Understanding Technical Oscillators and Their Importance in Forex Trade

As investors, carrying out proper market evaluation before plunging your money in is important. Market evaluation can be difficult to carry out, but thanks to the various technical market evaluating tools, you can make a proper and profiting trade move. Under technical market evaluation, there are several tools you can use to analyse market trends. They include moving averages, technical oscillators, Bollinger bands, Fibonacci, and so much more.

This article, however, covers the technical oscillators analysis tools comprising relative strength index, rate of change oscillator, and stochastic oscillators.  

Types of Technical Oscillators

1.     Relative strength index

This oscillator measures the security’s comparative strength against itself.  It is a momentum indicator and is utilized in technical evaluation, which measures the size of the latest price variations so as to analyse overbought or oversold situations in shares and additional assets. The RSI is often illustrated as an oscillator whose reading points are between the values of zero and 100. High values greater than 70 illustrate an overvalued market, whereas low values of below 30 illustrate an undervalued market.

Therefore, when the index value is greater than 70, it implies a signal to sell, while an index below 30 implies the signal to buy. Once the RSI has been derived, it is extrapolated below the price chart of an asset. You will notice that with every increase in the quantity and magnitude of the positive closes, the RSI rises. On the contrary, with every increase in the quantity and magnitudes of losses, the RSI drops.

The RSI can only draw close to zero or 100 in an intensely trending market. Stocks tend to remain in the overbought also known as overvalued region given the stock stays in the upward trend, and will stay in the oversold, also called undervalued region provided the stock remain in a downward trend. This trend tends to be complex and is most times very confusing for beginner analysts. However, you can train yourself to utilize this pointer within the framework of the prevalent trend, and you will receive the correct clarification.     

2.     Rate of change (ROC) oscillator

The rate of change oscillator illustrates the percentage deviation of today’s price from a given price, let us say n periods ago. More understandably, the percentage variation of the prices is over a particular period. A greater percentage variation in price implies a higher rate of change.

The oscillation of ROC is around 0%. There is an indirect relationship between price and ROC, in that, an increase in price results in drop of the ROC, whereas a drop in price causes the ROC to rise.

You should note that as a trader, you will often take advantage of the oscillators moving from negative point to the positive in an upward trend by purchasing, and selling in the event that the oscillators shift from positive towards the negative in a downward trend.

Also, realize that in the event that the oscillators go beyond the zero in the trend’s opposite bearing, you assume it.  

3.     Stochastic oscillators

These technical oscillators are utilized in measuring the association existing between closing, high, and low prices. It is also utilized in ascertaining overbought plus oversold markets. It is often derived utilizing a period of 14 days, and constantly lies between 0% to 100%.

In an upward trend, the final price usually comes close to the high price of the time frame under analysis. On the other hand, a downward trend is signalled with the low and ending prices being close to each other. When using stochastic oscillators to evaluate the market trades, you should know that the purchase signal arises in case the oscillator crosses beyond the 20% point, whereas the sell indicator is activated if the oscillator crosses underneath the 80% point.

However, stochastic oscillators have some limitations, which may render it ineffective in some circumstance. Its major limitation is that it sometimes produces false signals. This is where the indicator generates a trading indicator, but the price fails to come through. More often than not, this becomes a losing trade to an investor. This limitation occurs mostly under volatile market situations. To avoid losing through this limitation, always take the price movement like a filter.     

Conclusion

Technical oscillators are significant as they facilitate an investor into knowing when to buy and when of sell stock or other assets. It is important that beginner forex traders take the time to understand and know how to apply these analysis tools in trade. Also, recognize the limitations to all the technical analysis tools, and choose the one that suits your trade best.