Pivot Point Calculator

A pivot point calculator turns the previous period's high, low and close into reference levels for the next period: the pivot, resistance levels R1 to R3 above it and support levels S1 to S3 below (Camarilla adds R4 and S4). Every level is plain arithmetic on three or four past prices, so two people who enter the same prices and pick the same method always get the same numbers. Daily, weekly and monthly pivots use the same formulas with different inputs.

The calculator returns five systems from the same inputs: classic (floor), Fibonacci, Woodie, Camarilla and DeMark. It describes price levels, not your position: for the gain or loss on a trade use the Stock Profit Calculator, and for your break-even after buying in several lots the Stock Average Calculator.

What pivot points are, and what they are not

The classic set is often called floor pivots because floor traders could work it out by hand before the opening bell, using only the prior session's high, low and close. The pivot marks the center of the previous period's trading, and the other levels are spaced by the size of the previous range. Charting platforms now draw them automatically.

Pivot points are not a forecast. Every input is a past price, and a level can hold, break or be ignored completely. As FINRA's guidance on day trading puts it, markets can be unpredictable and prices might not move in the direction you expect. This page explains the arithmetic and makes no claim that any method improves trading results.

The pivot point formulas for all five methods

H, L and C are the previous period's high, low and close, and O is its open:

The Fibonacci ratio 0.618 is roughly the reciprocal of the golden ratio, 1.618, and 0.382 is 1 minus 0.618. Camarilla is the only set anchored on the close, and DeMark, named after the technical analyst Tom DeMark, is the only one that needs the open.

Worked example 1: daily levels for a stock

A stock opened at 148.90, traded between 147.60 and 152.40 and closed at 151.20. The range is 4.80, and the classic pivot is (152.40 + 147.60 + 151.20) / 3 = 150.40. Then R1 = 2 × 150.40 − 147.60 = 153.20, S1 = 2 × 150.40 − 152.40 = 148.40, R2 = 150.40 + 4.80 = 155.20 and S2 = 145.60. The outer pair is R3 = 152.40 + 2 × 2.80 = 158.00 and S3 = 147.60 − 2 × 2.00 = 143.60. The Fibonacci set steps out from the same pivot by 0.382 × 4.80 = 1.8336 and 0.618 × 4.80 = 2.9664. All five methods for that day:

Classic R3 and S3 sit 14.40 apart, three times the range, while all eight Camarilla levels fit inside a 5.28 band around the close (the 150.40 in parentheses is the classic pivot, for reference). DeMark counts the high twice because the stock closed above its open: X = 2 × 152.40 + 147.60 + 151.20 = 603.60, so P = 150.90, R1 = 301.80 − 147.60 = 154.20 and S1 = 301.80 − 152.40 = 149.40.

Worked example 2: weekly levels for EUR/USD

Weekly pivots use last week's prices. Suppose EUR/USD opened the week at 1.0904, reached 1.1010, fell to 1.0890 and closed at 1.0966; set four decimal places. The range is 0.0120, or 120 pips, and 1.1 × 0.0120 = 0.0132, so the Camarilla steps from the close are 0.0011, 0.0022, 0.0033 and 0.0066: R1 = 1.0977, R2 = 1.0988, R3 = 1.0999, R4 = 1.1032, S1 = 1.0955, S2 = 1.0944, S3 = 1.0933 and S4 = 1.0900.

The week closed up, so DeMark uses X = 2 × 1.1010 + 1.0890 + 1.0966 = 4.3876, giving P = 1.0969, R1 = 1.1048 and S1 = 1.0928. The classic pivot is 1.0955 and the Woodie pivot on the close is 1.0958. If the new week opens at 1.0974 and Woodie uses that open, P = (1.1010 + 1.0890 + 2 × 1.0974) / 4 = 1.0962, with R1 = 1.1034 and S1 = 1.0914. The EUR/USD preset loads these prices.

How the closing price moves each pivot

Here the high stays at 110, the low at 100 and the open at 104, and only the close changes. Every figure comes from the formulas the calculator runs.

Each 2.00 step in the close moves the classic pivot by 0.67, the Woodie pivot by 1.00 and every Camarilla level by the full 2.00. DeMark's pivot moves 0.50 per step but jumps as the close crosses the open, when the formula switches from counting the low twice to counting the high twice. That switch alone is worth a quarter of the range, 2.50 here.

