%K (stochastic)
The %K is the main line of the stochastic oscillator: it locates the current close, as a percentage, within the range of the last 14 periods.
The %K, the core of George Lane's stochastic oscillator, answers a simple question: where does the close sit within the recent range? Its formula: %K = (close − 14-period lowest low) / (14-period highest high − 14-period lowest low) × 100. A %K of 100 means the close is at the very top of the last 14 periods' range, a %K of 0 at the very bottom. Lane's insight: in a rally, closes tend to cluster near the highs; when they no longer manage to, the move is running out of steam.
How to read and use it
The classic thresholds are 80 and 20: above 80 the market is said to be overbought, below 20 oversold. In a range, these zones provide reversal cues; in a strong trend, the %K can stay in extreme territory for a long time, and it is the exit from the zone (dropping back under 80 or rising back above 20) that makes the signal, often confirmed by a cross with the %D line. In Screener.Trading, the stochastic is available in screener rules: you can for instance filter assets whose %K climbs back above 20 on the daily, a sign of an oversold exit.
The raw %K is jumpy: most platforms display a “slow” stochastic, where %K is already smoothed over 3 periods before %D is computed.
Keep exploring
- FeatureThe multi-indicator, multi-timeframe screenerCombine technical indicators, timeframes and comparison operators to keep only the assets that match your strategy exactly.
- IndicatorStochastic OscillatorA bounded oscillator measuring where price closes relative to its recent extremes: near the highs, the market is strong; near the lows, it is weak.
- IndicatorRSI (Relative Strength Index)The most popular momentum oscillator: it bounds the strength of a move between 0 and 100 and flags overbought and oversold conditions.
- Glossary%D (stochastic)The %D is the 3-period simple moving average of %K and serves as the stochastic oscillator's signal line, whose crosses with %K are the classic signals.
- GlossaryTimeframeA timeframe is the duration each candle on a chart represents (from one minute to several months) and sets the horizon of the analysis.
- GuideBuilding your first screener, step by stepHow to turn a strategy idea into objective rules, pick the right asset universe, read scan results and iterate until you get a genuinely actionable list of opportunities.