EMA ribbon pullback
When the 9, 21 and 50 EMAs are stacked in order and fanning apart, the trend is healthy. This strategy waits for price to dip into the ribbon, then joins as it turns back with the trend.
Watch it play out
Replay plays a setup this strategy already finished and stops so you can call it. Live watches for the next one on Bitcoin (BTC-USD, 1-minute candles). Either way a setup is marked only when a candle closes, then it's locked and plays out to its target or its stop. Nothing to trade here.
How the live chart applies the rules
- 1-minute candles. The chart runs every strategy on 1-minute Bitcoin candles from Coinbase, whatever timeframe the strategy page suggests. Times are New York time.
- Closed candles only. Levels, triggers and stops are read when a candle closes. Entry is that candle's close.
- One setup at a time. While a setup is playing out, the same strategy doesn't start another.
- Sensible risk only. A setup counts only if its stop is between a quarter and 6 times the average candle range (ATR 14) from entry (wider for session-range strategies), and its target is at least 0.75R away.
- How a setup ends. At its target or its stop. If one candle touches both, the stop counts. A setup also ends at any exit its page names, and after 120 candles (longer for trend and session strategies) if nothing is hit.
- Replays. A replay plays the latest setup this strategy finished on the live chart's recent history, sped up. It's the same setup the live chart confirmed, with the same entry, stop and result. If the strategy hasn't finished one recently, the replay uses example candles and says so.
- The trading day. A day runs 6:00 PM to 6:00 PM ET, like futures. VWAP restarts at 6:00 PM, and "yesterday" means the last full trading day.
How EMA ribbon pullback works
- 1Where's the level?
- The ribbon between the 9 and 21 EMAs, while the 9 is above the 21 and the 21 above the 50 (the reverse for shorts).
- 2What's the trigger?
- The previous candle dipped into the 21 EMA, and this candle closes above the previous high and above the 9 EMA.
- 3Where is it wrong?
- Below the lowest low of the last 5 closed candles, or below the 50 EMA if that is lower.
- 4Where does it end?
- 2 times the risk.
- Markets
- Futures, Stocks, Forex, Crypto
- Timeframes
- 1m to 15m
- Sessions
- Any liquid session
- Also called
- Stacked EMAs, 9/21/50 ribbon
What it means
When the 9, 21 and 50 EMAs are stacked in order and fanning apart, the trend is healthy. This strategy waits for price to dip into the ribbon, then joins as it turns back with the trend.
How it is confirmed without repainting
All three EMAs are read on closed candles, and the stack must already be in order before the dip, so the setup cannot form after the fact.
When it fails
The EMAs flatten and twist together. A close through the 50 EMA means the trend is no longer clean.
Education only. Prop Firm Duel does not provide trade signals or financial advice. This page explains how the strategy is commonly defined. Past results never guarantee future results.
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