PivotHigh — Pivot High

A local high with equal numbers of lower highs on each side. It arrives late by construction: the confirmation needs the bars to the right, so the flag fires half a window after the pivot bar itself. That is the honest version — it does not repaint.

Signature

PivotHigh(window, on=<source>)

Argument	Type	Required	Notes
window	int Param or literal	Yes	Total bars in the window; use an odd number. Default 5 (two bars either side), bounds 3–101.
on=	symbol	No	Source symbol. Defaults to the trade symbol. Reads the high.

Formula

The centre bar of the window is strictly higher than every other bar in it.

Warmup

window bars; 0 until then.

Reading the value

ph.value
ph > 0

The flag refers to the bar (window − 1) / 2 bars ago, not the current bar.

Example

class PivotResistance(Strategy):
    """Enter on a close above the most recent confirmed pivot high."""
    trade = Symbol()
    sizing = FixedCapital()

    def execute(self):
        ph = PivotHigh(5, on=self.trade)
        dh = DonchianHighTrue(20, on=self.trade)
        if ph.value > 0 and self.trade.close >= dh.value_at(1) and self.trade.is_flat:
            self.buy(self.trade, reason="Break above a confirmed pivot")
        if self.trade.close < dh.value * 0.95 and self.trade.is_long:
            self.sell(self.trade, self.trade.position, reason="Stop")

Notes

• The lag is the whole caveat. With window = 5 the signal is two bars late. A version without the lag would have to look at future bars, which is what makes most published pivot indicators repaint.
• Uses strict inequality, so a tie anywhere in the window suppresses the pivot.
• Proven by an assert-via-trade run on SPY daily (matched a strategy-side five-bar reference exactly on every bar; zero alarm trades).