what does the adx tell you 
the adx negative directional indicator di and positive directional indicator di are momentum indicators the adx helps investors determine trend strength while di and di help determine trend direction the adx identifies a strong trend when the adx is over 25 and a weak trend when the adx is below 20 crossovers of the di and di lines can be used to generate trade signals for example if the di line crosses above the di line and the adx is above 20 or ideally above 25 then that is a potential signal to buy on the other hand if the di crosses above the di and the adx is above 20 or 25 then that is an opportunity to enter a potential short trade crosses can also be used to exit current trades for example if long exit when the di crosses above the di meanwhile when the adx is below 20 the indicator is signaling that the price is trendless and that it might not be an ideal time to enter a trade image by sabrina jiang investopedia 2021the average directional index vs the aroon indicatorthe adx indicator is composed of a total of three lines while the aroon indicator is composed of two the two indicators are similar in that they both have lines representing positive and negative movement which helps to identify trend direction the aroon reading level also helps determine trend strength as the adx does the calculations are different though so crossovers on each of the indicators will occur at different times limitations of using the adxcrossovers can occur frequently sometimes too frequently resulting in confusion and potentially lost money on trades that quickly go the other way these are called false signals and are more common when adx values are below 25 that said sometimes the adx reaches above 25 but is only there temporarily and then reverses along with the price like any indicator the adx should be combined with price analysis and potentially other indicators to help filter signals and control risk 