What it does
The Williams VIX Fix, developed by Larry Williams, synthesizes a volatility-fear gauge for any instrument, mimicking the behavior of the VIX without needing options data. It is computed as the highest close of the past 22 bars minus the current low, divided by that highest close, multiplied by 100. The reading spikes when price drops sharply below recent highs, capturing the panic that accompanies market bottoms.
Typeoscillatorseparate pane
How to add it
Click Indicators (ƒx) in the header.
Search “VIX Fix” and click the result.
Hover its legend row and click the gear to open settings.
How traders use it
- Spikes to extreme highs flag panic and potential bottoms; a common filter is a reading above its upper Bollinger Band (20-period, 2 standard deviations) or above the 85th to 90th percentile of its own range.
- Treat a spike as an alert, not an entry: wait for the spike to begin fading and for price to reclaim a short moving average or print a reversal bar before buying.
- It excels at timing longs after washouts in instruments with an upward long-term drift, such as equity indexes; combine with support levels or anchored VWAP for location.
- Low, flat readings indicate complacency and often precede volatility expansions, useful as a caution flag for adding risk.
Inputs
| Input | Type | Default | Range / Options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period | number | 22 | 1–200 |
Plots & styling
| Plot | Style | Default color |
|---|---|---|
| VIX Fix | line | #f44336 |
Every plot's color, line width and visibility can be changed on the Style tab. Precision (default 4 decimals), price-scale labels and status-line values are configurable at the bottom of the Style tab.
Tips
- Resize the pane by dragging its divider; collapse it from the legend row when you need the space back.
- Use Add to favorites in the legend menu; starred studies surface at the top of the picker.
- Reference levels (where the study has them) are editable — tune them to the instrument you're trading.
Watch out for
- It is asymmetric: it detects fear-driven bottoms well but says little about tops, which usually form on low volatility.
- In a genuine bear market the indicator can spike repeatedly while price keeps falling, so buying every spike without confirmation compounds losses.