Multi Timeframe Signal Alignment
Implement a multi-timeframe signal confirmation framework that requires higher-timeframe trend alignment before executing lower-timeframe entry signals, ensuring trades are placed in the direction of the dominant broader trend for improved accuracy.
Multi-Timeframe Signal Alignment
Multi-timeframe (MTF) signal alignment requires that signals on the primary (entry) timeframe align with the higher-timeframe trend. This reduces counter-trend trades.
Timeframe hierarchy:
- HTF (High Timeframe): 1-hour resampled bars → trend direction filter.
- LTF (Low Timeframe): 1-minute bars → entry signal.
Alignment rule: An LTF entry signal is only allowed if the HTF trend agrees:
- LTF Buy (+1) allowed only when HTF EMA slope is positive (bullish).
- LTF Sell (−1) allowed only when HTF EMA slope is negative (bearish).
Limitation: Resampling synthetic 1-minute data to 1-hour produces very few HTF bars; signal frequency will be low.
Introduction
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
import plotly.graph_objects as go
from plotly.subplots import make_subplotsData Generation
To provide data for the multi-timeframe signal alignment, we will generate synthetic OHLCV (Open, High, Low, Close, Volume) price data. This function simulates price movements using a geometric random walk, which is useful for demonstrating trading strategies without relying on external data sources.
The generate_data function creates a DataFrame with a specified number of 1-minute bars, including datetime, open, high, low, close, and volume columns.
def generate_data(periods: int) -> pd.DataFrame:
"""
Generate synthetic OHLCV price data using a geometric random walk.
Parameters
----------
periods : int
Number of 1-minute bars to generate.
Returns
-------
pd.DataFrame
DataFrame with columns: open, high, low, close, volume, datetime.
"""
start_date = pd.to_datetime("2024-01-01 00:00:00+00:00")
datetime_index = pd.date_range(start_date, periods=periods, freq="1min", tz="UTC")
price_data = []
last_close = 42000
for i in range(periods):
open_price = last_close + np.random.normal(0, last_close * 0.0005)
close_price = open_price + np.random.normal(0, last_close * 0.005)
body_high = max(open_price, close_price)
body_low = min(open_price, close_price)
high_price = max(body_high + abs(np.random.normal(0, last_close * 0.002)), open_price, close_price)
low_price = min(body_low - abs(np.random.normal(0, last_close * 0.002)), open_price, close_price)
if high_price < low_price:
high_price, low_price = low_price, high_price
price_data.append({
"open": max(1, int(open_price)),
"high": max(1, int(high_price)),
"low": max(1, int(low_price)),
"close": max(1, int(close_price)),
})
last_close = close_price
df = pd.DataFrame(price_data, index=datetime_index)
df.index.name = "datetime"
df["volume"] = np.random.uniform(100.0, 500.0, periods)
df["datetime"] = df.index.to_series()
return df.reset_index(drop=True)df = generate_data(500)
display(df.head())| open | high | low | close | volume | datetime | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 41971 | 42046 | 41825 | 41872 | 365.691307 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00+00:00 |
| 1 | 41885 | 42288 | 41798 | 42138 | 313.851384 | 2024-01-01 00:01:00+00:00 |
| 2 | 42126 | 42301 | 41846 | 41935 | 340.882733 | 2024-01-01 00:02:00+00:00 |
| 3 | 41893 | 41960 | 41766 | 41769 | 191.069244 | 2024-01-01 00:03:00+00:00 |
| 4 | 41768 | 41977 | 41733 | 41941 | 319.563114 | 2024-01-01 00:04:00+00:00 |
Multi-Timeframe Signal Alignment Function
def multi_timeframe_signal_alignment(
df: pd.DataFrame,
htf_resample: str = "60min",
htf_ema_period: int = 20,
ltf_ema_fast: int = 5,
ltf_ema_slow: int = 20,
) -> pd.DataFrame:
"""
Align LTF entry signals with HTF trend direction.
Core logic
----------
1. Resample the 1-minute DataFrame to the HTF bar frequency.
2. Compute an EMA on HTF close prices; derive HTF trend bias from EMA slope.
3. Forward-fill the HTF bias to every LTF bar via merge_asof.
4. Compute an EMA cross signal on the LTF bars.
5. Emit the LTF signal only when it agrees with the HTF bias.
Parameters
----------
df : pd.DataFrame 1-minute OHLCV DataFrame.
htf_resample : str Pandas resample rule for the higher timeframe.
htf_ema_period : int EMA period on HTF bars.
ltf_ema_fast : int Fast EMA period on LTF bars.
ltf_ema_slow : int Slow EMA period on LTF bars.
