RSI
The relative strength index — the strength of recent up closes against down closes, on a 0 to 100 scale, in a band under the price.
Measures the strength of up candles against down ones, 0–100. 30 and 70 mark oversold and overbought.
- Candles
- 1m, 3m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1h, 2h, 4h, 6h, 12h, 1d, 1w, 1M
- Footprint
- 1m, 5m, 15m, 1h
- Alerts
- no
What it shows
A line in a band under the price plot, between 0 and 100. It compares the average size of recent rises in the close with the average size of recent falls. When the rises have been larger, RSI sits above 50; when the falls have, below. The longer closes keep rising without a fall, the closer it gets to 100; it reads exactly 100 only if no close has fallen since the calculation began.
The band has a fixed 0–100 scale with guide lines at 30 and 70, and a fainter one at 50. The band's name in its
top-left corner — RSI (14) — is followed by the value at the candle under the pointer.
How to read it
- Above 70 and below 30. The conventional reading is overbought above 70 and oversold below 30. In a strong trend RSI can stay there for a long time, so on its own a reading there is a sign the move is stretched, not a signal that it will turn.
- The 50 line. RSI holding above 50 describes a market where rises have been winning; below 50, falls.
- Divergence. Price making a new high while RSI makes a lower high shows the new high came with less strength behind it — a common warning of a turn. The same holds in reverse at lows.
- Leaving an extreme. Many traders wait for RSI to come back inside 70 or 30, rather than acting when it first crosses out.
Parameters
| Setting | Control | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Number | How many candles average the gains and the losses. Smaller is twitchier and hits 30/70 more often. 2–200 · default 14 |
| Height (%) | Number | Height of the band, as a percentage of the panel. Dragging the band's edge changes it too. 8–50 · default 18 |
| Colour | Colour |
Length sets how many candles the rises and falls are averaged over. A shorter length makes RSI swing wider and reach 30 and 70 more often; a longer one keeps it nearer 50. The guide lines stay at 30 and 70 whatever the length.
Height (%) is the band's share of the panel's height; dragging the band's top edge changes it too.
Limitations
- It is computed from the candles loaded on the panel. The first candles of that history have no value until there are enough for the length. The averages carry every earlier candle a little, so values near the start of the loaded history can differ slightly from a chart that loaded more; they settle after a few lengths.
- The newest candle's close is the live price, so the last value moves until that candle closes.
- The guide lines are fixed at 30 and 70 and cannot be moved.
- It takes one of the panel's two band places — see Over the price, and in bands.
- It follows the candle shape: on Heikin Ashi it uses the real closes, and on Renko, range bars and line break the closes of the bricks and bars drawn — see Where an indicator can be drawn.
- It takes no alert. Its Alert tab says it draws no signal.