What is Majority Rule?
Majority Rule counts how many of the last 14 bars closed higher than the bar before and expresses that as a percentage from 0 to 100. A dashed line at 50 marks the point where up closes and other closes are evenly split. The further the line sits from 50, the more one-sided the recent closes have been.
It measures direction only. Fourteen bars that each rose by a tick read 100, exactly as fourteen bars that each rose by a percent would. It does not show the size of a move and it does not predict the next bar.
How to use Majority Rule
- Above or below 50. Above 50, most recent bars closed higher than the bar before. Below 50, most did not.
- Distance from 50. Readings near 100 or 0 show a run of closes in one direction. Readings near 50 show no clear persistence either way.
- Pair it with a measure of size. Because it ignores how far each bar moved, it is usually read alongside an indicator that measures magnitude, such as RSI.
These are ways to read the line, not entry signals on their own.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 14 | Number of bars counted. Shorter reacts faster and moves in larger steps; longer is smoother. Each bar is worth 100 divided by the length. Minimum 1. |
Adjust the window length in the indicator settings. The close is always used.
Calculation
Each bar is marked 1 if it closed higher than the previous close and 0 otherwise, and the marks are averaged over the window:
up = 1 if close > previous close, else 0
Majority Rule = 100 * (number of up bars in last 14) / 14The test is strictly greater than, so a bar that closes unchanged counts as a bar that did not rise rather than as half of one. On markets with many unchanged closes this pulls the reading below 50.
The first bar has no previous close and counts as not rising, so the window fills from the start and the first reading appears on bar 13 counting from 0. With the default length the line moves in steps of about 7.1.
The 50 line is added by Altrady Charts as a reference for an even split.
Limitations
- It ignores the size of moves. A window of many small rises and a few large falls can read above 50 while price has dropped.
- It moves in steps. With a short length each bar shifts the reading by a large fixed amount, so the line is jumpy.
- Unchanged closes count against it. Flat bars are treated as not rising, which biases the line downward on quiet or illiquid markets.
- The live candle moves. The current bar can switch between up and not up until it closes.
- It is not a strategy. On its own it carries no risk management, sizing or exit.
Frequently asked questions
Majority Rule is the percentage of the last 14 bars, by default, that closed higher than the bar before. It ranges from 0 to 100 and is drawn with a dashed reference line at 50.
Above 50, most recent bars closed up; below 50, most did not. The distance from 50 shows how persistent the move has been. It says nothing about how far price travelled, so read it alongside price or an indicator that measures size.
Yes. The indicator declares one input: Length, default 14 with a minimum of 1. The close is always used. Open the indicator's settings on the chart to change it.
No. Each value is a count over a fixed window of closed bars, and closed bars do not change. The current candle's value moves while that candle is live and settles when it closes.
As a bar that did not rise. The test is strictly higher than the previous close, so an unchanged close adds nothing to the count.
Use the Add to chart button at the top of this page. It opens BTC/USDT on Binance in the Altrady Charts terminal with the built-in Majority Rule already applied. On any other market, open the indicator picker on the chart and choose Majority Rule from the Momentum group.