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 was checked by reading the line off the panel and comparing it with the close minus the close 20 candles earlier. The tested box shows what the two-line rule, a Momentum of 20 for the trend and a Momentum of 3 for the entry, did on EUR/USD candles recorded between 29 September and 5 October 2026; it says nothing about what will happen next.
The Momentum indicator is the simplest of the momentum tools: the close minus the close n candles ago, in price units. On IQ Option it opens in its own panel under the price chart as one line around a dashed zero line, with a default period of 20: above zero the price is higher than 20 candles ago, below zero lower, and the further from zero the faster the move. It is sometimes described as a ratio; the usual rule uses two lines, a Momentum of 20 as the trend and a Momentum of 3 as the entry when it crosses zero. On 5-minute EUR/USD candles the 20-candle Momentum ranged from −66 to +54 pips and changed sign 132 times in 1,294 candles; the two-line rule gave 169 signals and won about half of them.
Quick answer
- What it plots: one line in a panel under the price chart, around a dashed zero line.
- Formula: Momentum = close − close n candles earlier, in price units (0.0001 is one pip for EUR/USD). The default n is 20.
- Settings on the platform: three: the Period (20), the Source (Candle closing) and the colour and style of the Line.
- Reading: above zero the price is higher than n candles ago, below zero lower; the usual rule uses a Momentum of 20 for the trend and a Momentum of 3 crossing zero for the entry.
- Where: the Momentum list of the Chart analysis panel, which holds seven indicators with Momentum in the name; choose the plain Momentum.
- Tested: the two-line rule gave 169 signals and won 49.1% of the decided trades with a 5-minute trade and 49.7% with a 15-minute trade; on 1-minute candles with a 5-minute trade, 202 signals and 48.0%. Break-even is 54.1% at an 85% payout, and a few days of one pair prove nothing.
How do you add the Momentum 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 Momentum
Type “Momentum” in the Search for indicators box (1), or open the Momentum list, and click Momentum (2). Six other indicators have Momentum in their name (Chande Momentum Oscillator, Intraday Momentum Index, Momentum Strength, Price Momentum Oscillator, Squeeze Momentum and Stochastic Momentum Index): choose the plain Momentum (2).
Step 3: Check the settings and click Apply
The dialog is a single page: there is no tab for colours. The Period (1) opens at 20, the number of candles back that the close is compared with. The Source (2) opens at Candle closing, the price used. The Line (3) has a colour box, red by default, and a line-style box, solid by default. Click Apply (4).
Step 4: Read the panel
The line is drawn in its own panel under the price chart. The title bar of the panel reads Momentum (20), the name and the period, followed by the settings, eye and close icons (1). The scale at the right edge is in price units: it shows 0.002 and 0.000 in the picture, and 0.001 is 10 pips on EUR/USD. The Momentum is the red line (2).
How is the Momentum calculated?
The platform plots the change of the source over the Period: the close minus the close Period candles earlier. We checked it on the panel: the line read off the chart at 130 points of two windows agrees with the close minus the close 20 candles earlier to 0.2 pip on average. It is a difference in price units, not a ratio: on EUR/USD a value of 0.0012 is 12 pips. The indicator is sometimes described as the current price divided by the closing price at the start of the period and sometimes as the difference between the first closing price and the current one; the platform plots the difference. Its name is shared with a group of indicators: this one is the Momentum indicator, in the Momentum group. (The published source code of the platform’s scripts has a Momentum with a default period of 10; the one that the Chart analysis list opens has 20, and the panel agrees with 20.)
| Part | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Period | 20 | Number of candles back that the close is compared with |
| Source | Candle closing | The price used |
The Rate of Change plots the same comparison as a fraction of the earlier price, so the two cross zero on the same candles when they use the same period.
How do you read the Momentum?
The line oscillates around the zero line, the close from n candles back: if the price declines against it the line drops below zero, and if the price rises the line rises with it. The usual advice is to analyse the general market first and to use two Momentum lines with different periods. Long: the price is rising, the Momentum of 20 is above zero (the confirmation of the uptrend), and the Momentum of 3 crosses zero from below and keeps rising. Short: the price is falling, the Momentum of 20 is below zero, and the Momentum of 3 crosses zero on its way down. No single indicator can be relied on alone, and the Momentum can give false signals in a volatile market.
What did it look like on 5-minute candles?
We replayed the Momentum (the close minus the close n candles earlier) 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).
- Period 20 (platform default): 1,294 values; from −66.3 to +53.8 pips; above zero on 531 candles (41%); the sign changed 132 times, one every 10 candles.
- Period 10: from −56.0 to +35.5 pips; 158 sign changes. Period 3: from −34.0 to +24.7 pips; 354 sign changes. A reading of exactly zero, 6 or 7 times at each period, is not counted as a change.
