Concept
RSI of Other Sources
RSI of Other Sources are Momentum & Oscillators concepts. The Library holds 6 implementations, each one a working definition you can pull into Quant.
RSI of OBV, of volume
Top RSI of Other Sources indicators
6 total
What is RSI of Other Sources?
Wilder's RSI is usually described as a price indicator, but the formula is really a general-purpose transform: it takes a series, splits its bar-to-bar changes into gains and losses, smooths each side, and maps their ratio onto a bounded 0 to 100 scale. RSI of other sources is the practice of feeding that formula something other than the close: OBV, raw volume, a moving average of price, distance from VWAP, even another oscillator. The arithmetic never changes; only the question being asked does.
Each input answers a different question. RSI of OBV asks whether cumulative volume flow is accelerating or stalling, which matters precisely when price and participation disagree. RSI of a smoothed input, such as a moving average of close, trades speed for fewer whipsaws. RSI of momentum reads acceleration rather than direction. The common thread is normalization: unbounded series like OBV or volume become comparable 0 to 100 lines with workable thresholds. The honest caveat is that the familiar 70/30 levels were calibrated on price, and a derived series can spend far more or far less time at extremes, so thresholds need rechecking per source.
How traders use it
- As participation confirmation: an RSI computed on OBV or cumulative volume delta gives a bounded read of buying and selling pressure, and its agreement or disagreement with price RSI flags moves that lack volume support.
- As a quieter signal line: running RSI on a moving average of price filters one-bar noise, so 50-crosses and threshold exits fire less often but later; the added lag is the price of the filter.
- As a divergence source: regular divergence between price and an RSI of a volume series is read as effort failing to confirm result, flagged on a bounded scale.
- As the normalization step inside composite oscillators: once every input lives on the same 0 to 100 scale, components can be averaged or voted without one series dominating by sheer magnitude.
RSI of Other Sources vs related constructions
RSI: The baseline: the same gain/loss arithmetic applied to closing price. Everything in this family swaps the input series while keeping Wilder's math intact.
Stochastic RSI: The mirror-image construction: instead of RSI applied to another series, it is another transform (the stochastic) applied to RSI, rescaling RSI to its own recent range.
Money Flow Index: Often called volume-weighted RSI, but it builds volume into the gain and loss sums through money flow rather than simply running the RSI formula on a volume series.
More RSI of Other Sources implementations
Related concepts · RSI family
Concept family
Momentum & Oscillators
91 concepts mapped · 72 in the Library
RSI of Other Sources FAQ
Do 70/30 levels work on RSI of OBV or volume?
Not automatically. The 70/30 convention was calibrated on price closes. A cumulative series like OBV is a running sum that can drift one way for long stretches, so its RSI can sit at extremes far longer than price RSI does, while a choppier input may rarely reach them. Check the derived line's own history and set thresholds from its distribution rather than assuming the price defaults transfer.
Is RSI of a moving average the same as smoothing RSI?
No. RSI of an EMA and an EMA of RSI both look smoother than raw RSI, but the order of operations matters: the first smooths the input before measuring gain/loss balance, the second measures it on raw price and then filters the output. The two lines differ in shape and timing, so signals built on one do not transfer to the other.
Which alternative sources are most common?
OBV and other volume-flow series, raw or smoothed volume, moving averages of price, momentum, and VWAP-relative measures appear most often. The pattern generalizes: any series with meaningful bar-to-bar changes can be run through the formula. The useful question is what the derived line actually measures, because an RSI of volume says nothing about price direction on its own.
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