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 5-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 dialog and the calculation from the published source code of the platform’s built-in indicators (Quadcode’s script library). The tested box shows what the cross of the two lines did on EUR/USD candles recorded between 29 September and 5 October 2026; it says nothing about what will happen next.
The Center of Gravity (CoG) treats the last 10 median prices as weights on a lever and plots where the balance point falls. On IQ Option it opens in its own panel under the price chart as two lines: the CoG (green) and a trigger line (red). In the platform’s source the trigger is the CoG value of the previous candle, so the two lines cross whenever the CoG turns. IQ Option’s blog buys when the CoG crosses above the trigger and sells when it crosses below. On 5-minute EUR/USD candles that happened 270 times in 1,314 candles, about every 5 candles, and the rule won 133 of 266 decided trades, exactly half.
Quick answer
- What it plots: two lines in a panel under the price chart: the CoG (green) and the CoG Trigger (red). There are no levels.
- Formula: CoG = −Σ (n × pricen) ÷ Σ pricen over the last 10 candles, where n = 1 for the latest candle and the price is (high + low) ÷ 2. The trigger is the CoG of the previous candle.
- Settings on the platform: a single setting, Period 10.
- Reading: a rising line means the weight of the recent prices is growing; the usual rule buys on a cross above the trigger and sells on a cross below. The values stay close to −5.5, so only the shape of the line counts.
- Where: the Momentum list of the Chart analysis panel; search for Center of Gravity.
- Tested: the cross gave 270 signals on 5-minute candles; 1-candle trades won 133 of 266 decided (50.0%), 3-candle trades 135 of 268 (50.4%); on 1-minute candles 348 signals and 46.6%. Break-even is 54.1% at an 85% payout, and a few days of one pair prove nothing.
How do you add the Center of Gravity on IQ Option?
Set the chart
Choose the asset, the chart type and the candle size first: the indicator is calculated from the candles on the chart. The examples in this guide use 5-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 Center of Gravity
Type “Center of Gravity” in the Search for indicators box (1), or open the Momentum list, and click Center of Gravity (2).
Step 3: Check the settings
The dialog has the tabs Basic settings (1), Colors and display and Script. The Period (2) opens at 10, the number of candles in the weighted index.
Step 4: Check the colours and click Apply
Open the Colors and display tab (1). The tab has two rows, CoG and CoG Trigger, each with a colour box and a line-style box: green for the CoG and red for the trigger by default. Click Apply (3).
Step 5: Read the panel
The panel under the price chart is titled Center of Gravity (10) (1). It holds two lines (2), the green CoG and the red trigger, which follows it one candle later; the panel has no scale and no level lines.
How is the Center of Gravity calculated?
The Quadcode source takes the median price of each of the last n candles, (high + low) ÷ 2, and weights it by its age: the latest candle gets the weight 1, the one before 2, and so on up to n. The CoG is minus the sum of the weighted prices divided by the sum of the prices. If the price is flat the CoG is minus the average weight, −5.5 for n = 10. If the recent prices are higher than the older ones, the older prices, which carry the larger weights, pull less, and the CoG rises towards zero; if the recent prices are lower, it falls. The trigger is the CoG of the previous candle.
| Part | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Period | 10 | Number of candles in the weighted index |
The formula is usually given as the sum of closing prices times (n + 1) divided by the sum of closing prices, with default settings of 10 and 3, where 3 is the period of a simple moving average that forms the signal line; IQ Option’s blog also calls the trigger a simple moving average. The platform’s source uses the median price, takes minus the ratio, and has a single period; its trigger line is the previous value of the CoG. The indicator is credited to John Ehlers, 2002, and has no overbought or oversold zones.
How do you read the Center of Gravity?
IQ Option’s blog reads the crossing of the two lines: a buy signal when the CoG line crosses above the signal line and continues above it, and a sell signal when it crosses below. It says the indicator is a leading one with almost no lag, works best in a flat market and gives false signals in a strong trend, where an indicator such as the ADX or the Bollinger Bands is more useful. The blog also advises two or three indicators per chart at most.
Because the CoG moves by thousandths around −5.5, the scale on the panel says nothing by itself: what matters is whether the line is rising or falling and where it crosses its trigger.
What did it look like on 5-minute candles?
We replayed the library script on EUR/USD 5-minute candles recorded from the Practice traderoom: 1,093 candles from 29 September 2026 (01:55 UTC) to 2 October (20:55 UTC) and 241 from 4 October (21:00 UTC) to 5 October (17:00 UTC). We skipped the first 10 candles of each stretch, where the window is not yet full, which leaves 1,314 candles.
- Range: from −5.5039 to −5.4970, a spread of 0.007.
- Crossings of the two lines: 270, about one every 5 candles; they come on every turn of the CoG line.
