Last updated: 8 October 2026. Every screenshot below was recorded on 8 October 2026 on an IQ Option Practice account registered in Brazil, on EUR/USD 1-minute candles; the Chart analysis picture in Step 1 was recorded on 5 October 2026. We placed no real-money trade. The settings come from the platform’s dialogs and the Awesome Oscillator calculation from the published source code of the platform’s built-in indicators (Quadcode’s script library). The tested box shows what a rule version of the strategy did on EUR/USD candles recorded between 29 September and 5 October 2026. The strategy only says to wait for a trend, so the trend test is ours; the result says nothing about what will happen next.
The strategy puts a Simple Moving Average with a period of 100 on a 1-minute chart and the Awesome Oscillator under it. In an uptrend it waits for the SMA to cut through a candle and looks at the Awesome Oscillator bar: if it is green, it opens a 5-minute long position. In a downtrend it waits for the SMA to cut a candle and the bar to be red, and opens a 5-minute short position. The setup is rare: on the 1,285 one-minute candles recorded between 2 and 5 October 2026 that remain after the warm-up of the SMA the SMA 100 cut the candle on 81 (6.3%), and our version of the rule, with the trend taken from the slope of the SMA, gave 8 signals; 4 of the 5-minute trades won and 4 lost. On 5-minute candles it gave 17 signals and 7 won, 10 lost. That is too little to judge the strategy.
Video tutorial
Quick answer
- Indicators: a Simple Moving Average (SMA) with a period of 100 on the price chart and the Awesome Oscillator with its default settings in a panel under it.
- Long: in an uptrend the SMA cuts through a candle and the Awesome Oscillator bar is green; open a 5-minute long position.
- Short: in a downtrend the SMA cuts through a candle and the bar is red; open a 5-minute short position.
- Chart: Japanese candlesticks, 1-minute candles; the two indicators can be saved as a template.
- Our rule: uptrend means the SMA 100 is higher than 10 candles earlier, downtrend lower; only the first candle of each touch counts.
- Tested: 1-minute candles, 8 signals, 4 won and 4 lost; 5-minute candles, 17 signals, 7 won and 10 lost. Break-even is 54.1% at an 85% payout, and a few days of one pair prove nothing.
How do you set up the Awesome Oscillator and SMA strategy?
Set the chart
Choose the asset, the chart type and the candle size first: the indicators are calculated from the candles on the chart. The examples in this guide use 1-minute candles on EUR/USD. These steps use the web traderoom on a Practice balance, and the numbers in each screenshot match the numbers in the text. If you do not have an account yet, see how to register.
Step 1: Open Chart analysis
Click the indicators button (1), the wave icon in the chart toolbar at the bottom left of the chart. The Chart analysis panel opens with the tabs Indicators, Templates, Widgets and Scripts. Stay on Indicators.
Step 2: Find the Moving Average
Type “Moving Average” in the Search for indicators box (1) and click Moving Average (2). The same entry gives the simple and the exponential average; you choose the type in the dialog.
Step 3: Add the SMA 100
The dialog opens with a Period of 14 and the Type SMA. Type 100 in Period (1), keep the Type on SMA (2) and the red colour (3), and click Apply (4).
Step 4: Add the Awesome Oscillator
Open Chart analysis again, search for “Awesome” and click Awesome Oscillator. The dialog has two fields, the Slow period 34 (1) and the Fast period 5 (2); the strategy uses the defaults. Click Apply (3).
Step 5: Use 1-minute candles
Click the candle time period button (1) in the toolbar at the left of the chart; it shows the current period. In the menu that opens, choose 1 minute (2). The strategy sets a Japanese candlestick chart with a 1-minute candle period.
Step 6: Read the chart
The SMA 100 is the red line over the candles (1). The Awesome Oscillator panel sits under the chart, titled AO (34, 5): its bars are green (2) when the oscillator is not lower than on the previous candle and red (3) when it is lower, around the zero line (4). A green bar can lie below the zero line, as the green bars in the picture do: the colour compares a bar with the one before it, not with zero.
How is the Awesome Oscillator calculated?
