Kaufman Adaptive MA Trend (KAMA)¶
What it does: Follows price crosses of an adaptive average that slows down in choppy markets. KAMA is an average that moves slowly when the market is noisy and speeds up when it trends. This buys when the price crosses above KAMA and sells when it crosses back below, or at the stop-loss.
Style: Trend · Difficulty: Intermediate · Risk: medium · Ready: 2 of 2 variants
When people use it: It tends to work in trending markets.
Where it struggles: It struggles in sideways markets; it whipsaws less than a normal average, but still some.
Markets it was written for: BTC, ETH, majors. Timeframes: 4h (1h-1d).
Open it in the Strategy Library (on the Strategies page), pick a variant, adjust the settings and press Add to my strategies. It becomes your own strategy: edit, backtest or trade it like any other.
Long¶
Follows price crosses of an adaptive average that slows down in choppy markets.
Labels: Trend Following, Long, Spot, Intermediate, Medium
- Direction: Buy (long) · Market: spot
- Trigger: On candle close · Main timeframe: Auto (4h)
Entry
- IF Price crosses above KAMA(10,2,30) (4h)
- UNLESS CHOP(14) > 61.8 (4h)
Exit: Indicator-Based Exit
- IF Price crosses below KAMA(10,2,30) (4h)
- Loss controls: Stop-loss % 6%
Settings
| Setting | Default | Editable | What changing it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Efficiency length | 10 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | How many candles KAMA uses to judge whether the market is trending or noisy. Shorter reacts faster (more crosses); longer is steadier (fewer crosses). Changes both the entry and the exit cross. |
| Fast setting | 2 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | How fast KAMA can move in a clean trend. Lower lets it follow trends more tightly (earlier exits); higher keeps it slower. |
| Slow setting | 30 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | How slow KAMA moves in noise. Higher keeps it flatter in choppy markets (fewer whipsaws); lower makes it react more. |
How it works (as shown in the app)
- KAMA is an average that moves slowly when the market is noisy and speeds up when it trends. This buys when the price crosses above KAMA and sells when it crosses back below, or at the stop-loss.
- It skips trades when the Choppiness Index is above 61.8, meaning the market is ranging.
- It tends to work in trending markets.
- It struggles in sideways markets; it whipsaws less than a normal average, but still some.
- On the 4-hour chart this trades often. In sideways markets many trades are small losses as the price flips back and forth across KAMA.
Short (perp)¶
Shorts price crosses below an adaptive average that slows down in choppy markets.
Labels: Trend Following, Short, Futures, Medium, Backtest Only
- Direction: Sell (short) · Market: swap
- Trigger: On candle close · Main timeframe: Auto (4h)
Entry
- IF Price crosses below KAMA(10,2,30) (4h)
- UNLESS CHOP(14) > 61.8 (4h)
Exit: Indicator-Based Exit
- IF Price crosses above KAMA(10,2,30) (4h)
- Loss controls: Stop-loss % 6%
Settings
| Setting | Default | Editable | What changing it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Efficiency length | 10 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | How many candles KAMA uses to judge whether the market is trending or noisy. Shorter reacts faster (more crosses); longer is steadier (fewer crosses). Changes both the entry and the exit cross. |
| Fast setting | 2 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | How fast KAMA can move in a clean trend. Lower lets it follow trends more tightly (earlier exits); higher keeps it slower. |
| Slow setting | 30 | Yes (sets 2 fields) | How slow KAMA moves in noise. Higher keeps it flatter in choppy markets (fewer whipsaws); lower makes it react more. |
How it works (as shown in the app)
- KAMA is an average that moves slowly when the market is noisy and speeds up when it trends. This shorts when the price crosses below KAMA and buys back when it crosses back above, or at the stop-loss.
- It skips trades when the Choppiness Index is above 61.8, meaning the market is ranging.
- It tends to work in downtrending markets.
- It struggles in sideways markets; it whipsaws less than a normal average, but still some.
- On the 4-hour chart this trades often. In sideways markets many trades are small losses as the price flips back and forth across KAMA.
- Shorting means you profit if the price falls and lose if it rises.
- Suggested leverage is at most 3x. On isolated margin, at 3x the exchange closes the position (liquidation) if the price moves about 33% against you, and you lose the margin you put into it. Keep your stop well inside that.
- For now this version runs in backtests only; paper and live futures trading are coming later.
Warnings¶
- "Backtest only for now: paper and live trading of shorts are coming later.": shown on short variants. They need perpetual or futures pairs.
- Some variants suggest leverage. On isolated margin a liquidation loses the margin in that position; keep any stop well inside the liquidation distance (the Trade Builder warns you when it isn't).
- Once added, the strategy's conditions get the usual condition checks. Messages show under each condition on the entry / exit conditions screen; setting errors start with the indicator's short name (for example "MACD: Fast must be between 1 and 1000") and block saving, while the other warnings never block saving and repeat in the strategy's Entry or Exit section. See the indicator pages below for each one.
- "You already have this strategy with these settings (…). Change a setting to add another copy.": shown on the variant's page in the Strategy Library when you already added this variant with the same settings.
Good to know¶
- After you add it, the strategy keeps the library's trigger and an Auto main timeframe; you can change both in the builder. Nothing links it back to the library, except that the builder still shows the library's explanations in the info bubbles.
- Changing a setting before adding it also changes the saved name, so you can tell copies apart.
- Past results don't predict future ones. Try it in a backtest and on paper before using real money.
- Indicators used: CHOP, KAMA.