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 zero-line signal did on EUR/USD candles recorded between 29 September and 5 October 2026; it says nothing about what will happen next.
The QStick is a simple moving average of close minus open: it says how far, on average, the last 10 candles closed above or below where they opened. On IQ Option it opens in its own panel under the price chart as one line around a zero line, filled green above zero and red below it. A QStick above zero means that the average candle closed higher than it opened, and below zero lower. The usual rule buys when the line crosses above zero and sells when it falls below. On 5-minute EUR/USD candles the line was between −5.6 and +3.6 pips and crossed zero 163 times in 1,316 candles, about every 8 candles.
Quick answer
- What it plots: one line in a panel under the price chart, around a zero line, with a green fill above zero and a red fill below it.
- Formula: QStick = SMA(close − open, n), the simple average of the candle bodies over n candles, in price units. The default n is 10.
- Settings on the platform: a single setting, Period 10.
- Reading: above zero the candles are closing higher than they open (buying pressure), below zero lower (selling pressure). The cross of zero is traded.
- Where: the Trend list of the Chart analysis panel; search for QStick.
- Tested: the zero cross gave 162 signals on 5-minute candles; 1-candle trades won 50.9% of the decided trades, 3-candle trades 53.7%; on 1-minute candles 199 signals and 51.5%. Break-even is 54.1% at an 85% payout, and a few days of one pair prove nothing.
How do you add the QStick 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 QStick
Type “QStick” in the Search for indicators box (1), or open the Trend list, and click QStick (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 average of the bodies.
Step 4: Check the colours and click Apply
Open the Colors and display tab (1). The tab has three rows: Main line, orange by default; Base line, the grey zero line, which has a checkbox; and Fill, the green and red areas on either side of zero. Each has colour boxes, and the lines have a line-style box. Click Apply (3).
Step 5: Read the panel
The panel under the price chart is titled QStick (10) (1). The orange line (2) moves around a grey 0 line, with a green area above zero and a red area below it, and the scale at the right edge is in price units, for example 0.0001 and −0.0001.
How is the QStick calculated?
The Quadcode source takes the body of each candle, the close minus the open, which is positive for a rising candle and negative for a falling one, and averages it with a simple moving average over the Period (10). The result is in price units: for EUR/USD, 0.0001 is one pip, so a QStick of 0.0002 means that, on average, the last 10 candles closed 2 pips above their open. The indicator is credited to Tushar Chande, who called it Quick Stick; it was made to recognise the trend numerically.
| Part | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Period | 10 | Number of candles in the moving average of the bodies |
The panel fills the area between the line and zero in green when the line is above zero and in red when it is below.
How do you read the QStick?
It is read as a measure of buying and selling pressure: when the line rises, the price on average closes higher than it opened, and when it falls, lower. The signal is the cross of the zero line: a buy when the line crosses above zero, a sell when it falls below. The indicator works best in trending markets and can give many false signals, crossing zero often, when the market is ranging or choppy. Divergences are also read: bullish when the price falls while the QStick rises, bearish when the price rises while the QStick falls. Its limit is lag, because the line is based on historical data.
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). With the default period the line has a value from the 10th candle of each stretch, 1,316 values in all.
- Range: from −5.6 to +3.6 pips.
- Side of zero: above zero on 565 candles (43%).
- Zero crossings: 163, about one every 8 candles.
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 06:43 to 12:38 on the platform clock, the line crosses above zero at 07:20, peaks at +0.00012 (1.2 pips) at 08:00 and again at 09:05, crosses below zero at 09:40, falls to about −0.00011 at 10:00 and then crosses zero several times between 10:50 and 11:55. In window B, from 12:03 to 17:52, it falls to −0.0002 at 14:00, crosses above zero at 15:00 (after a first touch at 14:50), peaks at +0.00028 at 15:40 and crosses back below zero at 16:30. The replay of the library script gives the same crossings and extremes, and the panel’s green and red fill follows the sign. (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 zero-line signal, tested
We wrote the signal as an exact rule on closed candles: Higher on the candle where the QStick 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 is given, so the box shows five minutes and fifteen minutes on 5-minute candles and five minutes on 1-minute candles. Divergences are judged by eye and are not tested.
Tested on IQ Option: the QStick 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 signal on closed candles: Higher on the candle where the QStick rises above zero, Lower on the candle where it falls below zero; 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 | Zero cross, period 10, 5-minute, 1 candle: 162 signals (81 Higher, 81 Lower) Zero cross, period 10, 5-minute, 3 candles: 162 signals (81 Higher, 81 Lower) Zero cross, period 10, 1-minute, 5 candles: 199 signals (100 Higher, 99 Lower) |
| Outcomes | Zero cross, period 10, 5-minute, 1 candle: 81 won, 78 lost, 3 tied; 50.9% of the 159 decided trades won; net −$0.06 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.03 at 91%) Zero cross, period 10, 5-minute, 3 candles: 87 won, 75 lost, 0 tied; 53.7% of the 162 decided trades won; net −$0.01 per $1 staked at 85% (+$0.03 at 91%) Zero cross, period 10, 1-minute, 5 candles: 102 won, 96 lost, 1 tied; 51.5% of the 198 decided trades won; net −$0.05 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.02 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.
The rule gave 162 signals on 5-minute candles, 81 Higher and 81 Lower. With a trade of one candle (5 minutes) 81 won and 78 lost (50.9%, with a 95% interval of 43% to 59%); with three candles (15 minutes) 87 won and 75 lost (53.7%, interval 46% to 61%). On 1-minute candles with a 5-minute trade it gave 199 signals and 102 won against 96 (51.5%). All three are within the margin of error of the break-even rate of 54.1% and of a coin toss, and the line crosses zero every 8 candles, as is usual in a choppy market.
Pros and Cons of the QStick
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The body of a candle is a direct measure of who closed the period: the average of ten of them is easy to understand. | It crosses zero often: 163 times in about four and a half days of 5-minute candles. |
| The green and red fill makes the side of zero easy to see. | It gives many false signals when the market is choppy, and it lags. |
| One setting, the period. | The scale is in price units, so it cannot be compared between assets. |
Common mistakes
- Entering on every zero cross. It crossed about every 8 candles in our recording.
- Comparing the values between assets. The QStick is in price units: 2 pips on EUR/USD is not 2 on a share.
- Forgetting that it ignores wicks. It uses only the open and the close of each candle.
- Trading it in a range. It gives many false signals there.
Related guides
- Intraday Momentum Index and trading candles
- Moving Average Deviation and Disparity Index
- Identifying a trend and leading and lagging indicators
- All indicator guides and all strategy guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the QStick indicator?
A: A simple moving average of the difference between the close and the open of each candle. It is above zero when, on average, candles close higher than they open. It is credited to Tushar Chande.
Q: What settings does the QStick 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 line and the zero line, and the colours of the fill.
Q: What does a cross of the zero line mean?
A: That the average candle body has changed sign. It is read as a buy or a sell signal; the results are in the tested box.
Q: Does the QStick use the wicks of the candles?
A: No. It uses only the open and the close.
Q: Does it work in a range?
A: It gives many false signals when the market is choppy. In our recording it crossed zero about every 8 candles.
Q: Can I use the QStick 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.