The source code of the Awesome Oscillator, in Quadcode’s published library of the platform’s indicators, takes the median price of each candle, the high plus the low divided by two, and subtracts a 34-candle simple average of it from a 5-candle simple average of it. The result is drawn as a bar around a zero line: the bar is green when the oscillator is not lower than on the previous candle and red when it is lower. The colour therefore shows the direction of the oscillator, not whether it is above or below zero. We read the bars off the platform’s chart at 134 candles of two windows and compared them with this calculation: the ends of the bars agree to within 0.1 pip in the median, and 124 of the 134 colours agree; the 10 that do not are bars whose value differs from the previous bar by less than 0.11 pip.
What are the entry rules?
The strategy waits for a trend, looks for the SMA to cut through the price bar, and checks the colour of the Awesome Oscillator bar. It opens the trade for 5 minutes on a 1-minute chart. Written so that every condition is checked on closed candles:
| Part | Usual rule | Our rule for the replay |
|---|---|---|
| Trend | “Wait for an uptrend” or “a downtrend” | Uptrend: the SMA 100 is higher than 10 candles earlier; downtrend: lower |
| Touch | The SMA cuts through the price bar | The SMA 100 lies between the low and the high of the candle, and did not on the previous candle |
| Long (Higher) | Green Awesome Oscillator bar | The bar of the signal candle is green |
| Short (Lower) | Red bar | The bar of the signal candle is red |
| Entry and expiry | A 5-minute position | At the close of the signal candle, for 5 minutes |
The strategy requires patience to wait for the right signals, is not for traders who prefer quick decisions, and may not work well in all market conditions.
Two signals of the recording, step by step
The first Higher signal and the first Lower signal of the rule on 1-minute candles, in time order, not picked by outcome. All times are the platform clock, which is UTC minus three hours.
Higher signal, 2 October at 17:31
The SMA 100 (1.125540) was 0.30 pip higher than 10 candles earlier: an uptrend by our rule, though a gentle one (1). The candle (2) that opened at 17:31 and closed at 17:32 at 1.12562 had a range of 1.125455 to 1.125625 that contained the SMA 100; the candle before, 1.125395 to 1.125485, did not. The Awesome Oscillator stood at -1.15 pips against -1.32 on the candle before: not lower, so the bar is green (3). The rule says Higher, and the 5-minute trade opens at that close. It ends at 17:37, when the candle (4) that opened at 17:36 closes at 1.12537, 2.5 pips lower: it lost.
Lower signal, 4 October at 19:56
The SMA 100 (1.125918) was 0.08 pip lower than 10 candles earlier (1.125926): a falling SMA by our rule, though almost flat (1). The candle (2) that opened at 19:56 and closed at 19:57 at 1.12594 had a range of 1.125905 to 1.12598 that contained the SMA 100; the candle before, 1.125955 to 1.12599, did not. The Awesome Oscillator stood at +0.46 pip against +0.66 on the candle before: lower, so the bar is red (3). The rule says Lower, and the 5-minute trade opens at that close. It ends at 20:02, when the candle (4) that opened at 20:01 closes at 1.125785, 1.55 pips lower: it won.
The Awesome Oscillator and SMA rule, tested
We scored the rule on the 1,505 one-minute candles of our recording with a 5-minute trade, and on the 1,334 five-minute candles for comparison, entering at the close of the signal candle. The SMA 100 needs 100 candles, so the 157-candle stretch of 2 October gives only its last candles.
