What it does
The Stochastic oscillator shows where the latest close sits within the high-low range of the last N bars, on a 0 to 100 scale. %K equals 100 times (close minus lowest low) divided by (highest high minus lowest low) over the lookback, typically 14 bars; %D is a 3-period moving average of %K that acts as the signal line. Readings near 100 mean price is closing near the top of its recent range, near 0 the bottom.
How to add it
Click Indicators (ƒx) in the header.
Search “Stochastic” and click the result.
Hover its legend row and click the gear to open settings.
How traders use it
- Use 80/20 as the overbought/oversold zones and look for %K to cross back out of the zone before acting.
- Trade %K crossing %D: a bullish cross below 20 is a classic buy trigger, a bearish cross above 80 a sell trigger, best taken with the prevailing trend.
- Trade divergences: a higher low in the Stochastic against a lower low in price warns of a bottom, and vice versa at tops.
- Prefer the slow variant (an extra 3-period smoothing of %K) to cut noise, or the 5,3,3 fast setting for scalping.
- Use it in ranges and pullbacks: it excels at timing entries within a sideways channel or at the end of a retracement in a trend.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Default | Range / Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| %K Length | number | 14 | 1–10000 |
| %K Smoothing | number | 1 | 1–10000 |
| %D Smoothing | number | 3 | 1–10000 |
Plots & styling
| Plot | Style | Default color |
|---|---|---|
| %K | line | #2196F3 |
| %D | line | #ff6d00 |
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 | 80 |
| Lower | 20 |
Level values, colors and line styles are editable in settings.
Tips
- Double-click the plot to open settings directly, skipping the legend hover.
- The pane keeps its height in saved layouts, so size it once and it survives reloads.
- Resize the pane by dragging its divider; collapse it from the legend row when you need the space back.
Watch out for
- In strong trends the Stochastic pins at the extreme and stays there, so counter-trend signals from 80/20 fail repeatedly.
- It is one of the noisiest oscillators and generates many small whipsaw crossovers without additional filtering.