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 centerline crossover did at the platform’s period of 9 and at 14, on EUR/USD 5-minute candles recorded between 29 September and 5 October 2026; it says nothing about what will happen next.
The Rate of Change (ROC) compares the price now with the price n candles ago: (price now − price n candles ago) ÷ price n candles ago. On IQ Option it opens in its own panel under the price chart as one line around a zero line, with a default period of 9: above zero the price is higher than it was 9 candles ago, below zero lower. It has no upper or lower limit. The crossover of the zero line is read as the signal, divergences are looked for, and the overbought and oversold limits have to be found for each asset. On 5-minute EUR/USD candles the line crossed zero 187 times in 1,316 candles, about every 7 candles, and the crossover won 48.6% of its 5-minute trades and 53.5% of its 15-minute trades, against a break-even rate of 54.1%.
Quick answer
- What it plots: one line in a panel under the price chart, around a zero line.
- Formula: ROC = (price − price n candles earlier) ÷ price n candles earlier. The default n is 9. The panel shows it as a fraction: 0.001 is 0.1%.
- Settings on the platform: Period 9 and Source (close); the Colors and display tab sets the colour and style of the line and of the base line at zero.
- Reading: above zero the price change over n candles is upward, below zero downward; the crossover of zero is traded and divergences are looked for.
- Where: the Momentum list of the Chart analysis panel; search for Rate of Change.
- Tested: the zero cross at the platform’s period 9 gave 186 signals on 5-minute candles; 5-minute trades won 48.6% and 15-minute trades 53.5% of the decided trades; at period 14 it gave 137 signals and 48.1% and 56.2%. Break-even is 54.1% at an 85% payout, and a few days of one pair prove nothing.
How do you add the Rate of Change 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 Rate of Change
Type “Rate of Change” in the Search for indicators box (1), or open the Momentum list, and click Rate of Change (2).
Step 3: Check the settings
The dialog has the tabs Basic settings (1), Colors and display and Script. The Period (2) opens at 9, the number of candles back that the price is compared with. The Source (3) opens at close, the price that is compared.
Step 4: Check the colours and click Apply
Open the Colors and display tab (1). The tab has two rows (2): Main line, with a colour box (blue by default) and a line-style box, and Base line, the zero line, with a checkbox, a colour box and a line-style box. Click Apply (3).
Step 5: Read the panel
The panel under the price chart is titled Rate of Change (9,close) (1), with the period and the source in brackets. It holds one blue line (2) around a zero line, and the scale at the right edge counts in thousandths, for example 0.001, 0 and −0.001.
How is the Rate of Change calculated?
The Quadcode source plots the rate of change of the source over the Period: the price now minus the price Period candles earlier, divided by the earlier price. A value of 0.001 means that the price is 0.1% higher than it was 9 candles ago, which for EUR/USD at 1.13 is about 11 pips. The ROC is a tool that shows the percentage values of price changes, collected over a number of past periods. It is positive when the price is higher than n candles ago, negative when lower, and it has no limits.
| Part | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Period | 9 | Number of candles back that the price is compared with |
| Source | close | The price used |
A zero cross of the ROC is therefore a simple event: the close has just moved from below to above (or from above to below) the close n candles earlier. A high period, such as 200, is recommended for long-term trading and a low one, such as 9, for short-term trading.
How do you read the Rate of Change?
These are the usual readings. Centerline: when the ROC moves above 0, the price change is upward and an uptrend can be seen; when it drops below 0, the change is downward. A line that stays very near zero means that the price is consolidating. Divergence: the ROC rises while the price falls (or the reverse), a sign of a possible change of trend, though the divergence can go on for a while. Extremes: there are no fixed borders for oversold and overbought; follow the ROC on one asset for a long time to find its extremes. Its limits are false signals in consolidation, sensitivity to whipsaws and the need for confirmation.
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).
- Period 9 (platform default): a value from the 10th candle of each stretch, 1,316 values; the line was above zero on 569 candles (43%) and crossed zero 187 times, one every 7 candles; in the panel’s fractions it ranged from −0.0047 to +0.0031.
- Period 14: 1,306 values; above zero on 557 candles (43%); 137 crossings, one every 10 candles; from −0.0053 to +0.0032.
Two stills of the platform, window A (the Step 5 picture) and window B (not pictured), agree with the replay: read off the panel at 133 points of the two windows, the line differed from the replay of the script by 0.00006 on average in window A and 0.00002 in window B. In window A, 29 September from 06:43 to 12:38 on the platform clock, the line starts at −0.0010 at 06:45, crosses zero upwards at 07:10, reaches +0.0011 at 08:00 (a close about 13 pips above the close 9 candles earlier), crosses zero 12 times in all and ends at −0.0005 at 12:35. In window B, from 12:03 to 17:52, it falls to −0.0014 at 13:55, crosses zero upwards at 14:45 and 15:05, climbs to +0.0024 at 15:40 (about 28 pips) and ends at +0.0002 at 17:50. (The platform draws the value of a candle at the time the candle closes: the candle that opened at 07:55 sits at the 08:00 mark.)
