Oscillators
TRIX: Triple Exponential Average
The rate of change of a triple-smoothed moving average: a slow, smooth momentum line that ignores small wiggles.
The idea in plain words
Smoothing a price three times removes almost all short-term noise. TRIX then shows whether that very smooth line is rising or falling, and how fast.
How it is calculated
EMA of EMA of EMA of the close, then the change from one candle to the next as a fraction.
E3 = EMA(EMA(EMA(close, N), N), N)
TRIX = (E3 − previous E3) ÷ previous E3 (default N = 14)How to use it
- TRIX crossing above zero: the smooth trend has turned up; below zero: down.
- Divergences with the price show slowing trends.
Drawing conclusions
- Because it is so smooth, TRIX signals are late but rarely flicker.
Example
On a weekly chart TRIX turns positive after six months below zero: a long-term trend change.
Prices in examples are illustrative.
Watch out for
- Too slow for short-term trading.
A little history
Jack Hutson introduced TRIX in Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities in the early 1980s.
Educational content only. No indicator or pattern predicts the future, and nothing here is investment advice.