Choosing between the five methods

No method is more correct than another; each weights the same prices differently:

• Classic: the original floor-trader set and the widest, often labeled standard or traditional.
• Fibonacci: the classic pivot with levels at fixed fractions of the range, so R1 and S1 are equally far from P.
• Woodie: extra weight on the close, or on the new open, so the pivot follows the latest price.
• Camarilla: anchored on the close, with R3 and S3 at 27.5% of the range and R4 and S4 at 55%.
• DeMark: one support and one resistance, placed by whether the period closed up or down.

Before comparing levels with someone else, agree on the method and the variant; most disagreements about where R1 sits are really about the formula.

Which high, low and close to use

Use a completed period: the prior session, week or calendar month. The session definition matters:

• US stocks: the NYSE core trading session runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern, and extended-hours trades change the high and low. The 1:00 p.m. early closes on November 27 and December 24, 2026 shorten the range.
• Forex and crypto: trading never stops, so each platform picks a daily cutoff, for example 5:00 p.m. New York time or midnight UTC.
• Futures: the official daily settlement price can differ from the last trade, and platforms differ in which one they treat as the close.

How to use this calculator

1. Pick daily, weekly or monthly. The math is the same; the labels remind you which prices to enter.
2. Enter the previous high, low and close, plus the previous open for DeMark.
3. Choose a method. The large number is the pivot (for Camarilla, the close), and the ladder lists every level.
4. Use 2 decimal places for most stocks and 4 or 5 for currency pairs.
5. Optionally add the current price to see the nearest support and resistance.
6. Switch Woodie to the current open if your platform builds it that way.

The formula card shows each step with your numbers, so you can check a hand calculation or a chart line by line.

Who this calculator is for

Day traders use daily pivots to map the session before the open, and swing traders often prefer weekly levels. Students check hand calculations with the formula card, and anyone comparing two platforms can use the variant switches to see why their lines differ. Long-term investors are better served by the Stock Return Calculator or the XIRR Calculator, which measure what a holding actually earned.

Key terms

• Pivot point (P): the central reference, usually the average of the prior high, low and close.
• Resistance and support: the levels above (R1 to R4) and below (S1 to S4) the pivot.
• Range: the prior high minus the prior low; it sets the spacing of most levels.
• Session: the trading hours that define one period's open, high, low and close.
• Pip: a move of 0.0001 in most currency pairs, so a 0.0120 range is 120 pips.

Tips and what changes the levels

• The range sets the spacing: double it and every gap doubles.
• The close moves the center, by a third for the classic pivot and one for one for Camarilla.
• Weekly and monthly levels sit farther apart than daily ones because their ranges are wider.
• Round only the final levels, never the pivot.
• Recompute after the period closes, and note the method and variant you used.

Limitations and risk

Pivots ignore volume, news, earnings dates, gaps and the broader trend, and a gap at the open can put the price beyond R2 or S2 before the first trade. They also treat a currency pair, a small-cap stock and an index future exactly alike.

On short time frames, know your account's rules. FINRA replaced the pattern day trader rule and its $25,000 minimum equity requirement with intraday margin standards that took effect on June 4, 2026, and firms may phase them in through October 20, 2027. The SEC warns that day traders typically suffer severe financial losses in their first months and should risk only money they can afford to lose.

Related calculators

• The Stock Profit Calculator finds the gain or loss on a trade after commissions and taxes.
• The Stock Average Calculator finds your average cost and break-even after several buys.
• The Crypto Profit Calculator and the Black-Scholes Calculator cover crypto trades and options.
• The XIRR Calculator annualizes the return on deposits and withdrawals made on different dates.

Sources

The five pivot systems are fixed arithmetic definitions, and every level on this page was computed with the calculator's own code. Market rules and session times come from:

• FINRA, Day Trading (investor page dated June 4, 2026).
• FINRA, Understanding the New Intraday Margin Requirements (April 20, 2026): effective June 4, 2026, transition through October 20, 2027.
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Day Trading: Your Dollars at Risk.
• New York Stock Exchange, Holidays and Trading Hours: core session 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET and the 2026 early closes.