Every swing label contains more information than what's visible on the chart. Hover over any label and a tooltip appears with analytical detail about that swing — how far price moved, how long it took, and how it compares to previous swings.
SSTP uses a tiered system so you control how much information you see. Start with the basics and increase the tier as you need deeper analysis.
Reading a Tooltip
Tooltips are organized in sections separated by horizontal dividers (── Price ──, ── Time ──, etc.). The amount of information depends on the selected Tooltip Tier.
Header line: Always present regardless of tier. Shows the timeframe and direction. Example: "W | HIGH" means Weekly Swing High. "M | LOW" means Monthly Swing Low.
Sections below the header expand as the tier increases. Each tier includes everything from the tiers below it, so moving from Tier 2 to Tier 3 adds new sections without removing anything.
<!-- IMAGE: sstp-tooltip-anatomy.png — Annotated Tier 3 tooltip with arrows pointing to the header, Price section, Time section, and Momentum section. Label the divider lines. -->
Anatomy of an SSTP tooltip — header line, section dividers, and metrics organized by category.
The Five Tiers
| Tier | Name | What It Shows |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | None | Tooltips disabled — hovering shows nothing |
| 1 | Basic | Price, date, range, duration |
| 2 | Proportional | + Percentage move, price/time ratios, pattern type |
| 3 | Momentum | + Velocity (bar and calendar), volume, volume ratios |
| 4 | Full | + Velocity ratios, swing number, hierarchy tag, cycle count, phase |
The default is Tier 1 (Basic) — enough to identify what happened, where, and when.
Configure the tier in Settings → Tooltips (Group ④). One setting applies to all labels across all timeframes.
Tier 1 — Basic
The essentials. Four pieces of information that answer: what happened, where, and when?
| Field | What It Shows | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Price | The exact price at the swing extreme | 4,525.75 |
| Date | When the swing occurred | Jan 15, 2026 |
| Range | Absolute price distance from the previous swing to this one | 142.50 pts |
| Duration | Time elapsed since the previous swing | 2w 3d |
This tier takes about one second to read. It tells you the price level, when it happened, how far the move traveled, and how long it took.
<!-- IMAGE: sstp-tooltip-tier1.png — Clean Tier 1 tooltip on a Weekly swing high showing price, date, range, and duration. Use a real-looking example with actual numbers. -->
Tier 1 (Basic) tooltip — price, date, range, and duration. Clean and minimal.
Tier 2 — Proportional
Adds context by comparing this swing to previous swings. This is where the tooltip shifts from "what happened" to "how does this compare."
Understanding Ratios
Before the individual metrics, understand how ratios work in swing analysis. Every swing can be compared to previous swings in two ways:
Retracement (R-suffix metrics): Compare to the immediately preceding swing (which is always in the opposite direction). An up swing's Pr compares it to the down swing before it. This measures how much the market "gave back" or retraced.
Expansion (X-suffix metrics): Compare to the previous same-direction swing. An up swing's Px compares it to the prior up swing. This measures whether moves in the same direction are getting bigger or smaller.
Ratios are expressed as percentages:
- 50% means the current swing is half the size of the reference swing
- 100% means they're equal
- 150% means the current swing is 50% larger
These ratio patterns are consistent across price, time, volume, and velocity — the same logic applies to all four dimensions.
<!-- IMAGE: sstp-ratio-diagram.png — Simple diagram showing three swings (up, down, up) with arrows illustrating Pr (comparing to immediately preceding) and Px (comparing to previous same-direction). Label the comparison directions clearly. -->
Pr compares to the immediately preceding swing (opposite direction). Px compares to the previous swing in the same direction.
Tier 2 Metrics
| Metric | Abbreviation | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage Move | % | Price change from previous swing as a percentage |
| Price Expansion | Px | Current swing's range ÷ previous same-direction swing's range. Above 100% = moves are getting larger. Below 100% = moves are contracting. |
| Price Retracement | Pr | Current swing's range ÷ immediately preceding swing's range. Shows how much of the prior move was retraced. Classic levels like 50%, 61.8%, and 78.6% often appear here. |
| Time Expansion | Tx | Current swing's duration ÷ previous same-direction swing's duration. Above 100% = taking longer. Below 100% = getting faster. |
| Time Retracement | Tr | Current swing's duration ÷ immediately preceding swing's duration. Shows the time character of the pullback relative to the move it's correcting. |
| Pattern | — | How the swing was detected: regular, OB continuation, OB reversal, or Gann exception |
Reading the price ratios: A Px of 85% means the current swing covered 85% of the distance of the last same-direction swing — the move is contracting. A Pr of 61.8% means the current swing retraced 61.8% of the immediately prior swing — a golden ratio retracement.
