BITCOIN WILLIAMS %R

What is Bitcoin Williams %R?

Bitcoin Williams %R locates the latest close inside the recent price range, counting downward from the highest high. Its scale runs from −100 at the lowest low to 0 at the highest high. A less negative value therefore places the close nearer the top of the range. The minus sign does not mean Bitcoin itself has fallen by that percentage.The default looks across 14 candles, including the current evaluated candle. It uses the highest high and lowest low anywhere in that window, rather than just the first and last closes. This makes it a measure of position inside a range, distinct from a return that compares two prices over time.

Translate the negative scale

At −20, the close is 20% of the range below its highest high, or 80% of the way up from its lowest low. At −80, it is near the lower end. At −50, it is in the middle. These percentages describe distance within the selected range, not the size of a price gain or loss.

Separate range position from candle direction

A candle can close lower than the previous one and still finish near the highest high of the last 14 candles. Williams %R may then remain near zero. Equally, one higher close after a long decline can leave the reading near −100. The indicator retains the context of the full window.

Read the summary boundary

Maketo labels readings at or above −45 Rising, at or below −55 Falling, and the space between them Mixed. The familiar −20 and −80 levels describe the upper and lower parts of the range. They are not promises that price will change direction when reached.

How Williams %R is calculated

%R = −100 × (highest high − close) / (highest high − lowest low), using 14 candles by default. The page is published on Williams %R, period 14. A period counts candles at the interval you choose, so the same setting covers a different stretch of time on a one-hour chart than on a daily one. How smoothing and missing candles are handled.

A calculation you can follow

These invented Bitcoin prices show how the scale behaves with a fixed range and with a changing high. For 14 candles, suppose the highest high is $105,000 and the lowest low is $95,000. The range is $10,000.With a close of $103,000, Williams %R = −100 × ($105,000 − $103,000) ÷ $10,000 = −20.If the close moves to $104,000 while the range stays unchanged, the result becomes −10. The close moved closer to the top.If that next candle instead reaches a high of $107,000 before closing at $104,000, the updated range is $12,000. The result is −100 × $3,000 ÷ $12,000 = −25.In the last case, the close rose but its position within the enlarged range fell. A lower indicator reading does not always require a lower closing price.

Lookback length

Changing the 14-period setting changes which high and low qualify. A longer window may preserve an old extreme that a shorter window has already dropped. The two readings can differ even when their latest close is identical.

The candle interval

A 14-period weekly reading compares 14 weekly highs and lows; a 14-period hourly reading compares 14 hourly candles. The period counts observations, not an automatic number of days. Compare the same interval before drawing conclusions from different charts.

No additional smoothing

This Williams %R view displays the range position directly. There is no signal-line setting or extra moving average. That makes changes easy to trace to the close or range endpoints, while also leaving short-lived movements fully visible.

Old extremes can leave the window

If a very low candle drops out, the new lowest low can move upward. The close’s relative position then changes even without a new price move. Check whether a reading changed because of today’s candle or because the comparison window rolled forward.

High readings can persist

Repeated new highs can keep closes near the top for a long sequence of candles. Near zero is a description of that pattern, not a countdown to a fall. The equivalent caution applies near −100 during a persistent decline.

Do not count a rescaled copy twice

With matching price inputs and periods, Williams %R equals raw stochastic %K minus 100. Those two lines will agree by construction. They offer different presentation, not two independent measurements of the market.

Williams %R compared with Stochastic

The Fast stochastic view makes the scale relationship clear: raw %K of 80 corresponds to Williams %R of −20. The Slow stochastic view also smooths the raw position, which can make it turn later. Match both the range period and smoothing before comparing readings. Open Bitcoin Stochastic.

Does a reading of −80 mean Bitcoin lost 80%?

No. It means the close is 80% of the selected range below its highest high. The whole range might span only a small percentage of Bitcoin’s price.

What if the highest high and lowest low are equal?

There is no range to divide by. Maketo uses −50, the midpoint, for a completely flat window. Missing candles are treated separately and can leave a reading unavailable.