Above 70 overbought · below 30 oversold.
The short answer
- What is the Relative Strength Index (RSI)?
- Relative Strength Index: average gain ÷ average loss over 14 candles, scaled 0–100.
- When does RSI get it wrong?
- ⚠ In a strong trend it can stay extreme for weeks. An extreme is not a reversal signal by itself. See its current reading on platform symbols, at the last daily close, in the "Reading now" table on this page. See current reading →
Reading now
| Ticker | Value | Five sessions ago | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPY | 59.22 | 62.00 | Between 30 and 70 |
| QQQ | 54.59 | 69.93 | Between 30 and 70 |
| IWM | 34.98 | 40.50 | Between 30 and 70 |
| DIA | 48.18 | 44.35 | Between 30 and 70 |
A description of where the number sits against its thresholds. It is not an entry or exit signal.
Indicator limit
⚠ In a strong trend it can stay extreme for weeks. An extreme is not a reversal signal by itself.
Read it with
Average Directional Index: when ADX is above 25, an extreme can last for weeks, so it is not read as a reversal.
Answers: Has the move stretched?
What it actually does
The Relative Strength Index compares the average gain of up sessions with the average loss of down sessions over a window (14 by convention) and turns the ratio into a number between 0 and 100. It measures the balance of strength between buyers and sellers inside the window, not how far price is from some value.
How it is read in practice
The common thresholds 70 and 30 read as overextended, not as an order to buy or sell. The difference matters: in a strong uptrend the indicator stays above 70 for weeks, and anyone who sold at the first touch sold the start of the move. A mature reading: thresholds classify the setting, they do not fire orders.
A sharper use: the regime range
In an uptrend the indicator tends to swing between 40 and 80, and in a downtrend between 20 and 60. So breaking the usual floor (a drop below 40 in a rising market) says the regime itself may have changed. That tells you more than a touch of 70.
Hypothetical example
A stock in an uptrend bounces three times from the 45 zone over two months: a healthy uptrend range. Then it breaks 32 on a fourth wave. The range has broken, and caution is warranted even if price has not broken a level yet.
Where it errs and why
It is misused more than any other indicator: reading "overbought" as an order to sell means fighting the trend, and that is the most regular way to lose. In highly volatile stocks a single gap can distort the reading.
Read it with
Read it with trend strength, which decides which reading applies: in a strong trend, ignore the overbought threshold and watch the floors; in a range, read both thresholds. Read it with volume at divergences, and with volatility, since its reading gets distorted after a sharp jump. Its window (14) is shortened for short-term trading and lengthened for investing, and changing it changes what the thresholds mean.
Where to see it on the platform
The scanner terminal shows it for every symbol, and the scanner table colors its cell, so you see the environment across dozens of symbols at once.
