PPAO - Propagator Price Action Oscillator
How PPAO works in one cycle (what it does every candle)
PPAO has 3 moving parts that run every bar:
1) It measures new candle pressure (the “push”)
This is the forcing term.
Return (ret): did price go up or down from last close?
Body: did the candle close above or below its open?
CLV: did the candle close near the high or near the low of its range?
With Option B, the “price action push” is directional:
Body is positive on bullish candles, negative on bearish candles.
CLV is:
near +1 if the candle closes near the high (buying strength),
near -1 if it closes near the low (selling strength).
So a candle that closes weak (near the low) pushes PPAO downward even if the candle range is large.
2) It decides how much to remember vs forget (the “friction”)
This is damping / decay.
High volatility (noisy market) → forget faster
Low volatility (cleaner market) → remember longer
So PPAO adapts: in chop it won’t hold bias for long; in smooth trends it will.
3) It updates a hidden “momentum engine” (state)
Internally it keeps two numbers (p and q) that store the market’s impulse with memory.
Every candle:
it shrinks the old state (decay),
rotates it a bit (momentum/volatility creates oscillation),
then adds the candle push (forcing).
Finally, it converts that hidden state into a 0–100 line:
> 50 means the state is aligned bullish,
< 50 means it’s aligned bearish.
The image below will give you an example of a deep analysis using the Propagator Price Action Oscillator (PPAO).
PPAO below 30
What that means mechanically
Below 30 = bearish impulse extreme.
It happens when the recent candles are consistently “bearish pressure” according to the forcing inputs:
returns are negative and/or
candles close weak inside their range (CLV negative) and/or
bodies are bearish (close < open)
Also, if volatility is elevated, damping can make this flip faster and stay extreme during a strong impulse.
What it means behaviorally
PPAO < 30 is not “prediction.” It is diagnosis:
“Recent candle pressure has been strongly bearish.”
This can show up in two common market contexts:
Continuation context
Price is breaking structure down, and candles keep closing weak → PPAO stays < 30.
Distribution / hidden weakness context (important)
Price may look stable or near a high, but candles are repeatedly closing poorly inside their ranges (negative CLV).
That makes PPAO drop under 30 even if price hasn’t collapsed yet.
That second case is exactly why Option B (Body + CLV) is useful: it can flag weak closes / selling absorption earlier than “price-only” oscillators.
PPAO above 70
What that means mechanically
Above 70 = bullish impulse extreme.
It occurs when the forcing inputs are strongly positive:
returns are positive and/or
candles close strong inside their range (CLV positive) and/or
bodies are bullish (close > open)
If volatility is not exploding, damping won’t erase the accumulated bullish state quickly, so PPAO can stay above 70 during sustained buying pressure.
What it means behaviorally
Again: not a prophecy, but an impulse read:
“Recent candle pressure has been strongly bullish.”
Two common contexts:
Trend continuation
Price is pushing higher and closes are strong → PPAO remains > 70.
Exhaustion risk
If price is hitting major resistance/liquidity and you start seeing weaker closes (CLV drops) while PPAO stops making new highs → that’s where reversals begin to appear.
The key takeaway using both images
PPAO extremes are best understood as:
Below 30: “Sellers are currently dominating candle pressure.”
Above 70: “Buyers are currently dominating candle pressure.”
Whether that dominance leads to continuation or reversal depends on what price does next (structure + where you are on the chart). PPAO is measuring pressure, not guaranteeing outcome.
Pine Script® Indikator
