Gator Oscillator: two histograms showing how far the Alligator's jaw, teeth and lips are spreading or converging.
Overview
The Gator Oscillator shows the Williams Alligator as two histograms around zero. The upper bars show the gap between jaw and teeth; the lower bars show the gap between teeth and lips.
Bars are green when a gap is growing and red when it is shrinking. Color shows expansion, not direction.
How it works
Upper = |jaw - teeth|. Lower = -|teeth - lips|. Each line is a smoothed (Wilder) average of median price (high + low) / 2, using jaw 13 shifted 8, teeth 8 shifted 5 and lips 5 shifted 3.
The source and the average type can be changed.
How to use it
- Some traders read green bars on both sides as the Alligator eating: a trend in progress.
- Watch red bars on both sides as the lines coming together.
- Use mixed colors as a sign of a phase change.
- Pair it with the Alligator on price for the direction.
These are ways some traders read it, for learning. They are not trade signals.
Settings
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| Alligator Lines | |
| SourcePrice series fed to the three Alligator averages. Bill Williams' original recipe uses the median price (high + low) / 2.Options: Close, Open, High, Low, HL2, HLC3, OHLC4, HLCC4 | HL2 |
| SmoothingMoving average applied to the source for the jaw, teeth and lips. The original uses the smoothed (Wilder-style) moving average.Options: SMMA (Wilder), SMA, EMA | SMMA (Wilder) |
| Jaw LengthAveraging length of the jaw line. | 13 |
| Jaw OffsetBars the jaw is displaced forward, 8 in the original recipe. The upper histogram measures the absolute spread between the displaced jaw and teeth. | 8 |
| Teeth LengthAveraging length of the teeth line. | 8 |
| Teeth OffsetBars the teeth are displaced forward, 5 in the original recipe. The teeth line enters both spreads. | 5 |
| Lips LengthAveraging length of the lips line. | 5 |
| Lips OffsetBars the lips are displaced forward, 3 in the original recipe. The lower histogram measures the negative absolute spread between the displaced teeth and lips. | 3 |
| Style | |
| ExpandingColumn color while a spread grew against its own previous bar — the averages are spreading apart. | #089981 |
| ContractingColumn color while a spread shrank — the averages are converging. Color encodes expansion, not trade direction. | #f23645 |
| Zero LineColor of the zero line separating the two histograms. | #787b86 |
Alerts
You can alert on its line crossing a value or the candle close (from the chart's + menu); checked while ZoroCharts is open.
Notes and limits
- Works on any symbol and timeframe; it only needs candle data.
- It does not tell you up or down; check price or the Alligator for that.
Education only. Not financial advice. Indicators mark what happened on the chart; they do not predict what price will do. Trading futures, forex, crypto and other markets carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for everyone.