What is Equilibrium?
Equilibrium / Premium-Discount takes the range between the last swing high and the last swing low and splits it in half. The upper half is shaded as premium, the lower half as discount, and the midpoint between them is drawn as the equilibrium line.
The idea is old, in ICT's vocabulary. In a range, the top half is expensive and the bottom half cheap, so a buyer wants to be buying in discount and a seller selling in premium. Drawing it makes explicit which range "expensive" is measured against.
This is a closed-source premium script. It runs on Altrady's servers, so only its output reaches your chart and its code is not published.
How to use Equilibrium
- Buying in discount. In a bullish context, longs taken in the lower half of the dealing range are taken at a relatively cheap price. Longs in premium are paying up.
- Selling in premium. In a bearish context, the upper half is where shorts get the better price.
- The equilibrium line. The midpoint is the level most people actually trade. Price crossing it moves from one half to the other.
- Use a higher timeframe. The dealing range a trader means is often larger than the one their entry timeframe draws. The Timeframe setting reads the range from a higher timeframe.
Settings
Structure
| Setting | Default | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timeframe | Chart | Chart, 15m, 30m, 1h, 4h, 1D | Read the range from a higher timeframe while trading a lower one. The chart's own period must divide it exactly. This is also the input most worth using here, because the dealing range a trader means is usually not the one their entry timeframe draws. |
| Swing Length | 5 | 1 or more | A swing needs this many bars either side and is confirmed that many bars late (§4.1). It sets how wide the dealing range is: longer swings, bigger range. |
| Significance (ATR x) | 1.5 | 0 to 10 | A swing counts only if the leg into it moved at least this much ATR. |
| Break On | Close | Close, Wick | What re-cuts the range: a close beyond the level, or a wick through it. Close by default (§4.3). |
Display
| Setting | Default | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Show Premium | On | The upper half of the range. | |
| Show Discount | On | The lower half of the range. | |
| Show Equilibrium | On | The midpoint line itself, which is the level most people actually trade. | |
| Show Labels | On | ||
| Show Border | Off | Off by default: two stacked boxes with borders read as four lines, and only one of them means anything. | |
| Equilibrium Style | Dashed | Solid, Dashed, Dotted | |
| Label Size | Small | Tiny, Small, Normal, Large, Huge | |
| Show State Pane | Off | A sub-pane giving the equilibrium price and which half price is in. The tool's internal state, and what the automated checks read. |
Colours
| Setting | Default | Range | What it changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premium | #f23645 | The expensive half, where a seller wants to be. | |
| Discount | #089981 | The cheap half, where a buyer wants to be. | |
| Equilibrium | #787b86 | The midpoint line. | |
| Label | #b0b3b8 |
Alerts: eq_recut, eq_crossed.
How it works
The script follows confirmed swings and market structure, ignoring swings whose leg did not cover enough of the average true range. When structure breaks, on a close by default or a wick if chosen, it takes the swing high and swing low as they stand at that moment and makes them the new dealing range.
Between breaks the range is fixed. A trader reading premium in the morning and in the afternoon is reading the same range, and the midpoint does not wander under price. Only one range is live at a time; a new break replaces it.
Two alerts follow the range. eq_recut fires when the range is re-cut on a structure break. eq_crossed fires when the close moves from one half to the other, with a message saying whether price moved into premium or discount.
Limitations
- Confirmation lag. Both edges of the range are confirmed swings, each Swing Length bars late. The range cannot be drawn until both are known.
- Only one range. There is no history of previous ranges on the chart. Each new break replaces the drawing.
- Ranges are only as good as the swings. Swing Length and Significance set how wide the dealing range is. Longer swings give a bigger range and a different midpoint.
- Cheap can get cheaper. Discount is relative to the current range. In a strong downtrend, price can stay in discount and keep falling until structure breaks and the range is re-cut.
- Higher timeframes need a matching chart. When reading the range from a higher timeframe, the chart's own period must divide it exactly.
Get Equilibrium
Premium scripts are a one-time purchase in the Altrady marketplace and need a paid Altrady plan to run.
- Equilibrium / Premium-Discount $7 This script on its own.
- Structure & Wyckoff bundle $29 7 premium scripts, Equilibrium included.
- Altrady Complete Suite $109 All 36 premium scripts.
Frequently asked questions
The upper and lower halves of the current dealing range. Above the midpoint is premium, the expensive half; below is discount, the cheap half.
Only on a structure break. Between breaks the range and its midpoint stay fixed, so the levels are worth marking before price reaches them.
No. The range is built from confirmed swings and re-cut only on a break, which is itself judged on a close by default. Nothing already drawn is moved; a new range replaces the old one.
Two. eq_recut fires when the dealing range is re-cut on a structure break, and eq_crossed fires when price closes into the other half, premium or discount.
Yes. Equilibrium / Premium-Discount is a closed-source premium script. It runs on Altrady's servers, so only its output reaches your chart and the code is never shared. You buy it once in the Altrady marketplace, on its own, in the Structure & Wyckoff bundle or in the Altrady Complete Suite, and it needs a paid Altrady plan to run. It is also included with your first annual Premium subscription.
Use the Get it in Altrady button on this page to open its listing in the Altrady marketplace. Once it is in your account, open the indicator picker on any chart in Altrady Charts and add Equilibrium / Premium-Discount like any other indicator. Its settings are in the indicator's settings panel.