Ergodic Oscillator

Ergodic Oscillator plots William Blau's double-smoothed momentum ratio: one-bar price change passed through a 20-length and then a 5-length EMA, divided by the identical pipeline applied to the absolute change, and scaled to +/-100. Because numerator and denominator carry the same lag, the ergodic oscillator reads as a bounded, unusually smooth momentum line; the build adds a 5-period signal line and a histogram of their gap whose shading encodes acceleration.

How to Trade the Ergodic Oscillator?

• Signal-line crosses: the momentum triggers — best taken with the zero line or a trend filter as referee.
• Zero crosses: net double-smoothed momentum changing sign, the slower trend-change cue.
• Fading histogram: bright columns mark a widening line-signal gap; faded columns mean it is closing — momentum rolling over before the cross, alertable both ways.
• Extreme-band entries: pushes beyond the bands are overbought or oversold context — stand down on fresh entries rather than fade automatically.

Like most of the momentum family, it reads best as a timing layer: zero line for regime, crosses for moments.

Ergodic Oscillator Settings

• Source (default close).
• Long Smoothing Length (default 20): the first EMA stage — longer settings slow and clean the line for regime and divergence reads.
• Short Smoothing Length (default 5): the second EMA stage, the responsiveness fine-tune.
• Signal Length (default 5): EMA of the ergodic line forming the signal.
• Extreme Bands (default disabled; Upper 25, Lower -25): dashed context levels — extremes are instrument-specific — and the band alerts fire regardless.
• Style toggles: Show Histogram and Gradient Fill default on, plus line, signal and level colors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the same construction as the True Strength Index?

The core ratio is identical — both are Blau's double-smoothing recipe, and the True Strength Index presents it primarily as a line. This presentation adds the signal-line pairing and the histogram variant with acceleration shading.

What do the two smoothing lengths trade off?

The long stage sets character: at 20 the line suits regime and divergence reads, while shortening it moves the study toward a fast trigger. Blau's insight was that two light smoothings beat one heavy one for keeping turn timing.

Why can the reading look strong in a quiet drift?

Net change divided by total change rewards one-way consistency, not magnitude — a quiet crawl of small same-direction bars can print as boldly as a violent trend. Treat stretched readings in thin markets with extra skepticism.