepare for a breakout in either direction and wait for confirmation from volume. Bollinger Bands describe volatility, and should be combined with other analysis and a defined stop loss.

Lessons that use this term