NC Pivot Analyzer Description
NC Pivot Analyzer is a pivot point indicator for NinjaTrader 8, and it comes with the full C# source code. Not the daily floor pivots: it finds swing pivots, the peaks and troughs, on price or on any indicator plot. Most pivot code uses a hard-coded candle pattern, which never worked well for me on smooth indicator lines, so I wrote my own hill size and hill drop algorithm. NC Divergence Expert uses the same detection. One honest limitation: a pivot is confirmed only after the bars on its right have formed, so it shows up a few bars late.
How a pivot is found. A peak needs Hill Size Bars on each side (2 by default), each lower than the peak by at least Min Drop Size. A trough is the same upside down, and a flat top or bottom counts as one pivot. In Indicator mode (the default) it reads the input series you pick, and Min Drop Size is in that series' units (1 by default). In Price mode it uses highs and lows, and Min Drop Size is in ticks. Then it counts: a peak above the previous one counts up (+1, +2, +3), a lower one counts down (-1, -2, -3), an equal one keeps the count, and troughs get their own counter.
What you see. Every pivot gets a diamond on the price chart, green above a peak and red below a trough, even when the pivots come from an indicator. The counter sits in its own panel. Pivots Plot shows the peak counter, the trough counter (the default) or both: one counter as dark green and dark red bars, both as two lines. Set Main Plot to Signals and you get arrows instead of diamonds: up when the counter that just changed moves above the other, down when it drops below. It calculates on bar close.
How to use it. A trough counter at +3 means three higher lows in a row, and the first -1 tells you the structure changed. Try it on RSI or a moving average as well as on price; the same rules work on any line. Raise Hill Size Bars for fewer, bigger pivots.
Make it yours. Use it as is, learn from the code, or change it yourself or with AI like Claude. Both counters and a Signals plot (1, -1 or 0) are already exposed for strategies. You could add an alert when a counter flips sign, use the counters as a trend filter, or add your own rule to the pivot test. The pivot search is one small method, so it's easy to lift into your own indicators. Have some good trades!
