{"id":5454,"date":"2020-08-27T18:44:40","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T15:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roboforex.com\/blog\/?p=5454"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:52:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:52:56","slug":"trading-with-the-donchian-channel-indicator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roboforex.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/27\/trading-with-the-donchian-channel-indicator\/","title":{"rendered":"Trading with the Donchian Channel Indicator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this review, we will get acquainted with a quite simple and useful indicator<\/a> called Donchian Channel. This is the indicator that the famous Turtle trend strategy<\/a> is based on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>How does the Donchian Channel work?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Donchian Channel is quite a simple channel indicator reflecting the borders of price fluctuation in a preset time interval. The indicator was named after its creator, a famous exchange trader of Armenian origin Richard Donchian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The indicator looks like a price channel with an upper and lower borders, inside which the quotation fluctuate. To draw a border, the Donchian Channel calculates the latest extremes, taking the highest high and the lowest low of the period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The indicator acquired popularity after a trend strategy called Turtle Trading System was based on it. This famous strategy by Richard Dennis uses a breakaway of the Donchian Channel’s border with the period of 20 days as the entry point. A group of beginner traders demonstrated good results following this strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In essence, the Donchian Channel may be called an indicator of volatility <\/a>because it is based on calculating the price range based on recent highs and lows. The wider the channel, the higher the current volatility<\/a>; when the channel narrows down, the volatility of the instrument temporarily decreases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"<\/a>
Donchian Channel indicator<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Installing and setting up the indicator<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Donchian Channel is included not in every trading terminal; hence, you might need to download a file of the indicator and set it up in your terminal. You can download the indicator for MetaTrader 4<\/a> by a link in the end of this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To install the indicator, copy the file to the Indicators<\/a> folder. Via the Main Menu, open File\/Open data catalog\/MQL 4\/Indicators, copy the file, and restart the terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, the Donchian Channel will appear on the list of user indicators and will become available for the charts of your instruments: open Insert\/Indicators\/User\/Donchian Channel. Or just left-click the indicator in the Navigate window and drag to the chart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The calculations are quite simple:<\/p>\n\n\n\n