A Donchian Channel is the simplest breakout indicator possible: the upper band is the highest high of the last N bars, the lower band is the lowest low. Vant8 uses the classic Turtle Trader configuration on Perp Trend Following — enter on a 20-bar high, exit on a 10-bar low — because it captures real breakouts without curve-fitting to a noisy oscillator.
The bands tell you where the recent extreme prices have been. A close above the upper band means today is breaking out to a level we have not seen in N bars. A close below the lower band means the opposite. There is nothing to interpret — it either broke out or it didn't.
The highest high over the entry lookback (default 20 bars). Close above it is a breakout to the upside.
The midpoint between the upper and lower bands. Surfaced for context — not used by the strategy logic.
The lowest low over the exit lookback (default 10 bars). Close below it is the exit signal for a long.
Vant8 ships the asymmetric configuration popularised by the Turtle Traders: a longer lookback to find an entry, a shorter lookback to confirm an exit. The asymmetry is on purpose — it lets winners run while cutting losers fast.
A new 20-bar high (long) or 20-bar low (short on perp) triggers a candidate entry. Most random ranges do not break their 20-bar high — when one does, it's a meaningful event.
A break below the 10-bar low closes an open long. The shorter window means the exit fires before a full reversal completes.
The Donchian read is computed inside the Perp Trend Following strategy itself rather than as a generic indicator output — because the breakout is the entry decision, not just a number on a chart. ATR sizes the stop; ADX gates the entry; Donchian fires it.
A breakout in a market with no trend strength is a textbook fake-out. Perp Trend Following requires ADX above its trend gate before treating a Donchian break as a valid entry.
Once the breakout fires, the stop is placed at a configurable ATR distance below entry. Adds are spaced at a fixed fraction of ATR for pyramiding.
A 20-bar high in a sideways market is just noise breaking out by a tick. Without an ADX gate, this is the textbook failure mode of the indicator — and the reason Perp Trend Following always pairs the two.
A close above the upper band means a breakout has happened — not how big it will be. ATR-based stops and pyramiding manage the distribution of outcomes; the indicator itself just fires the gun.
Every indicator Vant8 wires into a live signal has its own page. The ones not listed here are calculated in code but not used to generate a trade decision.
Momentum oscillator on a 0–100 scale. Flags overbought and oversold conditions.
Trend-and-momentum indicator built on the spread between two EMAs.
Simple and exponential averages, plus the crossover signal between a fast and slow MA.
Volatility measured in price units, gap-inclusive. Sizes stops and grid steps.
How strong a trend is, irrespective of direction. Decides whether to follow or fade.
A moving average with standard-deviation bands. Mean Reversion uses band touches.
%K and %D lines pinned to a 0–100 scale from the recent high–low range. Available as a Custom Strategy Builder rule.
The strategies listed above are deployed from the Strategies page on your dashboard. Each one ships with sensible defaults you can tune before deployment.