After changing indicator inputs, check the chart’s timeframe and completed-bar settings, then recreate the affected alert.
A practical starting point for TradingView settings for investors is a weekly chart, RSI with Length 14 and Source Close, and MACD with lengths 12/26/9, Source Close, and EMA for both average types. Keep the indicator timeframe aligned with the chart at first. This is a consistent setup for chart review, not a strategy with demonstrated return superiority. The changes that matter most are matching the timeframe to your review and deciding exactly what an alert should prompt you to check.
All sections and evidence
RSI means Relative Strength Index; MACD means Moving Average Convergence Divergence. EMA means exponential moving average, while SMA means simple moving average.
Open an indicator’s settings and the lengths are easy to spot. The less obvious choices are just as important: the price source, the moving-average type, the indicator’s own timeframe, and whether its current bar has closed. Two charts can display the same headline numbers while calculating different signals.
This guide is for investors who use charts to review holdings rather than manage intraday trades. Start with a consistent setup, then separate what you observe from what your investment plan allows you to do.
TradingView settings for investors: what to keep and change
The weekly view suits a slower portfolio review cycle. Use the daily view when you need to examine a recent price move in more detail.
A starting setup for observing long-term holdings, without turning indicator readings into automatic orders.
| Setting | Starting choice | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Chart timeframe | Weekly for the overview; daily when you need more detail | Choose the view that fits the decision you are reviewing. Switching to daily changes the observations used by chart-aligned indicators. |
| RSI inputs | Length 14; Source Close; reference levels 70 and 30 | These levels describe momentum. A reading above the upper line does not specify when to sell or buy back. |
| MACD inputs | Fast 12; Slow 26; Signal 9; Source Close | Record all inputs when comparing a chart with a backtest. |
| MACD average types | EMA for Oscillator MA type and Signal MA type | Changing either to SMA changes the calculation, even if the three lengths stay the same. |
| Indicator timeframe | Use the chart timeframe to begin | A separately selected timeframe can override the chart interval. Check this before interpreting a signal. |
| Higher-timeframe completion | Use “Wait for timeframe closes” when you want completed higher-timeframe values | This controls indicator updates; it is separate from the alert’s triggering frequency. |
| Notifications | Create only alerts that prompt a defined review | After changing indicator inputs, recreate the affected alert so it uses the new setup. |
Use TradingView’s built-in RSI and MACD for this walkthrough. Custom scripts may add smoothing, other formulas, or their own alert rules. A matching name alone does not mean they work the same way.
- Open the holding’s chart and select the weekly interval for your overview.
- Add RSI and MACD, then open each indicator’s settings and check the inputs in the table.
- Check the indicator calculation timeframe before comparing readings across charts.
- If you also use a daily view, label your alerts with their timeframe and condition so you can tell them apart.
If the readings are new to you, the technical analysis introduction explains the chart basics. For this setup, the useful question is whether the chart helps you review the holding without adding a new trading rule by accident.
The lengths count bars on the indicator’s timeframe
TradingView defines RSI Length as a number of bars. On a chart-aligned daily indicator, those are daily bars; on a weekly chart, they are weekly bars. For stocks and ETFs, a daily bar normally covers a trading session, not each calendar day.
MACD lengths also apply to the timeframe used for its calculation. Calling its inputs “12 days, 26 days, and 9 days” on every chart is misleading: a weekly MACD uses weekly observations. TradingView exposes a separate indicator Timeframe setting, so check that setting as well as the interval shown on the price chart.
Platform references: TradingView’s RSI documentation and MACD indicator documentation describe the inputs and calculation options.
For example, set MACD to weekly on a daily price chart. MACD still uses weekly bars. Switching between that layout and a daily MACD is a change of setup, even though both display the same lengths. Compare closed bars when you want a stable reference. A bar that is still open can change before it closes.
Same asset. Same length. Different timeframe.
