# TRIX Also known as: triple exponential average. A Momentum & Oscillators concept (Rate-of-change cluster) in the LuxAlgo Library, with 1 indicator implementation. ## What is TRIX? TRIX is the one-bar [rate of change](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/roc/) of a triple-smoothed exponential moving average. Introduced by Jack Hutson in Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazine in the early 1980s, it runs the close through an [EMA](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/ema/) three times with the same length, then plots the percentage change of that heavily filtered series from one bar to the next. The line oscillates around zero: positive while the triple-smoothed trend is rising, negative while it is falling. The triple pass is the point. Each smoothing stage suppresses cycles shorter than the chosen length, so TRIX ignores fluctuations the filter deems noise, at the cost of lag. Common published settings run the same length (15 bars is typical) through all three passes, with a shorter EMA of the TRIX line itself serving as a signal line. Because the output is a one-bar percent change, TRIX values are small and scale with the instrument's volatility and the chosen length: a quiet large-cap on a 15-period setting produces readings in hundredths of a percent, while a volatile crypto pair swings far wider. Platforms handle this differently, some multiplying by 100 or 10,000 for legibility, so absolute levels are not comparable across charts. What carries between markets is the sign, the slope, and the relationship to the signal line, typically a 9-period EMA of TRIX itself. The design buys noise immunity with lag, and the price is real. Three EMA passes mean the line confirms a turn well after it began, so zero-line crosses in fast reversals arrive late enough to give back a meaningful share of the move. In ranges, TRIX drifts near zero and its crosses degrade toward coin flips. It behaves best as a slow regime and confirmation layer on trending instruments, with entries timed by something faster, and worst as a standalone trigger on choppy ones. ## How to identify TRIX signals on charts TRIX plots in a subpanel as a single smooth line around zero, usually with a signal line. Reading it comes down to the zero line, the slope, and disagreements with price. 1. Apply the indicator with the default 15-period length and note the scale your platform uses; the values are one-bar percent changes of a triple-smoothed close, so they will be small. 2. Mark which side of zero the line has held recently: extended one-sided stretches define the filtered trend, and crosses between them are the regime events. 3. Overlay the signal line, commonly a 9-period EMA of TRIX, and watch for crosses through it; these fire earlier than zero crosses and correspondingly fail more often. 4. Compare the line's swing highs and lows with price at new extremes: price making a higher high while TRIX makes a lower high is a [regular bearish divergence](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/regular-bullish-bearish-divergence/), rarer here than on faster oscillators and worth more attention when it appears. 5. Walk the settings across your market's history before trusting them: longer lengths suppress more noise and arrive later, and the right balance depends on how long the trends you trade actually last. ## How it's calculated TRIX is the 1-bar percent rate of change of a triple-smoothed exponential moving average of the close, an oscillator centered on zero. ``` EMA1_t = EMA_n(C) EMA2_t = EMA_n(EMA1) EMA3_t = EMA_n(EMA2) TRIX_t = 100 × (EMA3_t - EMA3_(t-1)) / EMA3_(t-1) Signal_t = EMA_s(TRIX) C: close price t: bar index n: length of each EMA pass (commonly 14 or 15; some platforms use 18) EMA_n(x), EMA_s(x): exponential moving averages of series x with lengths n and s, weight 2 / (length + 1) EMA1, EMA2, EMA3: single, double and triple smoothed close EMA3_(t-1): EMA3 one bar earlier TRIX_t: 1-bar percent rate of change of EMA3 s: signal line length (default 9) Signal_t: signal EMA of TRIX ``` The same n is applied three times, so the effective smoothing is much heavier than one EMA of that length. Some platforms run the EMAs on the natural log of the close and scale the 1-bar change by 10000 instead of 100; the shape is nearly identical. Signals are read from zero-line crosses or TRIX/signal crossovers. ## How traders use it - As a trend-regime read: the zero line separates a rising filtered trend from a falling one, and staying on one side of zero defines regime the way centerline rules do on faster oscillators. - For signal-line crossovers: TRIX crossing its own EMA turns earlier than the zero cross, mirroring [MACD](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/macd/) signal-line practice with more smoothing behind it. - For divergence against price at swing extremes, where the heavy filtering makes divergences rarer but less prone to one-bar noise. - As stretch context: TRIX is unbounded, so [overbought/oversold](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/overbought-oversold/) reads come from comparing the current value