Reading time ratios together with price ratios: Px and Tx don't always move together. A swing with Px of 150% but Tx of 200% covered more distance but took disproportionately longer — the move expanded in price but decelerated in time. Conversely, Px of 150% with Tx of 80% means the move was both bigger and faster. These divergences reveal the character of the trend.
Pattern field values:
| Value | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Regular | Standard directional change — the most common type |
| OB Continuation | Swing detected via an Outside Bar resolved as continuation |
| OB Reversal | Swing detected via an Outside Bar resolved as reversal |
| Gann Exception | Swing marked early by Gann's Exception Rule (2D/3D only) |
Tier 2 (Proportional) tooltip adds percentage move, price/time ratios, and pattern type — revealing how this swing compares to previous swings.
Tier 3 — Momentum
Adds speed and volume to the analysis. This tier reveals the character behind a move — was it fast or slow? Was it supported by volume?
| Metric | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Velocity/bar | Price change per chart bar during the swing. Measures speed in chart time — how much price moved per trading session. |
| Velocity/day | Price change per calendar day during the swing. Measures speed in real-world time — includes weekends, holidays, and gaps. |
| Volume | Total volume accumulated during the swing |
| Volume Expansion (Vx) | Current swing's volume ÷ previous same-direction swing's volume. Rising Vx suggests growing participation and conviction. Falling Vx may signal exhaustion. |
| Volume Retracement (Vr) | Current swing's volume ÷ immediately preceding swing's volume. Reveals whether the counter-move has similar participation levels to the trend move it's correcting. |
Why two velocity measures? Velocity per bar and velocity per calendar day can diverge significantly. A swing that spans a 3-day weekend shows the same bar count as one during mid-week, but the calendar time is different. A swing that includes a holiday week may show 3 trading bars but 9 calendar days. Velocity/bar tells you chart-based momentum; velocity/day tells you real-world pace.
Velocity display format: Velocity adapts its unit to the chart timeframe:
- Daily and higher:
/d(per day) - Hourly:
/h(per hour) - Sub-hourly:
/m(per minute)
Volume note: Volume requires volume data from your data provider. Some instruments (particularly indices and some forex pairs) don't report volume. When volume data isn't available, the volume-related fields show "--".
<!-- IMAGE: sstp-tooltip-tier3.png — Tier 3 tooltip showing the Momentum section with velocity/bar, velocity/day, volume, Vx, and Vr values highlighted. -->
Tier 3 (Momentum) adds velocity and volume metrics — revealing the speed and participation behind the move.
Tier 4 — Full
The complete dataset. Adds velocity ratios and hierarchical cycle tracking. This tier is primarily useful for cycle analysis and quantitative research.
| Metric | What It Means |
|---|---|
| VelB-x | Bar velocity expansion — current swing's velocity/bar ÷ previous same-direction swing's velocity/bar. Shows whether same-direction moves are accelerating or decelerating. |
| VelB-r | Bar velocity retracement — current swing's velocity/bar ÷ immediately preceding swing's velocity/bar. Shows the character of the pullback — a fast pullback (high VelB-r) tells a different story than a slow one. |
| VelC-x | Calendar velocity expansion — same as VelB-x but using real-world calendar time. |
| VelC-r | Calendar velocity retracement — same as VelB-r but using calendar time. |
| Period Bars | Total number of chart bars in the swing |
| Swing Number | The cycle count within the current hierarchy — e.g., "W-14" means this is the 14th weekly swing since the last monthly reset |
| Hierarchy Tag | The full odometer-style hierarchical position, showing cycle counts at every parent level |
| Cycle Count | The numeric counter value at this timeframe level |
| Phase | Whether the current count started from a Top or Bottom — combined with cycle count, tells you direction and position within the higher cycle |
VelB vs VelC divergence: Both reveal trend health, but from different angles. A move with VelB-x of 120% but VelC-x of 80% covered more ground per trading bar but took longer in real-world time — possibly due to gaps, holidays, or extended sessions. Reading both gives you the complete picture.
Understanding the swing number: The hierarchical counting system tracks where you are within each cycle. "W-14" means 14 weekly swings have occurred since the last monthly swing reset the counter. If historical monthly cycles typically contain 10–14 weekly swings, seeing W-14 tells you the cycle is mature and a monthly-level reversal may be approaching.
When a parent timeframe confirms a swing, all child timeframe counters reset to 1 — like an odometer rolling over. A Monthly swing high confirming resets Weekly, Daily, 2D, 3D, and all intraday counters.