Tested on IQ Option: the SMA 100 and Awesome Oscillator rule, EUR/USD candles of 2 to 5 October 2026
| Asset and candles | EUR/USD binary (regular, not OTC): 1,505 one-minute candles (2026-10-02 18:23 to 2026-10-02 20:59 UTC and 2026-10-04 21:01 to 2026-10-05 19:28 UTC); 1,334 five-minute candles (2026-09-29 01:55 to 2026-10-02 20:55 UTC and 2026-10-04 21:00 to 2026-10-05 17:00 UTC). The candles were recorded from IQ Option’s Practice traderoom. The replay places no orders; it only scores the rule on those closed candles, at an 85% payout. |
|---|---|
| Rule tested | The rule on closed candles, the option opening at the close of the signal candle: the first candle whose range contains the SMA 100 after a candle that did not; Higher when the SMA 100 is higher than 10 candles earlier and the Awesome Oscillator bar is green (not lower than the previous bar), Lower when it is lower than 10 candles earlier and the bar is red. SMA and Awesome Oscillator as the platform draws them. The box lists 1-minute candles with a 5-minute trade first, then 5-minute candles. |
| Signals | SMA 100 touch with the Awesome Oscillator bar, 1-minute candles, 5-minute trade: 8 signals (5 Higher, 3 Lower) same, 5-minute candles, 5-minute trade: 17 signals (10 Higher, 7 Lower) same, 5-minute candles, 15-minute trade: 17 signals (10 Higher, 7 Lower) |
| Outcomes | SMA 100 touch with the Awesome Oscillator bar, 1-minute candles, 5-minute trade: 4 won, 4 lost, 0 tied; 50.0% of the 8 decided trades won; net −$0.07 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.04 at 91%) same, 5-minute candles, 5-minute trade: 7 won, 10 lost, 0 tied; 41.2% of the 17 decided trades won; net −$0.24 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.21 at 91%) same, 5-minute candles, 15-minute trade: 7 won, 10 lost, 0 tied; 41.2% of the 17 decided trades won; net −$0.24 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.21 at 91%) |
| Break-even | At an 85% payout a trade needs to win more than 54.1% of its decided trades to break even (1 ÷ 1.85); at 91%, more than 52.4% (1 ÷ 1.91). |
A replay is only a look back at candles recorded on the dates above: it placed no real orders, covers about four and a half days of one pair, and counts overlapping trades as if they were independent. A short test proves nothing about the future, and no profit and no win rate is promised here. IQ Option’s own blog on backtesting says that most strategies need dozens, and often hundreds, of trades before a result means anything.
On 1-minute candles the rule gave 8 signals (5 Higher, 3 Lower): 4 won and 4 lost. Six of them came in three pairs a few minutes apart (19:56 and 20:00 on 4 October, 03:55 and 04:00 on 5 October, 09:02 and 09:05 on 5 October), so the independent signals are fewer still. On 5-minute candles the rule gave 17 signals, 7 won and 10 lost. With 8 trades one result is nothing to build on: a 95% interval would run from about 22% to 78%.
Pros and Cons of the Awesome Oscillator and SMA strategy
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Two tools with simple pictures: a line and a coloured bar. | They agree rarely: 8 signals in 25 hours of 1-minute candles. |
| A fixed trade length and candle size are given. | The strategy only says “wait for an uptrend”; the test needs a definition, and ours is one of several possible. |
| Both indicators are built into the platform. | It might not work well in all market conditions. |
Common mistakes
- Reading the bar colour as above or below zero. Green means the oscillator is not lower than on the previous candle; red that it is lower.
- Trading against the trend. The SMA touch has to come inside a trend, long in an uptrend and short in a downtrend.
- Entering on every candle the SMA cuts. When the price hovers around the SMA many candles in a row are cut; our rule takes the first.
- Changing the Awesome Oscillator settings. The strategy uses the default settings.
- Believing a tiny sample. Eight trades say nothing either way.
Related guides
- Trading with the SMA 20 and Trading with the EMA
- Ultimate Oscillator and Momentum on IQ Option
- Leading and lagging indicators
- All indicator guides and all strategy guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Awesome Oscillator strategy?
A: A strategy that uses a Simple Moving Average with a period of 100 and the Awesome Oscillator on a 1-minute chart: a long position when the SMA cuts a candle in an uptrend and the bar is green, a short position when it does so in a downtrend and the bar is red.
Q: What settings does it use?
A: An SMA with a period of 100 and the Awesome Oscillator with its default Fast period 5 and Slow period 34.
Q: What do the green and red bars mean?
A: In the platform’s source code a bar is green when the Awesome Oscillator is not lower than on the previous candle and red when it is lower.
Q: How long should the trade last?
A: 5 minutes with a 1-minute chart.
Q: Does the strategy win?
A: We could not tell. It gave 8 signals on 1-minute candles in our recording and 4 of them won.
Q: Can I save the settings?
A: The Templates tab of Chart analysis can hold the two indicators as a template.
