What Is Williams %R?
Williams %R, developed by Larry Williams, is a momentum oscillator that scales from 0 to -100 (note the negative). It measures how close the current close is to the high of the lookback period — values near 0 mean the close is near the period high; values near -100 mean it's near the period low.
Conventionally, readings above -20 are considered overbought; below -80 are oversold. It's essentially an inverted Stochastic with different defaults. Pure momentum reading — no smoothing, no signal line — which makes it more responsive but also noisier than RSI or Stochastic.
Practical use is similar to other oscillators: divergence with price for trend-exhaustion signals, and threshold crosses for momentum shifts. Williams %R works on any timeframe but is most popular on intraday charts where its responsiveness matters.
Related terms
- Stochastic Oscillator — Momentum indicator measuring where current price sits within its recent high-low range.
- RSI (Relative Strength Index) — A momentum oscillator (0-100) measuring the speed and magnitude of recent price changes.
- Divergence (Bullish / Bearish) — When price makes a new high or low but a momentum indicator does not — signal of weakening trend.
- CCI (Commodity Channel Index) — Oscillator measuring how far price has moved from its statistical average.