Alan Hull's 2005 design folds two weighted moving averages together to suppress lag without surrendering smoothness — an attempt to reconcile two qualities that, mathematically, cannot both win.
The Hull Moving Average (HMA) was published in 2005 by Australian trader Alan Hull. The design is greedy in its ambition: suppress the lag that plagues every moving average, while keeping the line smooth enough to not be thrown around by intraday noise.
The two goals do not usually coexist. Shorten the period and the line reacts faster but is shaken by every wick. Lengthen it and the line is calm but always running behind. Hull's contribution is an elegant trick — stacking weighted moving averages (WMA) into one another — that approximates a resolution. It is not a complete resolution; the cost is hidden elsewhere, as we'll see. But visually, the line comes out remarkably composed.
The HMA finds its audience among short-term traders — scalpers and day traders — who want to catch turns at the candle level. Common parameters are 9, 16, and 21.
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