Average Daily Range (ADR)¶
Average daily range (ADR) is the mean of the high-minus-low span across a defined lookback period, typically 10, 14, or 20 sessions. It measures how far a security actually travels intraday, in points or as a percentage of price, without accounting for overnight gaps. Traders use it to set realistic profit targets, calibrate stop distances, and judge how much of a normal day's movement has already been consumed.
HOW IT WORKS¶
ADR is calculated by summing each session's high-minus-low range over the lookback and dividing by the number of sessions:
ADR = (Σ (Highᵢ − Lowᵢ)) / n
As a percentage of current price: ADR% = ADR / Price × 100
The most operationally useful derivative is percent of ADR consumed — the current day's high-minus-low divided by ADR. A stock at 90% of ADR consumed by mid-morning has little statistical room left for directional continuation; one at 40% consumed retains meaningful expansion potential. Because ADR excludes gap distance, it will always be less than or equal to ATR. For gap-prone names the difference is material, and stop sizing should use ATR instead.
IN TAPEBOARD¶
Tapeboard displays ADR and ADR% for any symbol alongside real-time percent-of-ADR consumed, updated tick by tick throughout the session. Traders use the consumed-ADR indicator to:
- Filter entries — Tapeboard's scanner can exclude symbols where ADR consumed exceeds a user-defined threshold (e.g., 80%), preventing late entries into exhausted moves.
- Size positions automatically — enter a dollar risk budget in the order panel and Tapeboard calculates share size using the ADR-derived stop distance (e.g., a $4.34 ADR with a $500 risk budget yields 115 shares).
- Flag exhaustion — when a symbol reaches 100% of ADR and stalls at the session extreme, Tapeboard surfaces a fade alert relative to VWAP.
- Screen by ADR% — the stock screener includes ADR% as a filterable field; scalpers typically set a minimum of 2–3% to ensure sufficient intraday range.
The lookback period (default 10 sessions) is adjustable per symbol in Settings → Market Data → ADR Lookback. Refresh the lookback whenever volatility regime shifts, as an ADR computed during a quiet period will understate range during elevated volatility.