Direct Answer
DeMark pivot points use the relationship between the prior session's open and close to choose a weighting, then compute one pivot with a single support and resistance level for the next session. The weighting leans toward the session's low after a down day and toward the high after an up day. Only one support and one resistance level are produced, and the weighting rule is a convention.
Pivot Points DeMark: Formula, Meaning, Signals, Examples and How to Use It
How Is Pivot Points DeMark Calculated?
DeMark pivot points use the relationship between the prior session's open and close to choose a weighting, then compute one pivot with a single support and resistance level for the next session.
Formula: If C<O: X=H+2L+C; if C>O: X=2H+L+C; if C=O: X=H+L+2C. P=X/4, R1=X/2-L, S1=X/2-H
Inputs:
- Prior session open
- Prior session high
- Prior session low
- Prior session close
Worked example. With open 102, high 105, low 97 and close 100 (a down session), the first resistance level R1 is 102.50. The inputs are illustrative numbers, not market data.
Reading it. The weighting leans toward the session's low after a down day and toward the high after an up day. R1 and S1 are reference levels for the next session, not forecasts.
Limits. Only one support and one resistance level are produced, and the weighting rule is a convention. Markets frequently trade through the levels.
What is Pivot Points DeMark?
DeMark pivot points use the relationship between the prior session's open and close to choose a weighting, then compute one pivot with a single support and resistance level for the next session.
How to use Pivot Points DeMark
The weighting leans toward the session's low after a down day and toward the high after an up day. R1 and S1 are reference levels for the next session, not forecasts. A reading alone is never a buy or sell signal; it needs context from price structure, volume, volatility and the broader market regime.
Strengths
- The open-versus-close comparison lets the prior session's direction shape the weighting, which the standard average of high, low and close ignores.
- The three branch formulas always reduce to one pivot, one support and one resistance, giving a compact set of levels.
- Reproducible when the formula and data convention are fixed.
Weaknesses and limitations
- Using the prior open requires a consistently defined session boundary, and a market with no clear open makes the case selection ambiguous.
- A close just above or below the open flips the weighting formula, so nearly identical sessions can produce noticeably different levels.
- Correlated indicators can create false confidence by repeating the same underlying information.
Editorial and risk note
This page is educational content, not individualized investment advice. It should not imply guaranteed prediction, accuracy or outperformance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Pivot Points DeMark a buy or sell signal?
No. The weighting leans toward the session's low after a down day and toward the high after an up day. Only one support and one resistance level are produced, and the weighting rule is a convention. A trade built on it still needs a trigger, an invalidation rule, a position size and realistic execution assumptions.
What is the best setting for Pivot Points DeMark?
Pivot Points DeMark is computed from prior session open; prior session high; prior session low, so the choices that matter are the data convention and the window it is read over. Test those across instruments, regimes and out-of-sample periods instead of fitting one historical winner.
Can Pivot Points DeMark be used by itself?
Only one support and one resistance level are produced, and the weighting rule is a convention. Markets frequently trade through the levels. For that reason it is read next to measures of direction, participation, valuation, liquidity and risk, not alone.
Does Pivot Points DeMark work on every timeframe?
The calculation can be run on any bar size, but behavior is not portable: a reading on a five-minute chart describes a very different market window from the same reading on a daily chart. Validate the exact timeframe before relying on it.
Why does Pivot Points DeMark give false signals?
Using the prior open requires a consistently defined session boundary, and a market with no clear open makes the case selection ambiguous. A close just above or below the open flips the weighting formula, so nearly identical sessions can produce noticeably different levels. Lag, noise and regime changes add to this, because market participants react to new information after the reading is calculated.
How should Pivot Points DeMark be backtested?
Rebuild Pivot Points DeMark from prior session open using point-in-time data, write the rules before testing, include delisted securities where relevant, model realistic fills and costs, reserve a validation sample and compare with a simpler baseline.