# Ultimate Oscillator

Ultimate Oscillator is an indicator on [Vela](https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart), our next-generation charting platform, written in Pine Script®.

The Ultimate Oscillator blends buying pressure relative to true range across three timeframes into a single weighted momentum reading bounded between 0 and 100. Defaults are the classic 7, 14, and 28 period lengths with the usual 4/2/1 weighting. This is the standard implementation of Larry Williams' Ultimate Oscillator.

- Indicator in the LuxAlgo Library, by LuxAlgo, published Apr 13, 2020.
- Access: free.
- Concepts: [Ultimate Oscillator](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/ultimate-oscillator/) (primary)
- Open on Vela: https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart?pineScriptCodeId=j6e6fwx3ihqs6e22d5553pg5
- Page: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/ultimate-oscillator/

The **Ultimate Oscillator** blends buying pressure relative to true range across three timeframes into a single weighted momentum reading bounded between 0 and 100. Larry Williams built it to fix single-window oscillators, which throw extremes and divergences at different times depending on length: a fast 7-bar window carries most weight, anchored by 14- and 28-bar sums. This is the standard implementation of Williams' formula: buying pressure (how far the close finishes above the true low) summed against true range over each window, blended with the classic 4/2/1 weighting, and plotted as the UO line against dashed levels at 70 and 30.

## How to Trade the Ultimate Oscillator?

- **UO below 30**: selling pressure dominant across all three windows, the oversold zone where Williams' buy setup begins.
- **UO above 70**: buying pressure stretched across the blend, the overbought zone for the mirrored sell setup.
- **Bullish divergence from the oversold zone**: the original signal. Price presses to a fresh low the oscillator refuses to match, its first trough under 30; the trigger is the oscillator clearing the high between its troughs.
- **Crosses back through the levels**: zone exits give a simpler mean-reversion timing read.

Extremes arrive less often than on single-window tools, and a middling reading can hide a hot short window cooled by a soft long one.

## Ultimate Oscillator Settings

- **Fast Length** (default 7): the shortest window, weighted 4, so it dominates the oscillator's movement.
- **Middle Length** (default 14): the intermediate window, weighted 2.
- **Slow Length** (default 28): the slowest window, weighted 1; lengthening steadies readings at the cost of response.
- **Overbought** (default 70) and **Oversold** (default 30): the reference levels bounding the extreme zones.

The 4/2/1 weights are fixed constants of the published formula; tuning happens through the lengths.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How does the Ultimate Oscillator differ from the RSI?

RSI reads momentum through one window; the Ultimate Oscillator averages buying pressure against true range through three, weighted toward the shortest: fewer extreme readings, smoother divergence arcs, each signal drawing on more context.

### What alerts does the Ultimate Oscillator build include?

Four alert conditions, all level events: crossing above the overbought level, back below it, below the oversold level, and back above it, zone entries plus the exits often used for timing.

### Should the three lengths keep their 1:2:4 spacing?

The 7/14/28 defaults double at each step, with the 4/2/1 weights designed around that spacing. Widen or compress it for slower or faster styles, but keeping the proportions preserves the balance of responsiveness and anchoring.

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Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/ultimate-oscillator/ (LuxAlgo Library). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/