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Ichimoku Cloud

Classic trend support-resistance classic japanese momentum

Ichimoku Kinko Hyo is a comprehensive indicator that defines support and resistance, identifies trend direction, gauges momentum and provides trading signals.

Visual Example

Ichimoku Cloud — annotated preview mapping to core implementation

Synthetic ideal per library logic. Generated 2026-06-25 IST via docs/generate_all_previews.py (reproducible; maps to core Next<T> implementation).

Description

The Ichimoku Cloud indicator is a technical analysis tool that ichimoku kinko hyo is a comprehensive indicator that defines support and resistance, identifies trend direction, gauges momentum and provides trading signals.

This indicator is primarily used for identifying key market conditions. It provides a robust signal that can be easily integrated into both simple strategies and more complex machine learning feature pipelines. Compared to its alternatives, it offers a distinct balance of responsiveness and stability.

Traders often combine this with other metrics to confirm signals and avoid false positives during sideways market regimes. It remains a standard tool for systematic trading models.

Use as a complete trend system providing support, resistance, momentum, and cloud-based bias in a single indicator. The Kumo cloud thickness indicates trend strength.

Ichimoku Kinko Hyo was developed by Goichi Hosoda in the 1960s. The system comprises five components: Tenkan-sen (9-period midpoint), Kijun-sen (26-period midpoint), Senkou Span A and B (cloud), and Chikou Span (lagged close). Price above the cloud is bullish; the cloud thickness quantifies the strength of support or resistance. — Ichimoku Charts, Nicole Elliott

QuantWave implements this indicator via the universal Next<T> trait, guaranteeing bit-identical results between Rust streaming, Python streaming, and Polars batch (.ta() / map_batches) surfaces.

Formula / Specification

Implementation (quantwave-core/src/indicators/ichimoku.rs):

\[ \text{Tenkan-sen} = \frac{\text{Highest High} + \text{Lowest Low}}{2} \text{ for past 9 periods} \]

Gold-standard parity vectors: quantwave-core/tests/gold_standard/ichimoku.json.

Parameters

Parameter Default Description
tenkan_period 9 Tenkan-sen period
kijun_period 26 Kijun-sen period
senkou_span_b_period 52 Senkou Span B period

Usage Examples

Streaming (Rust)

use quantwave_core::indicators::ICHIMOKU;
use quantwave_core::traits::Next;

let mut ind = ICHIMOKU::new(9);
for price in &prices {
    let value = ind.next(price);
}

Streaming (Python)

from quantwave import ICHIMOKU

ind = ICHIMOKU(9)
for price in prices:
    value = ind.next(price)

Polars Batch (Python)

import polars as pl
import quantwave as qw

def apply_ichimoku_cloud(series: pl.Series) -> pl.Series:
    ind = qw.ICHIMOKU(9)
    return pl.Series([ind.next(float(v)) for v in series.to_list()])

df = (
    pl.read_csv('ohlcv.csv')
    .lazy()
    .with_columns(
        pl.col("close").map_batches(apply_ichimoku_cloud, return_dtype=pl.Float64).alias("ichimoku_cloud")
    )
    .collect()
)

All surfaces are bit-identical via the single Next<T> implementation and proptests.

Edge Cases & Limitations

  • Warm-up: first 9 bars may return NaN or partial state per implementation.
  • Parameter sensitivity: smaller periods increase noise; larger periods increase lag.
  • Sudden gaps or bad ticks can distort rolling windows — consider pre-filtering.
  • Single-series indicators ignore volume unless otherwise documented.
  • Validated via proptests against gold-standard vectors where available.
  • No look-ahead bias; streaming and Polars batch paths are bit-identical.

Boundary Behavior

Condition Behavior
Warm-up Leading bars return NaN until warmup_bars is satisfied.
period > len When period exceeds series length, output is all NaN.
NaN inputs NaN in input propagates to output (NaN out).
Invalid params Non-positive period or missing required params raise ValueError.
Empty data Empty input returns an empty result series.

Sources & References

Primary Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/ichimoku-cloud.asp

Implementation: quantwave-core/src/indicators/ichimoku.rs (ICHIMOKU / ICHIMOKU_METADATA). Parity: quantwave-core/tests/gold_standard/ichimoku.json

Provenance: Standards bulk upgrade 2026-06-25 IST — see docs/DOCUMENTATION_STANDARDS.md.