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Oscillators

RVI: Relative Vigor Index

Measures whether candles tend to close near their highs (vigour up) or their lows (vigour down).

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The idea in plain words

In healthy uptrends prices tend to close higher than they open; in downtrends lower. RVI compares the close-minus-open with the high-minus-low over recent candles.

How it is calculated

A smoothed close − open divided by a smoothed high − low, averaged over 10 candles; the signal line is a short weighted average of RVI.

Num = weighted (close − open) of the last 4 candles (weights 1, 2, 2, 1, ÷ 6)
Den = weighted (high − low) of the last 4 candles
RVI = SMA(Num, 10) ÷ SMA(Den, 10)
Signal = (RVI + 2×RVI₁ + 2×RVI₂ + RVI₃) ÷ 6

How to use it

  • RVI crossing above its signal line: momentum turning up; below: turning down.
  • Divergences with the price warn of reversals.

Drawing conclusions

  • Best combined with the trend: buy crossovers in uptrends.

Example

After a slide, RVI crosses above its signal line while the price makes a slightly lower low: a bullish divergence.

Prices in examples are illustrative.

Watch out for

  • Crossovers are frequent; filter them with the trend.

A little history

Widely credited to John Ehlers, who published it in Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities in 2002.

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