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KST: Know Sure Thing

A momentum oscillator that combines four rates of change over different periods, weighted towards the longer ones.

2 min read · Try it on a live chart ↗

The idea in plain words

Short, medium and long momentum each tell part of the story. KST adds four smoothed rates of change so that signals happen only when they broadly agree.

How it is calculated

Smooth ROC(10), ROC(15), ROC(20) and ROC(30) with SMAs of 10, 10, 10 and 15 candles, weight them 1, 2, 3 and 4 and add them up. Signal = SMA(9) of KST.

KST = 1·SMA(ROC10,10) + 2·SMA(ROC15,10) + 3·SMA(ROC20,10) + 4·SMA(ROC30,15)
Signal = SMA(KST, 9)

How to use it

  • KST crossing its signal line.
  • Zero line as the dividing line between rising and falling markets.

Drawing conclusions

  • Turns of KST far from zero are more significant.

Example

GER40 weekly: KST crosses above its signal line below zero after a correction, a classic early buy signal.

Prices in examples are illustrative.

Watch out for

  • Slow by design; on short timeframes it lags a lot.

A little history

Created by Martin Pring and published in 1992.

Educational content only. No indicator or pattern predicts the future, and nothing here is investment advice.