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Williams %R

What Williams %R measures, how to read its -20 and -80 levels, how it relates to the Stochastic, its settings on MillionChart and an example on gold.

Williams %R shows where the latest close sits inside the range of the last 14 bars, read from the top: 0 when the close is at the highest high of the window, −100 when it is at the lowest low. Larry Williams published it in 1973. It runs in its own pane from −100 to 0, with levels at −20 and −80.

Williams %R (14) under gold, daily candles
Williams %R (14) under gold, daily candles

What it shows#

  • %R (gold line): the close's place in the window. Near 0 the market is closing at the top of its recent range; near −100 at the bottom.
  • Upper (−20) and Lower (−80): dashed levels with a light fill between them. Above −20 is the overbought zone, below −80 the oversold zone.

The pane is fixed to −100 to 0.

How it is calculated#

%R = −100 × (highest high over Length bars − close) / (highest high − lowest low over the same bars). It always uses the high, low and close; there is no source option and no smoothing. When the window's high and low are equal there is no value. It is the Stochastic's raw %K shifted down by 100: the same line on a different scale.

How traders use it#

  • Overbought and oversold: readings above −20 mean the close is in the top fifth of the range; below −80 in the bottom fifth. In a trend the line can sit above −20 for many bars, so an overbought reading shows strength, not an imminent reversal.
  • Leaving the zone: a common trigger is %R falling back under −20 after a stay above it, or rising back over −80, rather than the first touch.
  • The middle: above −50 the close is in the upper half of the range, a simple read of who is in control.
  • Divergence: price makes a new high while %R peaks lower, so closes are landing further from the highs.
  • Watch out for: with no smoothing the line jumps from bar to bar and whipsaws in a range. The window defines "high" and "low": 14 daily bars is less than three weeks, so the levels say nothing about the longer trend.

Settings#

SettingDefaultWhat it changes
Length14Bars of the high-low window the close is placed in. Shorter reaches the extremes more often.
Colours and style—The colour of the %R line, the two levels and the zone fill.

The Upper and Lower levels are rows under Lines in the settings card; each has a Level box, so you can move them, to −10 and −90 for example.

Example on gold#

Suppose gold has climbed from about $4,200 to $4,320 over two weeks on the daily chart, closing near the highs, for example. %R has been above −20 for most of those sessions: strength, not a sell. Then a session closes mid-range and %R drops to −35, leaving the zone. A trader who is long might take that as the cue to trail a stop under the last swing low rather than to sell, because the trend is intact. If %R later falls through −80 while price breaks that swing low, the pullback has become a change of character; if it returns above −20 within a few bars, the trend has simply resumed.

Add it to your chart#

  1. Click Indicators in the top strip (on the Pro screen, press I).
  2. Type %r and click Williams %R.
  3. Click its chip in the legend to open the Inspector and change the settings; drag the chip to reorder; the dot hides it; × removes it.