Two stills of the platform, window A (the Step 5 picture) and window B (not pictured), agree with the replay, to within a pixel. In window A, 29 September from 06:43 to 12:38 on the platform clock, the green CoG climbs to the high of the window at 08:05, dips, makes a second hump around 09:15, falls to a low at about 09:55, stays nearly flat until 11:40 and falls to its lowest point at 12:30. In window B, from 12:03 to 17:52, it makes a low at 14:15, rises to a high at 15:30 and then goes flat. The red trigger line is the green line one candle later, so the two lines cross at every turn: the replay counts 12 crosses in window A and 15 in window B. The replay’s values stay between −5.5015 and −5.4977, which the panel does not label. (The platform draws the value of a candle at the time the candle closes: the candle that opened at 08:00 sits at the 08:05 mark.)
The cross of the two lines, tested
We wrote the rule as an exact condition on closed candles: Higher on the candle where the CoG crosses above its trigger and Lower on the candle where it crosses below, with the option opened at the close of that candle. No expiry is given, so the box shows five minutes and fifteen minutes on 5-minute candles and five minutes on 1-minute candles.
Tested on IQ Option: the Center of Gravity cross, EUR/USD candles of 29 September to 5 October 2026
| Asset and candles | EUR/USD binary (regular, not OTC): 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); 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). 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: Higher on the candle where the CoG crosses above its trigger line (the CoG of the previous candle), Lower on the candle where it crosses below; the option opens at the close of that candle. Period 10; no expiry is given, so the box shows 5 and 15 minutes on 5-minute candles and 5 minutes on 1-minute candles. |
| Signals | CoG crosses its trigger, period 10, 5-minute, 1 candle: 270 signals (136 Higher, 134 Lower) CoG crosses its trigger, 5-minute, 3 candles: 269 signals (135 Higher, 134 Lower) CoG crosses its trigger, 1-minute, 5 candles: 348 signals (175 Higher, 173 Lower) |
| Outcomes | CoG crosses its trigger, period 10, 5-minute, 1 candle: 133 won, 133 lost, 4 tied; 50.0% of the 266 decided trades won; net −$0.07 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.04 at 91%) CoG crosses its trigger, 5-minute, 3 candles: 135 won, 133 lost, 1 tied; 50.4% of the 268 decided trades won; net −$0.07 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.04 at 91%) CoG crosses its trigger, 1-minute, 5 candles: 159 won, 182 lost, 7 tied; 46.6% of the 341 decided trades won; net −$0.14 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.11 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 5-minute candles the rule gave 270 signals (136 Higher, 134 Lower): with a trade of one candle (5 minutes) 133 won, 133 lost and 4 tied, exactly half (50.0%, with a 95% interval of 44% to 56%); with three candles (15 minutes) 135 won against 133 (50.4%). On 1-minute candles with a 5-minute trade it gave 348 signals and 159 won against 182 (46.6%). The cross happens at every turn of the line, so it gives a signal about every five candles and a coin-toss result.
Pros and Cons of the Center of Gravity
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Reacts fast: the line turns almost as soon as the price does, which is what is meant by almost no delay. | It turns about every 5 candles, so the cross gives a very large number of signals, and a 5-minute chart is noisy. |
| One setting, and no levels to choose. | The panel’s scale is meaningless: the values sit within 0.007 of −5.5. |
| Simple rule: the cross of two lines. | It is said to fail in a strong trend; in our test the rule won exactly half of its trades. |
Common mistakes
- Looking for overbought and oversold levels. The CoG has none.
- Reading the value as a price. The CoG is a weighted index close to −5.5, not a price.
- Trusting the cross in a trend. IQ Option’s blog says it works best in a flat market.
- Believing the signal line is a 3-period average. In the platform’s source the trigger is the previous CoG value.
Related guides
- Fisher Transform and Stochastic on IQ Option
- Trading a ranging market and identifying a trend
- Too many indicators on your chart and leading and lagging indicators
- All indicator guides and all strategy guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Center of Gravity indicator?
A: An oscillator by John Ehlers that treats the last n prices as weights and plots their centre of gravity, with a trigger line. IQ Option’s blog calls it a leading indicator.
Q: What settings does the Center of Gravity have on IQ Option?
A: A single setting, Period, which opens at 10. The Colors and display tab has a colour and a line style for the CoG and for the trigger line.
Q: What is the trigger line?
A: The signal line of the CoG. In the platform’s source it is the CoG value of the previous candle; IQ Option’s blog calls it a simple moving average.
Q: How do I trade the cross?
A: The usual rule buys when the CoG crosses above the trigger and sells when it crosses below. The results are in the tested box.
Q: Does it have overbought and oversold levels?
A: No. The CoG does not include them.
Q: Can I use the Center of Gravity on binary options?
A: The platform draws it on any chart. Whether a rule works is something to test on the Practice balance with the expiry you plan to use.
