Stoch RSI Indicator: Formula, Settings and How to Read It
Stoch RSI applies the stochastic formula to the RSI series rather than to price: it reports where the current RSI value sits inside its own high-low range over a lookback window, on a 0 to 100 scale. The defaults are an RSI period of 14, a stochastic period of 14, and 3 and 3 for %K smoothing and %D.
Senzoukria · Indicators · Updated September 2026
Stoch RSI 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 Stoch RSI measures
Two normalisations are stacked. The first turns price into RSI using Wilder smoothing; the second measures how far that RSI sits between its own minimum and maximum over the stochastic window. The consequence is worth stating plainly: the output describes the position of a relative measure, not the level of price and not even the level of RSI. An RSI of 45 produces a raw reading of 100 whenever it is the highest of the fourteen RSI values in the window, whatever price did meanwhile. That raw value is then averaged twice, by %K smoothing and by %D, before it reaches the pane. When the RSI window is incomplete, or flat because its maximum equals its minimum, the bar returns no value, and both averages carry that absence forward instead of filling it.
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:
Stochastic RSI (Chande & Kroll) — le stochastique appliqué à la série RSI : stochRSI = 100·(RSI − min(RSI, N))/(max(RSI, N) − min(RSI, N)) %K = SMA_kSmooth(stochRSI) ; %D = SMA_dPeriod(%K) RSI = Wilder (cf. `rsi`). Fenêtre RSI incomplète ou PLATE (max == min) → null. Défauts 14/14/3/3 (TradingView). Sorties : [%K, %D].
How to read it
- The raw normalisation reaches 0 and 100 constantly, since it only takes the most extreme RSI of a short window to produce a bound. With the default smoothing of 3, the plotted %K reaches a bound only when several consecutive bars do.
- A %K crossing above %D while both sit in the lower part of the scale says RSI has started rising within its own recent range. It says nothing about the size of the underlying price move.
- Time spent near an extreme matters more than touching it: a value held at the top across several bars describes a stretch where each RSI reading was among the highest of its window.
- Leaving the upper or lower area is a distinct event from entering it, and the two happen at different points of a move.
- Missing segments mean the RSI window was flat; read them as no data, not as a low reading.
Parameters and defaults
The RSI period, 14, drives the underlying series and accepts 2 to 200. The stochastic period, also 14, sets the window the RSI is compared against; widening it makes extremes less frequent. %K smoothing and %D are 3 and 3, the TradingView configuration; lowering both to 1 exposes the raw normalisation, which flips between bounds on almost every bar.
| Parameter | Type | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| RSI period | number | 14 | 2 – 200 |
| Stoch period | number | 14 | 1 – 200 |
| %K smoothing | number | 3 | 1 – 50 |
| %D period | number | 3 | 1 – 50 |
What it does not show
The double normalisation removes magnitude entirely: a violent move and a slow drift can both produce a reading of 100. The short stochastic window keeps the line near its bounds a large share of the time, which makes extremes less informative here than on RSI itself. The lag of Wilder smoothing is still present underneath, so the reading is fast but not early. And the indicator sits two transformations away from the traded price, with neither of them touching volume or the side that initiated the trades.
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
- Stochastic — Momentum
- CCI — Momentum
- ROC — Momentum
- Williams %R — Momentum
- Momentum — Momentum
- MFI — Momentum
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 Stoch RSI and RSI?
- RSI measures the balance between average up closes and average down closes on an absolute 0 to 100 scale. Stoch RSI measures where the current RSI sits between its own highest and lowest value over the last fourteen bars. They answer different questions, and Stoch RSI can read 100 while RSI is only in the middle of its range.
- Why does Stoch RSI reach 0 and 100 so often?
- The formula rescales RSI against its own extremes over a short window, so any bar whose RSI is the highest or lowest of that window produces a bound value before smoothing. With a 14-bar stochastic window this happens regularly, which is a property of the construction rather than a sign of an unusual market.
- What are the default Stoch RSI settings?
- An RSI period of 14, a stochastic period of 14, %K smoothing of 3 and a %D period of 3, the values used on TradingView. Each one is adjustable in the indicator settings, and the two periods act on different series: one on price, the other on the RSI built from it.