<!-- IMAGE: sstp-tooltip-tier4.png — Full Tier 4 tooltip showing all sections including velocity ratios and the hierarchy/cycle fields at the bottom. Annotate the swing number and hierarchy tag. -->
Tier 4 (Full) tooltip — the complete dataset including velocity ratios, hierarchical swing number, and cycle position.
Choosing a Tier
| Tier | Best For |
|---|---|
| None | Clean chart screenshots, presentations, or when labels alone are sufficient |
| Basic | Day-to-day use — quickly checking what happened and when |
| Proportional | Comparing swings — essential for Fibonacci analysis, Gann ratios, and cycle measurement |
| Momentum | Understanding the conviction behind moves — velocity and volume add depth to price analysis |
| Full | Cycle research, hierarchical analysis, quantitative workflows — everything the indicator computes |
Start with Basic. Move to Proportional when you need to compare swings or measure retracements. Most users won't need Momentum or Full in daily analysis, but they're invaluable for deep research and cycle work.
Missing Data
The first few swings for each timeframe won't have previous-swing data available for ratio calculations. Expansion ratios (Px, Tx, Vx) need at least two same-direction swings. Retracement ratios (Pr, Tr, Vr) need at least two swings total.
When a ratio can't be computed, the tooltip shows "--" instead of a number. This is normal and resolves automatically as the indicator processes more data. On a daily chart with Weekly detection, the ratios typically populate within the first 3–4 weeks of visible history.
Duration Display
Duration adapts to the timeframe's natural units so you never need to do mental conversion:
| Swing Timeframe | Duration Display | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Minute | Minutes | 45 min |
| 1-Hour | Hours and minutes | 3h 30m |
| 4-Hour | Hours | 12h |
| Daily | Days | 5d |
| 2-Day, 3-Day | Days | 8d |
| Weekly | Weeks and days | 2w 3d |
| Monthly | Weeks | 6w |
| Quarterly | Months and weeks | 2m 1w |
| Yearly | Months | 14m |
A weekly swing shows "1w 6d" (1 week, 6 days), not "13 days." A 15-minute swing shows "45 min," not "0.03 days." This makes durations immediately readable.
Date Formats
Tooltips display dates in your preferred format, configurable in Settings → Tooltips (Group ④):
| Format | Example |
|---|---|
| MMM dd, yyyy | Jan 15, 2026 |
| yyyy-MM-dd | 2026-01-15 |
| dd/MM/yyyy | 15/01/2026 |
| MM/dd/yyyy | 01/15/2026 |
The format applies to all tooltips across all timeframes. Choose the convention you're most familiar with.
Complete Metrics Reference
Every metric available across all four tiers, in one table:
| Metric | Tier | Compares To | What It Measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 1 | — | Exact price at the swing extreme |
| Date | 1 | — | When the swing occurred |
| Range | 1 | — | Absolute price distance from previous swing |
| Duration | 1 | — | Time elapsed since previous swing |
| % Move | 2 | Previous swing | Percentage price change |
| Px | 2 | Same direction | Price expansion ratio |
| Pr | 2 | Opposite direction | Price retracement ratio |
| Tx | 2 | Same direction | Time expansion ratio |
| Tr | 2 | Opposite direction | Time retracement ratio |
| Pattern | 2 | — | Detection method (regular, OB, Gann exception) |
| Velocity/bar | 3 | — | Price change per trading bar |
| Velocity/day | 3 | — | Price change per calendar day |
| Volume | 3 | — | Total volume during the swing |
| Vx | 3 | Same direction | Volume expansion ratio |
| Vr | 3 | Opposite direction | Volume retracement ratio |
| VelB-x | 4 | Same direction | Bar velocity expansion |
| VelB-r | 4 | Opposite direction | Bar velocity retracement |
| VelC-x | 4 | Same direction | Calendar velocity expansion |
| VelC-r | 4 | Opposite direction | Calendar velocity retracement |
| Period Bars | 4 | — | Number of chart bars in the swing |
| Swing Number | 4 | — | Hierarchical cycle count (e.g., W-14) |
| Hierarchy Tag | 4 | — | Full odometer position across all parent levels |
| Cycle Count | 4 | — | Numeric counter at this timeframe |
| Phase | 4 | — | Top or Bottom — which direction the count started from |
Next Steps
- X-Ray Mode — Another way to visualize the underlying structure
- CSV Export — Export all tooltip data (and more) for offline analysis
- Labels & Display — Customize how labels appear on the chart
- Settings — Configure tooltip tier and date format