MidPrice

Midpoint Price (MIDPRICE) — the average of the highest high and the lowest low over the last period candles.

Quick reference

Field	Value
Family	Price Statistics
Input type	Candle (uses high, low)
Output type	f64
Output range	unbounded; bounded by the window's high/low extremes
Default parameters	period is required
Warmup period	period
Interpretation	The centre of the recent high/low range — the Donchian channel centre line as a standalone scalar.

Formula

For t >= period - 1 (after warmup):

MIDPRICE = (highest(high, period) + lowest(low, period)) / 2

Unlike MedianPrice, which averages a single bar's own high and low, MIDPRICE averages the window extremes — the highest high and lowest low across the last period candles. It is numerically the centre line of Donchian channels, exposed as a standalone scalar for TA-Lib parity. See crates/wickra-core/src/indicators/mid_price.rs.

Parameters

Name	Type	Default	Valid range	Description	Source
period	usize	none	>= 1	Number of candles over which the highest high and lowest low are taken. period = 0 errors with Error::PeriodZero.	mid_price.rs:47

(The Python class wickra.MidPrice(period) requires the period explicitly.)

Inputs / Outputs

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

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

MidPrice is a candle-input indicator that reads high and low. In Python the streaming update accepts a candle (dict or tuple); the batch helper takes high, low, close numpy arrays and returns a 1-D numpy.ndarray (NaN for warmup). Node and WASM expose update(open, high, low, close) and the matching batch.

Warmup

MidPrice::new(period).warmup_period() == period. The first value is emitted once period candles have filled the rolling window. The unit tests accessors_report_config (pins warmup_period() == 7) and averages_window_extremes (first two of three candles return None) pin this contract.

Edge cases

• Sliding window drops old extremes. Once a spike candle leaves the trailing window the midprice falls back to the remaining range. The unit test window_slides_and_drops_old_extremes pins this.
• Zero period. MidPrice::new(0) returns Err(Error::PeriodZero). The unit test rejects_zero_period pins this.
• Reset. mp.reset() clears the candle window; the next update starts a fresh warmup countdown. The unit test reset_clears_state pins this.

Examples

Rust

use wickra::{BatchExt, Candle, Indicator, MidPrice};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let c = |h: f64, l: f64, cl: f64| Candle::new(cl, h, l, cl, 1.0, 0).unwrap();
    let mut mp = MidPrice::new(3)?;
    let out: Vec<Option<f64>> = mp.batch(&[c(12.0, 8.0, 10.0), c(14.0, 9.0, 11.0), c(16.0, 10.0, 12.0)]);
    println!("{:?}", out);
    Ok(())
}

Output:

[None, None, Some(12.0)]

Window highs {12, 14, 16}, lows {8, 9, 10}: highest 16, lowest 8, midprice (16 + 8) / 2 = 12. This matches the averages_window_extremes unit test in crates/wickra-core/src/indicators/mid_price.rs.

Python

import numpy as np
import wickra as ta

mp = ta.MidPrice(3)
high  = np.array([12.0, 14.0, 16.0])
low   = np.array([8.0,  9.0,  10.0])
close = np.array([10.0, 11.0, 12.0])
print(mp.batch(high, low, close))

Output:

[nan nan 12.]

Node

const ta = require('wickra');
const mp = new ta.MidPrice(3);
const bars = [[12, 8, 10], [14, 9, 11], [16, 10, 12]];
for (const [h, l, c] of bars) console.log(mp.update(c, h, l, c));

Output:

null
null
12

Interpretation

MidPrice tracks the centre of the recent trading range. Because it depends only on the window's highest high and lowest low, it stays flat inside a range and steps only when a new extreme prints or an old one rolls off — exactly the behaviour of a Donchian channel midline. Use it as a slow mean-reversion anchor or as the reference a breakout is measured against.

Prefer MedianPrice when you want each bar's own (H + L) / 2; prefer MidPoint when your input is a single scalar stream rather than candles.

Common pitfalls

• Confusing window extremes with per-bar extremes. MidPrice does not average one bar's high and low — it averages the highest high and lowest low across the whole window. For period = 1 they coincide; for larger windows they do not.
• Reading it as a moving average. Only the two extreme candles in the window matter; everything between them is ignored.

References

The Midpoint Price (highest high + lowest low) / 2 is TA-Lib's MIDPRICE function and the standard Donchian channel centre line.

See also

• Indicator-MidPoint — the scalar-input twin.
• Indicator-MedianPrice — per-bar (H + L) / 2.
• Indicator-Donchian — the channel whose centre line this is.
• Indicators-Overview — the full taxonomy.