WILLR (Williams %R)¶
What it shows: where the close sits within the high-low range of the last few candles, on a scale from -100 (at the lowest low) to 0 (at the highest high).
How people use it: below -80 is oversold, above -20 overbought. It is the Stochastic turned upside down, without smoothing, so it is quick and jumpy.
Pairs well with: a trend filter such as a moving average or ADX.
Settings¶
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 14 | How many candles define the range. Shorter swings more. |
| Oversold | -80 | The "low" line (near -100). |
| Overbought | -20 | The "high" line (near 0). |
You set the defaults on the Indicators page. A condition can use its own settings, which override the defaults for that condition only.
Ready-made conditions¶
| For | Condition | Fires when |
|---|---|---|
| Buy | WILLR below -80 | every candle WILLR is below -80 |
| Buy | WILLR crosses above -80 | the one candle WILLR moves from below -80 to above it |
| Sell | WILLR above -20 | every candle WILLR is above -20 |
| Sell | WILLR crosses below -20 | the one candle WILLR moves from above -20 to below it |
"Above", "below", "is" and "rising" / "falling" stay true on every candle the state lasts, so they can fire many candles in a row. "Crosses" and "flips" fire once, on the candle it happens, so you get one signal per move. Numbers in the condition names follow your settings on the Indicators page.
Warnings you may see¶
- "WILLR(14) only moves between -100 and 0, so 1 can never be reached.": a number you typed is outside the range this line can take, so the condition can never be true (or is always true). Check the number. You can still save it.
- "It can never be true: a cross happens on one candle, so it cannot happen on N candles in a row. Use 'within the last N candles' instead.": a "crosses" condition with a "… in a row" lookback of 2 or more. Switch the lookback to Within the last.
- "Length must be between 1 and 1000" / "Length must be a whole number": shown in the condition editor when a condition's own value is out of range. Fix the number; the condition can't be saved until then.
Where they show: on the Strategies page, open Create entry conditions / Edit entry conditions (or the exit ones). Each condition's messages appear right under it. The setting messages ("must be between", "whole number", "must be one of", "must be smaller than") start with the indicator's short name, for example "MACD: Fast must be between 1 and 1000", and keep the conditions from being saved until fixed. The other warnings never block saving and are repeated in the strategy's Entry or Exit section, starting with the condition's name.
Good to know¶
- It is worked out from each candle's high, low and close (not volume).
- The numbers are negative: -90 is lower than -80. Remember this when typing levels.
- It needs some history before its value settles: the length in candles (14 at length 14). Apathia loads that history for you.