What is TRIX?
TRIX smooths price with three exponential moving averages in a row, then plots how much that smoothed line changed from the previous bar. The result oscillates around zero: above zero while the smoothed line is rising, below while it is falling. Three passes of smoothing remove most short-term swings, so it crosses zero far less often than the slope of a single average would.
It describes the direction and pace of the dominant move after the fact. It is late by design and does not predict turns.
How to use TRIX
- Above or below zero. Above zero, the triple-smoothed price is rising; below zero, it is falling. A zero cross means the smoothed line has changed direction.
- Distance from zero. The further from zero, the faster the smoothed price is moving. A reading of 10 is roughly a 0.1% change per bar.
- Turning before crossing. TRIX flattening and turning back towards zero shows the smoothed move is slowing before it reverses.
- Divergence. Price making a new high while TRIX makes a lower one is read as momentum fading.
These are ways to read the line, not entry signals on their own.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 18 | The length of each of the three exponential averages. Lower reacts sooner and crosses zero more often; higher is smoother and later, and needs more history to start. Minimum 1. |
| Source | Close | Which price each bar contributes. Open, high, low and the averaged sources such as hl2 and hlc3 are also available. |
Adjust the length and price source in the indicator settings.
Calculation
The smoothing runs on the natural log of price, three times over, and TRIX is the bar-to-bar change of the result:
e1 = EMA(ln(price), 18)
e2 = EMA(e1, 18)
e3 = EMA(e2, 18)
TRIX = 10000 * (e3 - previous e3)Working on the log of price makes the output a proportional rate rather than an amount in price units, so a reading on BTC is comparable with one on a low-priced coin. The 10000 factor only puts the result in readable numbers: one unit is roughly 0.01% change per bar in the smoothed price.
Each average is seeded from the simple average of its first 18 values, and each needs 18 values of the one before it. The warm-up therefore compounds: with the default length the first TRIX value appears on the 53rd bar of loaded history. A dashed line marks zero. No signal line is drawn.
Limitations
- It lags. Three layers of smoothing make it late. By the time it crosses zero, much of the move is usually over.
- It needs a long warm-up. With the default length it draws nothing for the first 52 bars.
- Quiet markets hug zero. In a range the line drifts around zero and its crosses mean little.
- The live candle moves. The current bar's value changes until that bar closes.
- It is not a strategy. On its own it carries no risk management, sizing or exit.
Frequently asked questions
TRIX is the bar-to-bar rate of change of a price line that has been smoothed by three exponential moving averages in a row. It oscillates around zero, positive while the smoothed price rises and negative while it falls.
Above zero the smoothed trend is up, below zero it is down, and a zero cross marks a change in its direction. Distance from zero shows how fast the smoothed price is moving, and a turn back towards zero shows the move slowing. Because of the triple smoothing these signals are late but filter out most short swings.
Each of the three averages needs 18 values from the one before it, and the change needs one more bar, so with the default length the first value appears on the 53rd bar of loaded history. That is expected, not a fault.
Yes. The indicator declares two inputs: Length, default 18 with a minimum of 1, and Source, default close. Open the indicator's settings on the chart to change them.
Values on bars that have already closed are not revised. The current candle's value moves while that candle is live and settles when it closes. Because the averages need a starting point, scrolling back to load older history recalculates them, and values near the very start of the loaded range can shift.
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 TRIX already applied. On any other market, open the indicator picker on the chart and choose TRIX from the Momentum group.