The Triangular Weighted Moving Average (TriW-MA) is included in the ‘Technical Indicator – Fight for Supremacy‘ so before we test it here is some information on how it is calculated. If you would like to use the Triangular Moving Average in Excel then you can download a free spreadsheet HERE.
The TriW-MA gets it name from the way it applies the weight to data; because the emphasis is on the values in the middle, the weighting takes the shape of a triangle. Below you can see how the weighting is applied to a 50 period TriW-MA, EMA and SMA:
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How To Calculate a Triangular Weighted Moving Average
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To calculate a Triangular Weighted Moving Average multiply each close price by the weight for that period, add it all up and divide the result by the sum of the weights. The weighting multiplier starts at 1 and increases by 1 until it peaks half way through the set before decreasing symmetrically back down to finish at 1 again.
Here is an example of a 3 period Triangular Weighted Moving Average:
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The same result can be achieved by using a double smoothed moving average AKA the Triangular Simple Moving Average.
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Triangular Weighted Moving Average Excel File
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An Excel Spreadsheet containing a Triangular Weighted Moving Average is available for FREE download. It contains the ‘basic’ version you can see above and a ‘fancy’ one that will automatically adjust to the length you specify. Find it at the following link near the bottom of the page under Downloads – Technical Indicators: Triangular Weighted Moving Average (TriW-MA). Please let us know if you find it useful.
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Triangular Moving Average and a Simple Moving Average
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Test Results
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We tested several different types of Weighted Moving Averages including the TriW-MA through 300 years of data across 16 global markets to reveal which is the best and if any of them are worth using in your trading systems. See the results – Weighted Moving Averages Put To The Test