What is RVGI?
The Relative Vigor Index compares each bar's close-minus-open with its high-minus-low. In an uptrend bars tend to close above where they opened, so the ratio runs positive; in a downtrend it runs negative. Both parts are smoothed with a short weighted average and summed over a window, and a signal line is drawn from the result. Altrady Charts plots RVGI and Signal in their own pane around a dashed zero line.
RVGI measures the conviction of bars, close against open, relative to their range. It does not measure how far price has moved, and it has no fixed overbought or oversold levels.
How to use RVGI
- Above or below zero. Above zero, bars over the window have tended to close above their opens; below zero, below them.
- RVGI crossing Signal. The Signal line is a smoothed copy of RVGI, so a cross above it means RVGI has turned up and a cross below means it has turned down. Crossings are frequent.
- Divergence. A new price high with a lower RVGI high means the recent bars are closing less strongly relative to their opens.
- Period length. A longer window is smoother and slower; a shorter one reacts to fewer bars.
These are ways to read the lines, not entry signals on their own.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 10 | Bars in the sums of the smoothed close-open and high-low values. Lower reacts faster and is noisier; higher is smoother. Minimum 1. |
Adjust the length in the indicator settings. The 4-bar weighting and the use of open, high, low and close are fixed.
Calculation
Both the close-open move and the bar range are first smoothed with a symmetric 4-bar weighting of 1, 2, 2 and 1, then summed over the window and divided. The same weighting applied to RVGI gives the signal line:
w(x) = (x + 2 * x[1 bar ago] + 2 * x[2 bars ago] + x[3 bars ago]) / 6
RVGI = sum(w(close - open), 10) / sum(w(high - low), 10)
Signal = w(RVGI)The 1:2:2:1 weighting is neither a simple nor a linearly weighted average. It is used three times: on the numerator, on the denominator and for the signal line.
The weighting needs four bars, the 10-bar sums then need 10 of those values, and the signal line needs four RVGI values, so with the defaults RVGI first appears on the 13th bar of loaded history and Signal on the 16th.
Limitations
- No fixed levels. The scale depends on the market and timeframe, so there are no standard overbought or oversold values.
- Many crossings. The signal line is only lightly smoothed, so RVGI and Signal cross often, especially in sideways markets.
- Gaps between bars are ignored. The calculation looks only within each bar, close against its own open, so a gap from the previous close does not count.
- The live candle moves. The current bar's values change until that bar closes.
- It depends on timeframe. How bars open and close varies with the timeframe and with how a market's sessions are cut into bars.
Frequently asked questions
The Relative Vigor Index is a momentum oscillator that compares how far bars close from their open with the size of their range, smoothed and summed over a window. Positive readings mean bars have tended to close above their opens, negative readings below.
Traders watch whether RVGI is above or below zero, crossings between RVGI and its signal line, and divergences between RVGI and price. Crossings happen often, so they are usually read alongside a trend judged by other means.
Yes. The indicator declares one input: Length, default 10 with a minimum of 1. Open the indicator's settings on the chart to change it. The 1:2:2:1 weighting is fixed.
Values on bars that have already closed are not revised. The current candle's values move while it is still live and settle when it closes. Each value uses only a fixed window of past bars, so loading older history does not change it.
The signal line applies the same 1, 2, 2, 1 weighting to the last four RVGI values. It is a slightly delayed, smoother copy of RVGI.
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 Relative Vigor Index already applied. On any other market, open the indicator picker on the chart and choose Relative Vigor Index from the Oscillator group.