against its own recent range rather than fixed levels; readings far outside that range flag a trend running hot, not an automatic reversal. - As the slow layer under a faster oscillator: pairing TRIX regime with [RSI](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/rsi/) or [stochastic](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/stochastic-oscillator/) timing lets the smooth line say which side to trade and the fast line say when, a division of labor that suits its lag profile. ## TRIX vs related momentum oscillators - **MACD** (https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/macd/): MACD measures the spread between a fast and a slow EMA, so it responds whenever the two separate; TRIX differentiates a single triple-smoothed average, so it responds only when the filtered trend changes slope. TRIX is the quieter of the two, later and cleaner. - **ROC** (https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/roc/): Rate of change is raw: the percent move over N bars, noise included. TRIX is the same percentage idea applied to a series smoothed three times, trading ROC's immediacy for a line that ignores most one-bar events. - **Stochastic Momentum Index** (https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/stochastic-momentum-index/): The SMI double-smooths the close's position within the recent high-low range, so it is bounded and reads location. TRIX is unbounded and reads the slope of a filtered trend. Both lean on heavy smoothing; they answer different questions. ## FAQ ### What does the TRIX indicator measure? TRIX measures the percent change, bar to bar, of an exponential moving average that has been smoothed three times with the same length. In effect it is the slope of a very smooth trend proxy: positive readings mean the filtered trend is still rising, and a cross below zero means it has turned down. The triple smoothing is designed to filter out cycles shorter than the chosen length. ### What is the difference between TRIX and MACD? MACD is the spread between two EMAs of different lengths, so it reacts whenever the fast average pulls away from the slow one. TRIX is the rate of change of a single triple-smoothed EMA, so it reacts only when the filtered trend itself changes slope. Both oscillate around zero and pair with signal lines; TRIX trades responsiveness for noise suppression. ### What are the standard TRIX settings? The common published defaults are a 15-period length for all three smoothing passes and a 9-period EMA of the TRIX line as the signal. Shorter lengths turn faster and whipsaw more; longer lengths reverse the trade. Settings that look good on one market and timeframe routinely disappoint on another, so treat the defaults as a starting point for testing rather than an answer. ### Is TRIX a leading or lagging indicator? Lagging, unambiguously: it is computed from three sequential smoothings of past closes, so it confirms turns after they have begun. Claims that it leads usually refer to divergence, where TRIX flattens before price does at exhausted extremes, but that is an early warning that fails often, not a forecast. ### Can TRIX be used for divergence trading? Yes, and the triple smoothing changes the signal's character: divergences are rarer than on RSI or stochastics because the line ignores small swings, and the ones that do print reflect genuine deceleration in the filtered trend. They still resolve by continuation regularly, so most practitioners require a structural trigger before acting on one. ### Does TRIX work on intraday timeframes? The math works anywhere, but intraday noise pushes more of the burden onto the smoothing. On low timeframes the standard settings produce a line dominated by session rhythm, and zero crosses degrade badly in the chop around news and the open. Intraday users typically lengthen the settings or compute TRIX on a higher timeframe and use it as the regime layer. ## Implementations in the Library - TRIX (LuxAlgo, the standard build of the classic formula): https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/trix/ ## Related concepts - Momentum: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/momentum/ - Disparity Index: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/disparity-index/ - ROC: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/roc/ - ROC-of-ROC: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/roc-of-roc/ - Chande Momentum Oscillator: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/chande-momentum-oscillator/ - Know Sure Thing: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/know-sure-thing/ - Coppock Curve: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/coppock-curve/ - Detrended Price Oscillator: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/detrended-price-oscillator/ - Psychological Line: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/psychological-line/ - Special K: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/special-k/ --- Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/trix/ (LuxAlgo Library, the encyclopedia of trading & technical analysis). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/