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 rule, a cross of the zero line, did on EUR/USD candles recorded between 29 September and 5 October 2026; it says nothing about what will happen next.
The Coppock Curve is a momentum indicator: it adds two rates of change, a long one and a short one, and smooths the sum with a weighted moving average. On IQ Option it opens in its own panel under the price chart as one line around a zero line. A value above zero means that the smoothed sum of the recent price changes is positive, and a value below zero means that it is negative. It was designed by its author for monthly charts of stock indexes. On 5-minute candles it crosses zero often: 59 times in the 1,288 candles of EUR/USD we replayed from 29 September to 5 October 2026, about once every 22 candles.
Quick answer
- What it plots: one line in a panel under the price chart: a weighted moving average (WMA) of the sum of two rates of change (ROC).
- Formula: Coppock = WMA(ROC(long) + ROC(short), period). A rate of change is the difference between the price and the price that many candles earlier, divided by the earlier price.
- Settings on the platform: Period 10, Long RoC 14, Short RoC 11 and Source (close).
- Zero line: above zero the smoothed sum of the changes is positive, below zero it is negative.
- Where: the Other list of the Chart analysis panel; search for Coppock.
- Tested: the zero cross gave 59 signals on 5-minute candles; 1-candle trades won 37 of 58 decided (63.8%), 3-candle trades 33 of 59 (55.9%); on 1-minute candles 71 signals and 38 of 68 (55.9%). Break-even is 54.1% at an 85% payout, and a few days of one pair prove nothing.
How do you add the Coppock Curve 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 Coppock Curve
Type “Coppock” in the Search for indicators box (1), or open the Other list, and click Coppock Curve (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 length of the weighted average of the sum. The Long RoC (3) opens at 14, the number of candles of the long rate of change. The Short RoC (4) opens at 11, the number of candles of the short rate of change. The Source (5) opens at close, the price the rates of change are taken from.
Step 4: Check the colours and click Apply
Open the Colors and display tab (1). The tab has two rows: Main line, the curve, light blue by default, and Base line, the grey zero line, which has its own checkbox; each has a colour box and a line-style box. Click Apply (3).
Step 5: Read the panel
The panel under the price chart is titled Coppock Curve (10,14,11,close) (1). The light-blue curve (2) moves around a grey 0 line, and the panel’s axis on the right counts in thousandths, for example 0.002 and 0.
How is the Coppock Curve calculated?
The formula is Coppock = WMA(ROC(14) + ROC(11), 10) with the default settings. A rate of change (ROC) is the change of the price over a number of candles as a fraction of the earlier price: ROC(14) compares the price with the price 14 candles earlier, and ROC(11) with the price 11 candles earlier. A value of 0.001 is a change of 0.1%, and the panel’s axis on the platform counts in such thousandths. The two are added, and a weighted moving average (WMA) of the sum over 10 candles gives the curve. A WMA gives the newest value the largest weight and the oldest the smallest, so the curve reacts a little faster than a simple average of the same length.
| Part | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Long RoC | 14 candles | Change of the price over 14 candles, as a fraction of the earlier price |
| Short RoC | 11 candles | Change of the price over 11 candles, as a fraction of the earlier price |
| Period | 10 candles | Length of the weighted moving average of the sum |
| Source | Close | The price that the rates of change are taken from |
The curve needs the two rates of change and then the average: with the defaults it has its first value on the 24th candle of the data the platform has loaded.
How do you read the Coppock Curve?
The usual reading is simple. A buy signal is produced when the line rises above the zero line; while the curve stays above zero, a position is held; a sell is made when it falls below zero. On an option the same reading gives a Higher option when the line rises above zero and a Lower option when it falls below. The line is a lagging one, since it is an average of changes that have already happened, so extra confirmation is asked for before an entry.
The time scale matters too: the indicator was designed for monthly candles, where one candle holds a whole month, and on an intraday chart it produces many false signals. The numbers below show what that looks like on 5-minute candles.
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 in one stretch (29 September 2026 from 01:55 UTC to 2 October 20:55 UTC) and 241 in another (4 October 21:00 UTC to 5 October 17:00 UTC). With the default settings the curve had a value from the 24th candle of each stretch, 1,288 candles in all.
- Zero crossings: 59 in 1,288 candles, 50 in the first stretch and 9 in the second, about one every 22 candles.
- Side of zero: the curve was above zero in 542 of the 1,288 candles (42%). The longest time on one side was 69 candles, below zero from 20:15 on 4 October on the platform clock (23:15 UTC); in the first stretch it was 63 candles, from 10:00 on 29 September (13:00 UTC).
- Range: between −0.0083 and +0.0052 on this pair and candle size, in the fractions that the panel’s axis shows.
