What is Williams %R?
Williams %R measures how far the latest close sits below the highest high of the recent window, as a share of that window's full high-low range. It reads 0 when the close is at the top of the range and -100 when it is at the bottom, so the whole scale is negative by design. It is the same idea as the Stochastic %K turned upside down and shifted. Altrady Charts draws it in its own pane with dashed levels at -20 and -80.
Williams %R shows the close's position in the recent range. It does not show trend direction or how wide the range is, and a reading near 0 or -100 does not mean price is about to turn.
How to use Williams %R
- Above -20 or below -80. By convention, above -20 is read as overbought and below -80 as oversold. In a strong trend closes keep landing near the edge of the range, so the line can stay there for many bars.
- Leaving an extreme. Some traders watch for the line to move back out of the -20 or -80 zone rather than for it to enter it, as a sign the push has paused.
- Divergence. A new price high with a lower %R high means the latest close finished less near the top of its range than before.
- Period length. A shorter length hits the extremes more often; a longer one is calmer.
These are ways to read the line, not entry signals on their own.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 14 | Bars in the high-low range. Lower makes the line more sensitive and more often extreme; higher is calmer. Minimum 1. |
| Source | Close | Which price is placed within the range. The range itself always uses the bars' highs and lows. Open, high, low, hl2 and hlc3 are also available. |
Adjust the length and source in the indicator settings. The -20 and -80 levels are fixed.
Calculation
The close's distance below the highest high, as a share of the full range, multiplied by -100:
hh = highest high of 14 bars
ll = lowest low of 14 bars
%R = -100 * (hh - close) / (hh - ll)A close at the highest high gives 0 and a close at the lowest low gives -100. The first value appears on the 14th bar of loaded history, once both extremes have a full window.
If the high and low are identical across all 14 bars, the range is zero and there is no value for that bar.
Limitations
- Overbought is not a sell signal. In a strong uptrend the line can stay above -20 for long periods while price keeps rising.
- It is unsmoothed. There is no averaging, so the line jumps from bar to bar and crosses its levels often in sideways markets.
- It ignores the size of the range. A close at the top of a narrow range and at the top of a wide one both read 0.
- The live candle moves. The current bar's value changes until that bar closes.
- It depends on timeframe and length. The same market gives different readings on 15m and 1D, or at different lengths.
Frequently asked questions
Williams %R is a momentum oscillator that shows where the latest close sits within the highest high and lowest low of a recent window. It runs from 0 at the top of the range to -100 at the bottom.
The scale is defined that way. It measures the distance down from the highest high, so 0 means the close is at the top of the range and -100 means it is at the bottom. It carries the same information as an unsmoothed Stochastic, flipped and shifted.
Above -20 is read as overbought and below -80 as oversold, by convention. In a trend the line can stay in those zones for a long time, so many traders wait for it to leave a zone, or use it only in the direction of a trend they have judged separately.
Yes. The indicator declares two inputs: Length, default 14 with a minimum of 1, and Source, default close. Open the indicator's settings on the chart to change them. The range always uses the bars' highs and lows.
Values on bars that have already closed are not revised. The current candle's value moves while it is still live, because its close, high and low can still change, and settles when it closes. Each value uses only a fixed window of past bars, so loading older history does not change it.
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 Williams %R already applied. On any other market, open the indicator picker on the chart and choose Williams %R from the Oscillator group.