Pivots turn yesterday into today’s levels
Pivot points give you a full set of support and resistance before the session even starts, derived purely from the prior range. They are most useful as decision zones — where to expect reactions — rather than exact prices. Combine them with the Fibonacci retracement calculator for confluence.
Support and resistance levels derived from yesterday's price action
Classic pivot: PP = (High + Low + Close) ÷ 3. From there: R1 = (2 × PP) − Low, S1 = (2 × PP) − High, R2 = PP + (High − Low), S2 = PP − (High − Low). These levels update daily and are watched by enough traders to occasionally act as self-fulfilling reference points.
Pivot points aren't magic. They work when many participants use them — which on major pairs like BTC and ETH happens regularly. On thinly traded altcoins, nobody's using daily pivots so price won't respect them. Context matters.
Daily pivots use previous day's data. Weekly pivots use last week's OHLC. Monthly pivots use last month's. Longer timeframe pivots carry more weight — monthly R1 getting tagged is a bigger deal than daily R1. When multiple timeframes' pivots align at the same price level, the confluence makes it a stronger level.
Related: Fibonacci retracement, stop-loss / take-profit, ATR-based stop loss.