Momentum Indicator: Formula, Settings and How to Read It
Momentum plots the raw difference between the current close and the close N bars earlier, in the instrument's own price units. Above zero means price is higher than it was N bars ago; below zero means it is lower.
Senzoukria · Indicators · Updated September 2026
Momentum ships with the Senzoukria desktop app, in the Momentum group of the indicator catalogue. It is drawn in its own panel below the chart.
What Momentum measures
This is the difference form of momentum, not the ratio form, so there is no division and no percentage anywhere in the calculation. The consequence is that the scale of the line follows the instrument's price scale and the volatility of the bar interval - the same reading means different things on different contracts. The default lookback is 10 bars, and no value is plotted until that much history exists. The order flow side of the catalogue carries a delta momentum series built on the same difference form, applied to its own input rather than to price.
The formula, as implemented
This is not a description of how the indicator is usually defined elsewhere — it is what the shipped code computes, documented next to the implementation:
Momentum brut : close − close[i−N] (la version différence, pas le ratio — même famille que delta-momentum côté flux). Warm-up → null. Défaut N=10.
How to read it
- Zero means the close has returned exactly to where it was N bars ago, regardless of the route taken in between.
- From one bar to the next the line moves by the current bar's price change minus the change of the bar that just left the window - both ends matter, not only the newest one.
- A falling momentum line while price still rises means the newer advance is smaller than the one it is being compared with.
- Read the magnitude against the instrument's tick size and typical bar range, not against a fixed level.
- Because there is no smoothing, one outlier bar enters the reading immediately and leaves it abruptly N bars later.
Parameters and defaults
Period defaults to 10 and accepts 1 to 200. With a period of 1 the indicator becomes the bar-to-bar close change; with a long period it becomes a slow measure of net displacement over a wide stretch of the chart and changes mostly when the reference bar drops out of the window.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period | number | 10 | 1 – 200 |
What it does not show
The value is unnormalised, so it cannot be compared between instruments, between bar intervals, or across a futures contract roll where the price level jumps. It describes only two points - the current close and one N bars back - and knows nothing about the path between them, so a straight move and a violent round trip that ends at the same price read identically. It contains no volume and no order flow. One more subtlety: the line can fall sharply on a quiet bar simply because a large reference bar left the window.
Using it in Senzoukria
Add it from the Indicators panel of any footprint chart or candle chart. It runs on futures data from Rithmic or Databento and on crypto pairs from Binance and Bybit, on the same engine — the calculation does not change with the venue, only the data feeding it does. Market data subscriptions are billed by the provider, separately from the app.
Related indicators
See the full indicator library, or start with the order flow guide if you are new to reading aggression, delta and absorption.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between Momentum and Rate of Change?
- They use the same two prices. Momentum reports the raw difference between the current close and the close N bars ago, in price units. Rate of Change expresses that same difference as a percentage of the older close, which makes it comparable across instruments and price levels, while Momentum is not.
- Why does the Momentum line move on a bar where price barely changed?
- Each reading compares two bars, and both ends of the window move forward together. When the bar dropping out of the lookback carried a large move, the new reading changes by roughly that amount even if the current bar was quiet. This is why an unsmoothed momentum line shows steps that have no counterpart in the latest bar.
- Can Momentum readings be compared between two symbols?
- No, not directly. The value is in the instrument's price units, so a reading of 20 on an index future and 20 on a lower-priced contract describe entirely different moves. Rate of Change, or a z-score of price, gives a scale-free alternative.