Two stills of the platform, window A (the Step 5 picture) and window B (not pictured), agree with the replay. In window A, 29 September from 06:46 to 12:35 on the platform clock, the curve rises through 0 at about 07:40, peaks near 08:20 just under 0.002, falls back through 0 at 10:00 and stays under it, coming back to 0 near 11:50 without crossing. In window B, from 12:04 to 17:53, it stays near or under 0 until it rises through 0 at 15:15, peaks near 15:55 at about 0.004 and falls back through 0 at 17:05. The replay of the library script gives the same four crossings, 07:40, 10:00, 15:15 and 17:05, and peaks of +0.0017 and +0.0040.
The zero-cross rule, tested
We wrote the reading as a rule on closed candles: Higher on the candle where the curve rises above zero, and Lower on the candle where it falls below zero, with the option opened at the close of that candle. No expiry was given, so the box shows the candle’s own length, 5 minutes, three candles, and, for 1-minute candles, five candles.
Tested on IQ Option: the Coppock zero 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 reading on closed candles: Higher on the candle on which the Coppock curve rises above zero after a candle at or below it, Lower on the candle on which it falls below zero after a candle at or above it; the option opens at the close of that candle. Defaults 10, 14, 11 and close; no expiry was given, so the box shows 5-minute and 15-minute trades on 5-minute candles and 5-minute trades on 1-minute candles. |
| Signals | Zero cross, 5-minute, 1 candle: 59 signals (29 Higher, 30 Lower) Zero cross, 5-minute, 3 candles: 59 signals (29 Higher, 30 Lower) Zero cross, 1-minute, 5 candles: 71 signals (36 Higher, 35 Lower) |
| Outcomes | Zero cross, 5-minute, 1 candle: 37 won, 21 lost, 1 tied; 63.8% of the 58 decided trades won; net +$0.18 per $1 staked at 85% (+$0.21 at 91%) Zero cross, 5-minute, 3 candles: 33 won, 26 lost, 0 tied; 55.9% of the 59 decided trades won; net +$0.04 per $1 staked at 85% (+$0.07 at 91%) Zero cross, 1-minute, 5 candles: 38 won, 30 lost, 3 tied; 55.9% of the 68 decided trades won; net +$0.03 per $1 staked at 85% (+$0.07 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.
With about 60 signals, one standard error is about 6 percentage points. The one-candle result, 63.8%, is the highest of the three, but its 95% interval, 51% to 75%, includes the break-even rate of 54.1% that a trade needs at an 85% payout; the three-candle and 1-minute results, both 55.9%, have intervals that begin at 43% and 44%. None of them separates the rule from a coin flip.
Pros and Cons of the Coppock Curve
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| One line and one level: above or below zero is the whole reading. | It lags: it is an average of changes that have already happened. |
| Two rates of change and a weighted average give a smoother line than one rate of change. | It was designed for monthly charts; on 5-minute candles it crossed zero about every 22 candles. |
| No setting needs to be changed to start: the defaults work. | A cross of zero is not a signal by itself: in our replay the rule won 63.8% of one-candle trades and 55.9% of three-candle and of 1-minute trades, and none of the intervals excludes a coin flip. |
Common mistakes
- Trading every zero cross on an intraday chart. It crossed 59 times in about four and a half days of 5-minute candles.
- Reading it as a forecast. It describes the changes that have happened over the last candles.
- Looking for it in the wrong list. On the platform it is in the Other list, not in Momentum.
- Changing the settings to fit one chart. A longer period smooths more and lags more; test any change on a Practice balance.
Related guides
- Know Sure Thing on IQ Option and Pring’s Special K
- Rate of Change on IQ Option and Momentum on IQ Option
- Leading and lagging indicators and time frames on IQ Option
- All indicator guides and all strategy guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Coppock Curve?
A: A momentum indicator that smooths the sum of two rates of change with a weighted moving average. With the defaults it is WMA(ROC(14) + ROC(11), 10), drawn in a panel under the chart around a zero line.
Q: What settings does the Coppock Curve have on IQ Option?
A: Period 10, Long RoC 14, Short RoC 11 and Source set to close. The Colors and display tab has a colour and a line style for the curve and for the zero line.
Q: Where is the Coppock Curve on the platform?
A: In the Chart analysis panel, on the Indicators tab, in the Other list. You can also type Coppock in the search box.
Q: Does it work on 5-minute charts?
A: It draws, and on EUR/USD it crossed zero 59 times in 1,288 candles. It is said to give many false signals on intraday charts; in our replay the zero-cross rule won 37 of 58 decided one-candle trades (63.8%, interval 51% to 75%), too few to tell from chance.
Q: What does a cross of zero mean?
A: That the weighted average of the sum of the two percentage changes (over 11 and over 14 candles) has changed sign. It describes the past candles, not the next one.
Q: Can I use it 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.