SPY · October 1–December 28, 2018 · RSI 14, Source Close
Daily bars
Weekly bars
Chart data and calculation
The SPY closing-price CSV spans 2010–2019 and comes from the public hackingthemarkets/datasets repository, pinned to commit 1f545c1cd9c6ed5764732f23c27f7172128fce0f. Weekly bars use the last available session close in each Friday-ended week. Each series uses Wilder smoothing with length 14, initialized with the mean of its first 14 gains and losses; all available earlier bars provide warm-up before the displayed period. Prices are used as supplied; their dividend-adjustment status has not been independently established. These values may differ from a TradingView data feed.
Once you have chosen your review timeframe, keep it consistent when comparing setups such as the Bollinger Squeeze: spotting a setup still leaves the entry and exit choices open.
Set alerts that match the chart you intend to review
TradingView offers different alert operators, including Crossing up, Crossing down, Greater than, and Less than. Choose the event you actually mean: crossing above a level is a different condition from remaining above it.
To create an indicator alert, right-click the indicator and choose Add alert, or open the alert manager and select the indicator in the Condition field. Write a message that names the holding, timeframe, and review action, such as checking whether your allocation still fits your plan.
For a review based on completed bars, select a bar-close triggering option where the alert supports it. If the indicator uses a higher timeframe, also check when that higher-timeframe bar becomes final. Closing a daily price bar does not close a weekly bar that is still open.
Alert reference: TradingView, Getting started with technical alerts.
An alert can be a reminder to look at the holding. If it is meant to cause a trade, the instruction also needs position size, execution timing, and a re-entry condition. “RSI is high” leaves those decisions open.
The same RSI and MACD settings can produce different rules
Consider two investors who already hold the same fund. One plans to stay out only while RSI is above its upper threshold; the other plans to sell at that threshold and wait until RSI reaches its lower threshold before buying again.
When RSI falls back between the two lines, the first investor’s rule permits exposure again while the second remains in cash. The re-entry instruction determines how long each investor waits in cash.
Same RSI. Different time in cash.
Illustrative readings. Both rules start invested.
At reading 3: RSI 68
- Rule A
- HOLD
- Rule B
- CASH
B waits until reading 6 (RSI 29) to hold again.
Target states from invented readings, not filled trades.
Five rule designs to distinguish before comparing performance. This is a rules comparison, not a table of observed returns.
| Rule design | Exposure decision | What must be defined |
|---|---|---|
| Avoid only high RSI readings | Hold when RSI is at or below the upper threshold; otherwise hold cash. | Threshold equality, signal timing, and the execution price. |
| Sell high, wait for low RSI | Exit at the upper threshold and remain in cash until the lower threshold is reached. | Starting position and whether “reached” means a reading or a directional cross. |
| Trade directional RSI crosses | Exit on a cross below the upper line; re-enter on a cross above the lower line. | Previous-bar comparison, starting position, and what happens when neither event occurs. |
| Use a MACD state filter | Hold while MACD is above its signal line; otherwise hold cash. | Both average types, treatment of equality, and completed-bar timing. |
| Combine RSI and MACD | For example, hold only when RSI is at or below its upper threshold and MACD is above its signal line. | The exact Boolean condition. This example is one possible combination, not a definition of every combined strategy. |
There is another important distinction: these examples use a long-or-cash approach. TradingView’s built-in strategy scripts can use different order rules, including reversals into short positions. Their backtest results cannot stand in for an investor who only switches between a fund and cash.
For help reading the signals, see why an RSI overbought signal is not an automatic sell and what the evidence says about MACD. Here, the key comparison is the action each reading allows.
What a credible settings backtest must show
A useful comparison holds the asset, dates, and execution assumptions constant while changing the rule under study. Each result should link to the code, data provenance, and output needed to reproduce it.
