What is an all-time high?
An all-time high (ATH) is the highest price an asset has ever reached in its recorded trading history.
The term applies to shares, stock indices, gold, currencies and crypto. When price trades above the old record, traders say the market has made a "new ATH" or "fresh ATH." The opposite is an all-time low (ATL), the lowest price on record.
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A worked example
This is a hypothetical case, so letters stand in for prices.
- A stock index peaked at level X some years ago. No trade has gone higher since.
- After that the index fell, in a market correction or a bear market, and then recovered.
- Today it trades at level Y, and Y is above X.
Level Y is now the all-time high. X stays in the record as the previous ATH. If the index falls tomorrow, Y remains the ATH until a later trade goes higher.
An ATH is a historical fact. It says nothing about where price goes next.
Where you see the term
- Charting platforms. In MetaTrader 5 and similar platforms, you can zoom out to the longest timeframe available to find the highest bar. Many traders draw a horizontal line at that level. See technical analysis.
- Market reports and news. Headlines such as "gold hits all-time high" or "Nasdaq closes at record" use the term. See gold and Nasdaq-100 (NAS100).
- Crypto. Data sites often list each coin's ATH next to its current price, along with how far price now sits below it.
- Currencies. A record in USD/PKR means the dollar has never bought more rupees. In other words, it marks the rupee at its weakest on record. See currency depreciation.
Precise definition and edge cases
For experienced traders, "the highest price ever" depends on how the price is measured.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Intraday high or closing high? | Exchanges and news often report record closes. Charts show the intraday wick, which can be higher. |
| Nominal or inflation-adjusted? | A nominal ATH can still sit below an older peak once inflation is taken into account. |
| Adjusted for splits and dividends? | Adjusted share price histories move older prices, so the ATH level can differ between data providers. |
| Which data feed? | A CFD price can differ from the underlying exchange or futures price. Short history on a feed can also show a false "ATH." |
| Continuous futures? | Rolling from one contract to the next creates gaps, and the record level depends on the roll method. See futures roll. |
| How long is the history? | "All-time" only covers the data that exists. Newly listed assets set new highs often. |
Above an ATH there are no earlier prices to act as resistance. Analysts call this "price discovery." Moves there can be fast in both directions.
Trading leveraged CFDs near record levels can lose money quickly. A risk management plan matters more than the record itself.
Related terms
- Bull market: a sustained rise, often the phase when ATHs are made
- Asset bubble: prices far above fundamentals
- Consolidation: sideways trading, often seen just below a record
- Capitulation: heavy selling, the other end of a cycle
- Stock indices and Crypto CFDs
- Full list: trading glossary
Frequent questions
What does ATH mean?
ATH stands for all-time high, the highest price an asset has ever recorded.
Is an all-time high a signal to buy or sell?
No. It only describes the past. Whether price rises or falls after a record is not known in advance.
Why do two websites show different ATH values?
They may use closing versus intraday prices, adjusted versus raw data, different feeds, or histories of different lengths.
What is the opposite of an all-time high?
An all-time low (ATL), the lowest price on record.
Does an ATH in a currency pair mean the base currency is strong?
Yes. It means the base currency has never bought more of the quote currency, so the quote currency is at its weakest on record.