HighLowRange

The bar's high-low range as a fraction of its close: (high − low) / close — a scale-free single-bar volatility proxy.

Quick reference

Field	Value
Family	Price Statistics
Input type	Candle
Output type	f64
Output range	>= 0 (for positive prices)
Default parameters	none (stateless per-bar transform)
Warmup period	1
Interpretation	Larger = wider bar relative to price; an instant intrabar volatility read.

Formula

HighLowRange = (high − low) / close

The absolute range high − low grows with the nominal price level, so dividing by the close makes a 2 range on a 100 instrument (0.02) directly comparable to a 200 range on a 10000 one (0.02). It is the per-bar cousin of average-true-range style measures without the smoothing. A zero close carries no scale and yields 0.

Source: crates/wickra-core/src/indicators/high_low_range.rs.

Parameters

None. The constructor is HighLowRange::new().

Inputs / Outputs

From crates/wickra-core/src/indicators/high_low_range.rs:

use wickra::{Candle, HighLowRange, Indicator};
// HighLowRange: Input = Candle, Output = f64
const _: fn(&mut HighLowRange, Candle) -> Option<f64> = <HighLowRange as Indicator>::update;

Node update(open, high, low, close) / batch(open[], high[], low[], close[]); Python update(candle) / batch(open, high, low, close) → 1-D ndarray.

Warmup

warmup_period() == 1; the unit test emits_from_first_candle pins it.

Edge cases

• Reference value. (104 − 98) / 100 = 0.06; pinned by reference_value.
• Zero-range bar. high == low yields 0; pinned by zero_range_bar_yields_zero.
• Zero close. A zero close yields 0 (no scale); pinned by zero_close_yields_zero.
• Non-negativity. Output is >= 0 for positive prices; pinned by output_is_non_negative.

Examples

Rust

use wickra::{Candle, HighLowRange, Indicator};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let mut hlr = HighLowRange::new();
    let c = Candle::new(99.0, 104.0, 98.0, 100.0, 10.0, 0)?;
    println!("{:?}", hlr.update(c));
    Ok(())
}

Output:

Some(0.06)

Python

import wickra as ta

hlr = ta.HighLowRange()
print(hlr.batch([99.0], [104.0], [98.0], [100.0]))

Output:

[0.06]

Node

const ta = require('wickra');
const hlr = new ta.HighLowRange();
console.log(hlr.update(99, 104, 98, 100));

Output:

0.06

Interpretation

HighLowRange is an instant, scale-free volatility read for a single bar: useful as a quick intrabar volatility gauge or as a normaliser for other features across instruments of different price. For a smoothed, gap-aware volatility use Atr / Natr; for the realised volatility of a return path use RealizedVolatility.

Common pitfalls

• Normalised by close, not open or typical price. A bar that closes far from its midpoint divides by a slightly different denominator than an ATR would; the difference is small but non-zero.

References

A simple normalised true-range; cf. Wilder's ATR (1978) for the smoothed, gap-aware version.

See also

• Indicator-Natr — normalised average true range.
• Indicator-RealizedVolatility — path volatility.
• Indicators-Overview — the full taxonomy.