The centerline crossover, tested
We wrote the signal as an exact rule on closed candles: Higher on the candle where the ROC 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. We ran it with the platform’s period of 9 and with 14, a usual period. Divergences and extremes are not tested.
Tested on IQ Option: the Rate of Change zero cross, EUR/USD 5-minute 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). 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 centerline crossover on closed candles: Higher on the candle where the Rate of Change rises above zero (the close is above the close n candles earlier after a candle at or below it), Lower on the candle where it falls below zero; the option opens at the close of that candle. Period 9 (the platform’s default) and 14 (a usual period); no expiry is given, so the box shows 5 and 15 minutes on 5-minute candles. Divergences and extremes are not tested. |
| Signals | Zero cross, period 9 (platform default), 5-minute, 1 candle: 186 signals (92 Higher, 94 Lower) Zero cross, period 9, 5-minute, 3 candles: 186 signals (92 Higher, 94 Lower) Zero cross, period 14, 5-minute, 1 candle: 137 signals (69 Higher, 68 Lower) Zero cross, period 14, 5-minute, 3 candles: 137 signals (69 Higher, 68 Lower) |
| Outcomes | Zero cross, period 9 (platform default), 5-minute, 1 candle: 88 won, 93 lost, 5 tied; 48.6% of the 181 decided trades won; net −$0.10 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.07 at 91%) Zero cross, period 9, 5-minute, 3 candles: 99 won, 86 lost, 1 tied; 53.5% of the 185 decided trades won; net −$0.01 per $1 staked at 85% (+$0.02 at 91%) Zero cross, period 14, 5-minute, 1 candle: 65 won, 70 lost, 2 tied; 48.1% of the 135 decided trades won; net −$0.11 per $1 staked at 85% (−$0.08 at 91%) Zero cross, period 14, 5-minute, 3 candles: 77 won, 60 lost, 0 tied; 56.2% of the 137 decided trades won; net +$0.04 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.
At the platform’s period 9 the crossover gave 186 signals, 92 Higher and 94 Lower: with a trade of one candle (5 minutes) 88 won and 93 lost (48.6%, with a 95% interval of 41% to 56%), and with three candles (15 minutes) 99 won and 86 lost (53.5%, interval 46% to 61%). At period 14 it gave 137 signals: 65 won and 70 lost at one candle (48.1%, interval 40% to 57%) and 77 won against 60 at three candles (56.2%, interval 48% to 64%). Only the period-14, 15-minute reading is above the break-even rate of 54.1% at an 85% payout, and its interval includes that rate; the other three are at or below it.
Pros and Cons of the Rate of Change
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very simple: the price against the price n candles ago, with a zero line. | No limits and no levels: the overbought and oversold zones have to be found for each asset. |
| The period can be short for short trades and long for long ones. | Near zero it crosses often: 187 times in about four and a half days at period 9. |
| Works on any asset, since it is a fraction of the price. | It can give false signals when the price consolidates. |
Common mistakes
- Reading the scale as percent. The platform’s panel shows fractions: 0.001 is 0.1%.
- Looking for fixed overbought levels. There are none; you have to find them on your own asset.
- Trading every zero cross. At period 9 the line crossed zero every 7 candles.
- Judging a rule from one expiry. The same crossover at period 14 won 48.1% of its one-candle trades and 56.2% of its three-candle trades.
Related guides
- Coppock Curve and Know Sure Thing
- Momentum on IQ Option and Disparity Index
- Classic and hidden divergences and leading and lagging indicators
- All indicator guides and all strategy guides
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Rate of Change indicator?
A: The change of the price over the last n candles, as a fraction of the price n candles ago. It is positive when the price is higher than n candles ago.
Q: What settings does the Rate of Change have on IQ Option?
A: Period 9 and Source set to close. The Colors and display tab has a colour and a line style for the line and for the zero line.
Q: Which period should I use?
A: The platform opens at 9. A low period, such as 9, suits short-term trading and a high one, such as 200, long-term trading.
Q: What does a cross of the zero line mean?
A: That the price has moved from below to above the price n candles earlier, or the reverse. It is read as a signal; the results are in the tested box.
Q: Does the Rate of Change have overbought and oversold levels?
A: No fixed ones. Watch the ROC on your asset for a long time and find its extremes.
Q: Can I use the Rate of Change 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.
