What it does
CCI measures how far the typical price (the average of high, low and close) has strayed from its own moving average, scaled by mean absolute deviation. The formula divides the deviation by 0.015 times the mean deviation so that roughly 70 to 80 percent of values fall between +100 and -100 with the default 20-period lookback. Despite the name it works on any instrument, not just commodities.
How to add it
Click Indicators (ƒx) in the header.
Search “Commodity Channel Index” and click the result.
Hover its legend row and click the gear to open settings.
How traders use it
- Trade breakouts of the +100/-100 bands: a push above +100 signals emerging upside strength, a drop below -100 emerging downside strength.
- Fade extremes in ranges: readings beyond +200 or -200 are statistically stretched and often precede snapbacks toward zero.
- Use the zero line for bias: CCI holding above zero supports longs, below zero supports shorts.
- Trade divergences between CCI peaks and price peaks as early reversal warnings.
- A common two-timeframe approach takes the longer-timeframe CCI direction as the filter and the shorter one for entry timing.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Default | Range / Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length | number | 20 | 1–2000 |
| Smoothing Line | select | SMA | SMA / EMA / WMA |
| Smoothing Length | number | 20 | 1–10000 |
Plots & styling
| Plot | Style | Default color |
|---|---|---|
| CCI(20) | line | #2196F3 |
| Smoothed MA | line | #787b86 |
Every plot's color, line width and visibility can be changed on the Style tab. Precision (default 2 decimals), price-scale labels and status-line values are configurable at the bottom of the Style tab.
Reference levels
| Level | Value |
|---|---|
| Upper | 100 |
| Lower | -100 |
Level values, colors and line styles are editable in settings.
Tips
- Hide the study from the legend eye instead of removing it when you only want it out of the way temporarily.
- Merge multiple oscillators into one pane from the legend ⋯ menu to compare them on a shared axis.
- Double-click the plot to open settings directly, skipping the legend hover.
Watch out for
- CCI is unbounded, so overbought can always get more overbought; extreme readings are context, not automatic reversal signals.
- It is volatile and whipsaws around the +100/-100 lines in choppy markets.