Camarilla Pivots

Intraday reference levels spaced from the previous close by fixed fractions of yesterday's range.

What it is

Camarilla pivots are a set of intraday support and resistance levels computed from the previous session's high, low, and close. Unlike standard floor pivots, which build everything around the averaged pivot point (H + L + C) / 3, Camarilla levels are centered on the previous close and spaced by fixed fractions of the previous day's range using the coefficients 1.1/12, 1.1/6, 1.1/4, and 1.1/2. The method is usually attributed to a bond trader named Nick Scott in 1989, but that origin story is unverifiable marketing — no primary source exists, and the 1.1 coefficient has no published derivation. What is verifiable is the arithmetic: the levels are fixed, deterministic, and computable before the session opens, which is why they remain popular as pre-planned reference prices. They describe yesterday's range projected onto today's chart; they carry no information about whether price will actually respect them, and any apparent respect may be coincidence or self-fulfilling attention. This is educational content only, not financial advice, and trading involves risk of loss.

How it works

Take the previous completed session's high H, low L, and close C, and compute the range R = H − L. The four resistance levels step away from the close as R1 = C + R × 1.1/12, R2 = C + R × 1.1/6, R3 = C + R × 1.1/4, and R4 = C + R × 1.1/2, with supports S1–S4 mirrored below the close using the same coefficients. The spacing has a simple internal structure: R1, R2, and R3 sit at one, two, and three multiples of R × 1.1/12 from the close, while R4 jumps to six multiples — double the R3 distance — which is why R3/S3 and R4/S4 are conventionally treated as the 'reversal' and 'breakout' pairs. The 1.1 factor itself is a convention inherited from the original promotional material, not a derived constant. The main implementation trap is data access: on an intraday chart, requesting daily H/L/C naively with lookahead enabled reads today's still-forming daily bar and repaints. The correct non-repainting pattern requests the daily series offset by one bar with lookahead off, so the levels are built only from the last completed session. Standard floor pivots differ structurally: they derive R1 and S1 from the averaged pivot P = (H + L + C) / 3, while Camarilla hangs every level off the previous close alone.

How traders read it

• S3 and R3 are conventionally watched as the outer edges of a 'normal' day — they sit about 27.5% of yesterday's range from its close. They are scaled projections, not barriers.
• R4 and S4, at 55% of yesterday's range from the close, are the conventional breakout references; a session trading beyond them has exceeded the framework's 'expected' range.
• Price holding inside S1/R1 (about 9% of yesterday's range) describes a session that has barely moved relative to yesterday.
• All eight levels are fixed for the entire session — nothing recalculates intraday, which makes them easy to plan around and easy to audit afterward.
• On gap days price can open beyond R4 or S4, in which case the whole ladder may be irrelevant from the first bar.
• Plot Camarilla and standard floor pivots together and they will disagree — they are different formulas over the same three inputs, and neither is more 'correct'.

Common settings

The previous daily session on an intraday chart is the standard configuration; some traders anchor to weekly or monthly bars for higher-timeframe ladders. The 1.1 coefficient with divisors 12, 6, 4, and 2 is the common convention, but platforms occasionally differ in how they derive R4/S4 or add R5/S5 extensions, so check the exact formula your platform uses. The session definition matters too: exchange time versus UTC changes which bars count as 'yesterday' and therefore shifts every level.

Strengths

• Fully deterministic and computable before the session opens — the levels can be verified by hand with four multiplications.
• Static all session: correctly coded levels never move intraday, so there is nothing to repaint once the day begins.
• Centered on the previous close, which gives a clean, well-defined reference distinct from averaged floor pivots.
• Easy to audit across platforms because the formula is short — discrepancies point immediately to session or formula differences.
• Pairs naturally with explicit range statistics: each level is a stated fraction of yesterday's range, so its meaning is transparent.

Pitfalls to watch

• Folklore inputs: the 1.1 coefficient has no published derivation and the origin story is unverifiable, so the levels rest on convention rather than any market mechanism.
• No intrinsic support or resistance: at best the levels are self-fulfilling focal points; there is no evidence price is obliged to react at them.
• Gap days break the framework — an open beyond R4/S4 leaves the ladder describing a session that never applied.
• Repaint trap: naive scripts that request daily data with lookahead enabled read the still-forming daily bar, producing levels a live trader could never have known.
• Session and timezone sensitivity: a different session boundary changes H, L, and C, and therefore every level, which is a common source of cross-platform mismatches.
• No predictive power: the levels project yesterday's range onto today. They do not forecast price, and no indicator removes the risk of loss.

Pine v6 example

//@version=6
indicator("Camarilla Pivots Example", overlay = true)

tf = input.timeframe("D", "Pivot Timeframe")

[pH, pL, pC] = request.security(syminfo.tickerid, tf, [high[1], low[1], close[1]], lookahead = barmerge.lookahead_off)

r = pH - pL
r4 = pC + r * 1.1 / 2
r3 = pC + r * 1.1 / 4
r2 = pC + r * 1.1 / 6
r1 = pC + r * 1.1 / 12
s1 = pC - r * 1.1 / 12
s2 = pC - r * 1.1 / 6
s3 = pC - r * 1.1 / 4
s4 = pC - r * 1.1 / 2

plot(r4, "R4", color = color.red, style = plot.style_linebr)
plot(r3, "R3", color = color.orange, style = plot.style_linebr)
plot(r2, "R2", color = color.new(color.orange, 50), style = plot.style_linebr)
plot(r1, "R1", color = color.new(color.orange, 70), style = plot.style_linebr)
plot(s1, "S1", color = color.new(color.teal, 70), style = plot.style_linebr)
plot(s2, "S2", color = color.new(color.teal, 50), style = plot.style_linebr)
plot(s3, "S3", color = color.teal, style = plot.style_linebr)
plot(s4, "S4", color = color.green, style = plot.style_linebr)

Pro tip: Verify two things before relying on any Camarilla script: that it requests the previous session's data with the offset-plus-lookahead-off pattern (so the levels never peek at the forming daily bar), and that its session definition matches your instrument's actual trading day. If you want to know whether the levels add anything, log how price behaves at them versus at arbitrary levels the same distance from the close — the comparison is sobering more often than not. Educational information only, not financial advice; trading involves risk of loss.

Educational only — not financial advice, not a recommendation to trade. No indicator is predictive; trading involves substantial risk of loss.