%B

%B collapses Bollinger Band position into one oscillator value: 1 means price sits on the upper band, 0 on the lower, 0.5 on the moving-average basis, and anything beyond those bounds says price has moved outside the bands. This is the definitive clean build of the %B statistic: bands come from a 20-bar simple moving average with a 2x standard-deviation offset; the line is colored bullish above the 0.5 midline, bearish below it, and a gradient fill anchors each reading to the midline.

How to Trade the %B?

• %B above 1: price is outside the upper band — uncommon, but a strong trend can pin readings there while price walks the band, so read it as strength first and stretch second.
• %B below 0: price is outside the lower band, the mirrored oversold condition.
• Midline crosses: a move through 0.5 marks price reclaiming or losing the basis — a simple bias filter between band tags.
• Threshold exits: crossing back inside 1 or 0 marks price pulling back within the bands; the exit is often more actionable than the entry.

Six alerts cover threshold entries and exits plus both midline crosses; optional markers circle bars held beyond a threshold.

%B Settings

• Length (default 20): bars for the basis average and standard deviation; shorter reacts faster, longer smooths.
• Source (default close): price series the bands and %B are computed from.
• Multiplier (default 2): standard-deviation multiplier — %B is derived entirely from the bands, so everything inherits it.
• Overbought (default 1) and Oversold (default 0): thresholds; move them inward to flag approaches before a band tag.
• Extreme Markers (default disabled): circles on readings beyond a threshold.
• Gradient Fill (default enabled): gradient between %B and the midline; remaining Style inputs set colors.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is %B different from the Stochastic oscillator?

Yes. The Stochastic oscillator locates the close within the raw high/low range of a lookback window, while %B locates price within volatility bands around a moving average. The Stochastic cannot leave its 0-100 scale; %B can, and readings beyond 1 or below 0 carry real information.

Why does %B stay above 1 for many bars in strong trends?

Trending price can walk the upper band, pinning the reading beyond the threshold; there, high values signal persistent strength rather than an imminent turn. The exit back inside is usually the more useful trigger.

What happens when the bands have zero width?

A flat lookback window makes the standard deviation zero and %B would divide by zero; this build returns no value on such bars instead. Readings resume once the window regains variation.