Bull and Bear Power

Bull Power and Bear Power measure the strength of buyers and sellers separately. Bull Power looks at how far above the day’s exponential moving average (EMA) the buyers managed to push the high. Bear Power looks at how far below the EMA the sellers managed to push the low. Both use a 13-period EMA by default.

Bull Power is normally positive — the high of the day usually sits above the EMA. When it turns negative, it means even the buyers’ best effort during the day could not push the price above the moving average. That is a sign of serious weakness.

Bear Power is normally negative — the low of the day usually sits below the EMA. When it turns positive, sellers could not push the price below the moving average at any point during the day, which signals strength.

The trend of each matters more than the absolute reading. Bull Power declining from high values means buyers are losing enthusiasm, even if the price is still going up.

The classic setup is to combine both with a moving average trend filter. First confirm the trend using the 13-period EMA: only consider buying if it is rising. Then look for Bear Power to be negative but climbing — this means sellers are losing control during a pullback in an uptrend.

The sell setup is the mirror: EMA trending down, Bull Power positive but falling, meaning buyers are making weaker attempts to rally.