Two stills of the platform, window A (the Step 4 picture shows its two ends) and window B (not pictured), agree with the replay: the line read off the chart at 65 candles of each window differed from the close minus the close 20 candles earlier by 0.14 pip on average in window A and 0.17 pip in window B. In window A, 29 September from 06:05 to 11:50 on the platform clock, the line starts at −12.6 pips (06:10), makes a low of −16.2 at 06:40, rises through zero at 07:50 and to its high of +19.8 at 09:05, falls through zero at 09:40, comes back above it at 09:45 and falls below it again at 10:00, reaches −17.1 at 10:45 and ends at −5.4 at 11:50. In window B, from 11:19 to 17:03, it starts at −5.9 (11:20), makes lows of −13.8 at 12:30 and −20.5 at 14:40, falls through zero at 15:10 and rises through it at 15:15, reaches its high of +27.7 at 15:40 and ends at +2.3 at 17:00. (A point is drawn at the close of its candle: the value of the candle that opened at 09:00 sits at the 09:05 mark.)
The two-line rule, tested
We wrote the rule as an exact condition on closed candles: Higher on the candle where the Momentum of 3 candles crosses above zero while the Momentum of 20 candles is above zero; Lower on the candle where the Momentum of 3 crosses below zero while the Momentum of 20 is below zero. The option opens at the close of the signal candle. No expiry is given, so the box shows five minutes and fifteen minutes, and five minutes on 1-minute candles.
Tested on IQ Option: the two-line Momentum rule, 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, the option opening at the close of the signal candle: Higher on the candle where the Momentum of 3 candles crosses above zero while the Momentum of 20 candles is above zero; Lower on the candle where the Momentum of 3 crosses below zero while the Momentum of 20 is below zero. No expiry is given, so the box shows 5 and 15 minutes on 5-minute candles, and 5 minutes on 1-minute candles. |
| Signals | Momentum 20 as the trend, Momentum 3 crossing zero, 5-minute, 1 candle: 169 signals (69 Higher, 100 Lower) Same, 5-minute, 3 candles: 168 signals (69 Higher, 99 Lower) Same, 1-minute, 5 candles: 202 signals (98 Higher, 104 Lower) |
| Outcomes | Momentum 20 as the trend, Momentum 3 crossing zero, 5-minute, 1 candle: 82 won, 85 lost, 2 tied; 49.1% of the 167 decided trades won; net −$0.09 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.06 at 91%) Same, 5-minute, 3 candles: 83 won, 84 lost, 1 tied; 49.7% of the 167 decided trades won; net −$0.08 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.05 at 91%) Same, 1-minute, 5 candles: 97 won, 105 lost, 0 tied; 48.0% of the 202 decided trades won; net −$0.11 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.08 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 a trade of one candle (5 minutes) the two-line rule gave 169 signals and won 82 of the 167 decided trades (49.1%, two ties); with a trade of three candles (15 minutes) it gave 168 signals and won 83 of 167 (49.7%, one tie); on 1-minute candles with a 5-minute trade it gave 202 signals and won 97 (48.0%). Break-even is 54.1% at an 85% payout. None of the three results is above it, but their 95% intervals (42% to 57%, 42% to 57% and 41% to 55%) include both 50% and 54.1%, so the replay does not separate the rule from chance, and it shows no sign that the rule wins.
Pros and Cons of the Momentum
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The simplest momentum measure: the price against the price n candles ago. | In price units, so the scale depends on the asset and cannot be compared between assets. |
| Two lines with different periods give a trend and an entry. | On 5-minute EUR/USD the two-line rule won about half of its trades at both expiries. |
| Short and long periods can be tuned to the time frame. | A short period, like 3, changes sign very often: 354 times in our recording. |
Common mistakes
- Reading the Momentum as a ratio. The platform plots the difference in price units, as the scale of the panel shows.
- Trading the Momentum of 3 without the trend line. It crossed zero every 4 candles.
- Mixing it up with the group of momentum indicators. This one is the Momentum indicator in the Momentum group.
- Using the same periods on every time frame. Settings should fit the time frame and the strategy.
Related guides
- Rate of Change and Coppock Curve
- EMA and Momentum strategy and Know Sure Thing
- Identifying a trend and leading and lagging indicators
- All indicator guides and all strategy guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Momentum indicator?
A: The difference between the close and the close n candles earlier. It is positive when the price is higher than n candles ago.
Q: What settings does the Momentum have on IQ Option?
A: Three: the Period (20), the Source (Candle closing) and the Line, a colour box and a line-style box. The dialog is a single page without a tab for colours.
Q: How is it different from the Rate of Change?
A: The Momentum is the difference in price units; the Rate of Change divides that difference by the earlier price. They cross zero on the same candles.
Q: How are two Momentum lines used?
A: A Momentum of 20 confirms the trend and a Momentum of 3 crossing zero is the entry, with the trend. The results are in the tested box.
Q: Which period should I use?
A: The platform opens at 20, which is also the trend line of the usual two-line example; the second line of that example is 3. The period should be adjusted to the time frame and the strategy.
Q: Can I use the Momentum 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.