Returns
-------
pd.DataFrame with: htf_bias, ltf_signal, signal.
"""
df = df.copy().sort_values("datetime", ignore_index=True)
df["datetime"] = pd.to_datetime(df["datetime"], utc=True)
# ── HTF resampling ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
df_htf = df.set_index("datetime").resample(htf_resample).agg({
"open": "first", "high": "max", "low": "min",
"close": "last", "volume": "sum",
}).dropna().reset_index()
df_htf["htf_ema"] = df_htf["close"].ewm(span=htf_ema_period, adjust=False).mean()
df_htf["htf_bias"] = np.where(df_htf["htf_ema"] > df_htf["htf_ema"].shift(1), 1, -1)
# ── Forward-fill HTF bias onto LTF bars ───────────────────────────────────
df = pd.merge_asof(df, df_htf[["datetime", "htf_bias"]],
on="datetime", direction="backward")
# ── LTF EMA cross signal ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
df["ema_fast"] = df["close"].ewm(span=ltf_ema_fast, adjust=False).mean()
df["ema_slow"] = df["close"].ewm(span=ltf_ema_slow, adjust=False).mean()
df["ltf_signal"] = np.where(df["ema_fast"] > df["ema_slow"], 1, -1)
# ── MTF-aligned signal ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
df["signal"] = np.where(df["ltf_signal"] == df["htf_bias"], df["ltf_signal"], 0)
return df
df_signals = multi_timeframe_signal_alignment(df, htf_resample="60min")
print(df_signals[["htf_bias", "ltf_signal", "signal"]].value_counts().head(10))htf_bias ltf_signal signal
1 1 1 155
-1 -1 -1 154
1 0 146
1 -1 0 45
Name: count, dtype: int64
Plotting Results
pd.merge_asof: Performs a backward-looking merge on the datetime column, propagating the most recent HTF bias to every LTF bar without introducing look-ahead bias.- Alignment gate: Only signals where
ltf_signal == htf_biaspass through; disagreements are suppressed regardless of LTF signal strength.
buy_signals = df_signals[df_signals["signal"] == 1]
sell_signals = df_signals[df_signals["signal"] == -1]
fig = make_subplots(rows=2, cols=1, shared_xaxes=True,
subplot_titles=["Price + MTF-Aligned Signals", "HTF Bias"],
row_heights=[0.8, 0.2]) # Adjusted row_heights
fig.add_trace(go.Candlestick(x=df_signals["datetime"],
open=df_signals["open"], high=df_signals["high"],
low=df_signals["low"], close=df_signals["close"], name="Price"), row=1, col=1)
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(x=buy_signals["datetime"], y=buy_signals["low"] * 0.999,
mode="markers", marker=dict(symbol="triangle-up", size=10, color="green"), name="Buy"), row=1, col=1)
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(x=sell_signals["datetime"], y=sell_signals["high"] * 1.001,
mode="markers", marker=dict(symbol="triangle-down", size=10, color="red"), name="Sell"), row=1, col=1)
fig.add_trace(go.Scatter(x=df_signals["datetime"], y=df_signals["htf_bias"],
mode="lines", name="HTF Bias", line=dict(color="blue", width=1)), row=2, col=1)
fig.add_hline(y=0, line_dash="dot", line_color="gray", row=2, col=1)
fig.update_layout(title_text="Multi-Timeframe Signal Alignment",
xaxis_rangeslider_visible=False, height=700, xaxis2_title="Datetime")
fig.update_yaxes(range=[-1.2, 1.2], row=2, col=1) # Fixed y-axis range for HTF Bias
fig.show()Conclusion
This notebook demonstrates how to implement a Multi-Timeframe (MTF) signal alignment strategy. By requiring alignment between signals on a lower timeframe (LTF) and the trend direction on a higher timeframe (HTF), the strategy aims to reduce counter-trend trades and improve signal quality.
Key takeaways:
- Synthetic Data Generation: The
generate_datafunction creates realistic OHLCV data for testing. - HTF Trend Determination: An EMA on the HTF bars is used to establish the trend bias.
- LTF Signal Generation: An EMA cross strategy is used for LTF entry signals.
- Signal Alignment: The
merge_asoffunction is crucial for propagating HTF bias to LTF bars without look-ahead bias. - Filtered Signals: Only LTF signals that align with the HTF bias are allowed, effectively filtering out counter-trend entries.
This approach provides a robust framework for developing more sophisticated multi-timeframe trading strategies.