How do you calculate DeMark pivot points?

Compare the previous session's close with its open. If the close is lower, X = high + 2 × low + close; if higher, X = 2 × high + low + close; if equal, X = high + low + 2 × close. The pivot is X / 4, resistance is X / 2 minus the low, and support is X / 2 minus the high.

Why do DeMark pivots show only one resistance and one support?

The method is designed to produce a single pair of bounds for the coming session, not a ladder of levels. Publishing an R2 or R3 would mean inventing levels the method does not define. If you want multiple bands, the Fibonacci or Woodie pivot sets provide them.

What happens when the previous session closed exactly at its open?

The neutral branch applies: X = high + low + 2 × close, doubling the close instead of the high or the low. Exact equality between close and open is uncommon on liquid futures, but the calculation handles that case explicitly rather than falling back on one of the directional branches. The resulting pivot sits between what the up and down branches would have produced.

DeMark Pivots Indicator: Formula, Settings and How to Read It

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What DeMark Pivots measures
The formula, as implemented
How to read it
What it does not show
Related indicators
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Frequently asked questions

DeMark Pivots — VWAP & bands, on the price chart.

What DeMark Pivots measures

An intermediate value X is built from the previous session's open, high, low and close. If the session closed below its open, X = H + 2L + C; if it closed above, X = 2H + L + C; if the close equals the open, X = H + L + 2C, a neutral branch in which the doubled weight goes to the close instead of to either extreme. The pivot is X / 4, the resistance is X / 2 minus the previous low, and the support is X / 2 minus the previous high. The open is taken from the first bar of the previous session and the close from its last, with that session cut at the 17:00 CT open on CME futures rather than at midnight.

The formula, as implemented

This is not how the indicator is usually defined elsewhere — it is what the shipped code computes, documented next to the implementation:

Pivots DeMARK (Tom DeMark) depuis O/H/L/C de la session PRÉCÉDENTE — les seuls pivots CONDITIONNELS du catalogue : la formule dépend du SENS de la session, ce qui décale le pivot du côté où la pression s'est exercée. close < open → X = H + 2L + C (session baissière) close > open → X = 2H + L + C (session haussière) close = open → X = H + L + 2C (doji : neutre, le close pèse double des deux côtés) P = X / 4 R1 = X/2 − L S1 = X/2 − H DeMark ne définit QUE R1/S1 (pas de R2/R3) : la méthode vise un seul couple de bornes pour la séance, en livrer d'autres serait une invention. O = open de la PREMIÈRE barre de la session N−1, C = close de la DERNIÈRE (l'open de session CME, c'est 17:00 CT — `splitSessions`, jamais minuit).

How to read it

Read the direction test first: knowing which of the three branches produced the levels tells you what the pivot is leaning on. After a down session the low is weighted twice; after an up session, the high.
The pair R1 and S1 frames one expected range for the session. Price leaving that frame says the session has behaved unlike the shape the previous one implied.
The pivot itself sits between the two, and price holding above or below it is the simplest statement this indicator makes.
There is no second or third level, so do not treat R1 as a first target with more behind it. The method deliberately offers one boundary per side.
When the previous session closed very close to its open, small differences flip the branch and move all three levels. Check the previous session's shape before relying on the map.

What it does not show

The branch selection is a strict comparison between close and open, which means a single tick of difference can switch the formula and relocate the levels — an uncomfortable sensitivity around doji sessions. Only one resistance and one support exist, so the indicator says nothing about what lies beyond them. It reads one past session and is blind to gaps, holidays, shortened sessions and incomplete history, any of which silently distort the inputs. And like every pivot method, it marks prices without knowing whether liquidity is resting at them.

Rolling VWAP — VWAP & bands
Session VWAP + σ bands — VWAP & bands
Anchored VWAP (session open) — VWAP & bands
Anchored VWAP — VWAP & bands
Fibonacci Pivots — VWAP & bands
Woodie Pivots — VWAP & bands

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Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate DeMark pivot points?: Compare the previous session's close with its open. If the close is lower, X = high + 2 × low + close; if higher, X = 2 × high + low + close; if equal, X = high + low + 2 × close. The pivot is X / 4, resistance is X / 2 minus the low, and support is X / 2 minus the high.
Why do DeMark pivots show only one resistance and one support?: The method is designed to produce a single pair of bounds for the coming session, not a ladder of levels. Publishing an R2 or R3 would mean inventing levels the method does not define. If you want multiple bands, the Fibonacci or Woodie pivot sets provide them.
What happens when the previous session closed exactly at its open?: The neutral branch applies: X = high + low + 2 × close, doubling the close instead of the high or the low. Exact equality between close and open is uncommon on liquid futures, but the calculation handles that case explicitly rather than falling back on one of the directional branches. The resulting pivot sits between what the up and down branches would have produced.