The method needs to state how RSI and MACD are calculated, what prior price history is used at the start, and whether each test begins invested or in cash. A “one-day lag” is incomplete without a fill convention: buying at the next session’s open and buying at its close are different tests.
State which prices feed the signals and which prices measure returns, including how splits and distributions are handled. Use the same cost rules for the strategy and benchmark, disclose what cash earns, and show time invested and trade counts alongside annualized returns and maximum drawdown.
Rolling periods can help expose sensitivity to the starting date. But ten-year periods beginning a month apart share almost all their observations. In such a test, the share of rolling periods that lagged describes only that one set of overlapping historical data. It does not show the chance of failure in a future period.
The broader research explains why these checks matter. Sullivan, Timmermann, and White used a bootstrap Reality Check to account for searching across technical rules. Bajgrowicz and Scaillet tested the rule set again on Dow Jones data through 2011. Low transaction costs erased in-sample gains, and the tests did not show how to pick future winners. These studies concern their tested rules and market data; they do not calculate a fixed loss from TradingView defaults.
Keep the period used to choose a rule separate from the period used to evaluate it. The technical analysis backtest guide covers that process, while zero-commission broker hidden fees explains why a commission-free order can still have trade costs.
How should taxes be handled?
A taxable-account model needs holding periods, tax lots, realized gains and losses, and an explicit tax assumption. IRS guidance generally treats gains as short-term for holdings of one year or less, and long-term for holdings of more than one year. A flat annual tax deduction cannot represent every account, and a tax-advantaged account still has trading costs and time out of the market.
Common TradingView setup questions
Should I change RSI Length for long-term investing?
You can leave it at the documented default while learning how the reading behaves. First check the timeframe: keeping the same length while switching from daily to weekly changes the observations used. A longer length generally smooths the reading and responds more slowly. Change it only when that behavior better fits your review.
Why does my MACD differ from another platform’s?
Compare the symbol and data feed, price source, timeframe, both average types, and whether the current bar is complete. Matching only the three lengths is not enough. The starting values used in the formula and the available price history can also matter.
Why is an alert still using my old settings?
TradingView preserves the indicator parameters used when the alert was created. Recreate the affected alert after changing the chart’s indicator inputs, then check its condition and timeframe.
Do I need both RSI and MACD?
No. Keep both only if they help answer distinct review questions. You can also use a price chart without either. If the two indicators keep prompting the same review, one may be enough.
Your turn: Check one alert you already use. Does its saved condition still match the indicator settings on your chart?
Update history
- v1.5 EDITORIAL
Clarified that the rolling-period sentence in the backtest section describes such a test in general; no lag share is reported in this article. No settings, values, or links changed.
- v1.4 EDITORIAL
Moved the alert section after the timeframe explanation so the body follows the contents list. Moved the note that the chart dataset does not reproduce the earlier 1993–2019 SPY performance study from the chart-data box to this history; those removed figures remain withdrawn. Rechecked both RSI panels against the pinned dataset; no plotted values, settings, or links changed.
- v1.3 REPAIR
Aligned the displayed publication date with WordPress and Article schema, redrew the charts with shared observation axes and straight segments, made data limitations visible, added a completed-week alert example, and reduced repeated warnings. The earlier May 30 label is retained here as a correction record, not evidence of an independently verified first-publication date.
- v1.2 CORRECTION
Added practical inputs, timeframe guidance, saved-alert instructions, an illustrative holding/cash comparison, and daily-versus-weekly RSI charts with a disclosed calculation method. Removed the previous SPY performance percentages and CAGR gaps because the original code, data, and execution records were unavailable for verification. Retained the rule comparison as explicitly illustrative; corrected period terminology and internal links.
- v1.1 REVISION
The prior revision withdrew a fixed-dollar loss claim, a blanket tax-drag estimate, and unsupported descriptions of the defaults as day-trading instructions.
- v1.0 PUBLISH
Initial publication. The date is aligned with the current WordPress publication record; an earlier body label used May 30.