What does "repainting" in Forex mean? Examples

Repainting in Forex is a common expression referring to the repainting (or re-drawing) of a technical indicator.

A repainting indicator is an indicator that changes it's display about data as new price data (candles/bars) comes in. An example of this is the Zig Zag indicator which will change past placements as new price data comes in.

Why is it bad?

It's bad because the information is not reliable. A repainting indicator gives off the impression that the information that the indicator is displaying is highly accurate when it's not.
That saying, experienced traders who know how to work with certain repainting indicators such as the Zig Zag understand that this tool repaints, and is not an issue for them, as they will be using the Zig Zag as confirmation (confluence) with other technical analysis tools, fundamentals, price action or non-repainting indicators.

Why do indicators repaint?

Indicators will repaint due to a variety of reasons usually due to:

• Incompetent coding
• Being purposely designed to repaint (by scammers) in hopes that unassuming traders will fall for the backtests or the "examples" then purchase this indicator
• Cannot be coded as a non-repainting indicator

Are there any good non-repainting indicators?

Sure. Trusted coders like Mrtools and Mladen are specialists in developing non-repainting technical indicators, so it's always best to try and find a specific indicator made by them first, before you look for alternatives.

You can find a list of our most recommended non-repainting indicators here: Top 10: The Best Non-Repainting Forex Indicators for MT4 that really work.

How do you know if an indicator repaints?

The easiest way to find out if an indicator repaints is to:

• Place the indicator on a 1 minute chart
• Observe if it changes it's readings later as new price data comes in

As new price data comes in, do the arrows on the chart dissappear? Does the Oscillator change it's crossings or slopes later on after a few candles? These are common signs of repainting.

As explained by Jeff, code-wise, you can u spot repainters:

1. When bars are accessed in the wrong order
   
   • For example: for (int j = 0; j < limit; j++)
2. When there is a minus index
   • For example indicator0 = iCustom(NULL,0,"indi", 0, i-1)
     Indicates a reading in the future

If you're ever in doubt, post your indicator here: Does this indicator repaint? and our members will be able to confirm if it repaints or not.

Can you show me an example of how this looks like on a chart?

Yes. Below is an example of a repainting "arrow" type indicator from here.

In the animation below we can see that:

• The Green arrow tells us that we have a BUY signal
• After a few red candles the indicator repaints and will remove it's past BUY signal indication and replace it with a Red arrow to show a SELL indication
• The BUY signal is completely removed by the indicator (to make it look like it wasn't wrong and to look good in backtesting results)

Another live example can be seen in this post: Repainting indicator on a chart - Before and After screenshot.

I hope this answers trader's questions on what a repainting indicator is. We often get a lot of e-mails from new traders who are asking these questions so I've decided to respond by posting this up for those who are wondering what repainting is.

Mods if I've missed anything, please edit the post

hi Jimmy and experts,

First of all thank you a lot for detailed explanation about repainting indicators.

I have some noob questions about repainting indicator.

Say, i'm using a moving average indicator and it provides signals based on recent bullish/bearish movements and MA slope.

I was wondering,

1) if bar open price (or any form of open price like heiken ashi open) is used, MA doesn't change anything during bar lifetime because all calculations based on open price never gonna change again, and if signals emerged when bar opens, we can say it's 100% non repainting, do i understand it right?

2) if bar close price is used, offcourse MA will change while ticks coming in, and signals appear then disappear or even counter signals could happen, in this case, is it considered repainting?

3) to avoid above, if still close price is used, is it best practice that i always wait for current bar closed and see if there WAS a signal and do rest of work?

Thanks a ton in advance, teachers.

pointer wrote: Mon Jul 01, 2024 1:47 pm If still close price is used, is it best practice that i always wait for current bar closed and see if there WAS a signal and do rest of work?

Hey, nice to have you onboard.

Always remember: The Close price is what happened in the end.

If you're an aggressive trader, you'll see a signal form (while the current bar is still open) and take a trade based off the signal. Knowing that it may change as it hasn't "Closed" yet.

A conservative trader will wait and take the trade only once that bar has Closed, a signal is showing, and the next candlestick has begun.

Now, with a non-repainting indicator, if you wait for the current bar to Close and see a signal was made, you are 100% set. That signal will never change again.

However, if you notice the signal changes after the current bar has Closed (or even after a few bars later) it's a repainting indicator.

But I also should mention that not all repainting indicators should be regarded as trash. You can still use repainting indicators as good confirmation tools ie. Zig Zag, TMA Centered etc. when they are combined with a solid non-repainting indicator. There are many traders that use repainting indicators as secondary guides and successfully trade with them here