Relative Vigor Index
The Relative Vigor Index divides net displacement by the day's full range: a rally that closes barely above its open has hollow vigor — RVI exposes exactly that fake strength.
What it is
The Relative Vigor Index (RVI), published by John Ehlers in 2002, rests on one idea: price travels High−Low in a day, but what stays in your pocket is only Close−Open (net displacement). The larger that net share of the range, the more of the road became real progress — that is "vigor". RVI = SMA(Close−Open, N) ÷ SMA(High−Low, N), read around zero with a 4-period signal line. Note: this is unrelated to the older Relative Volatility Index (same RVI abbreviation).
Origin
RVI comes from signal-processing master John Ehlers's 2002 paper in Stocks & Commodities ("Relative Vigor Index"). Ehlers — author of MESA cycle tools and the Hilbert-transform family — drew the analogy to physics: displacement over path equals efficiency. That "efficiency" lens is what separates RVI from other momentum tools. MT5's built-in defaults to 10 periods.
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The computation chain (MT5 default 10):
The main line is "average net displacement over average range" — a unitless efficiency ratio: 0.3 means 30% of the road became real progress. Readings hover around zero with no fixed bounds (big ranges shrink the ratio). The 4-period signal line exists to generate crosses.
Worked example
An example of what "vigor" means:
- Case A: price runs from a low of 100 to a high of 110 and closes at 108 — net displacement 8 over a path of 10: efficiency 0.8, almost all road became progress.
- Case B: the same 100-to-110 run, but the close lands at 102 — net 2 over 10: efficiency 0.2, plenty of road, little progress — a long upper wick, hollow vigor.
- RVI averages ten days of A/B efficiencies into one steady reading.
Two bars can print the same high with completely different vigor — RVI exposes "spike-and-fade" fake strength. Versus the Force Index: FI weights by volume; RVI self-certifies from bar structure (OHLC) — a clean substitute when volume data is unavailable.
How to read it
Reading around zero:
| Range | Common interpretation |
|---|---|
| RVI > 0 and rising | Bullish vigor dominant and strengthening — efficient progress |
| RVI > 0 but flattening | Still bullish but efficiency fading — progress turning hollow |
| RVI near zero | Balanced vigor — a range |
| RVI < 0 and falling | Bearish vigor dominant and strengthening |
| Main crossing signal | Bullish/bearish cross — highest quality when it happens on the far side of zero (deep oversold cross up) |
RVI has no fixed overbought/oversold lines (scale varies with volatility per instrument) — read the zero direction and the crosses. Ehlers specifically recommends signals from extreme zones: a deep cross below zero is a strong vigor-reversal signal.
Common signals & usage
Extreme-zone crosses
The main line crossing above the signal while still deep below zero (or the mirror above zero) — Ehlers's recommended high-quality reversal signal, far more reliable than crosses near the zero line.
Zero-line cross
The main line crossing 0 — confirmed vigor-direction switch; filter with trend structure.
Divergence
Price new highs without an RVI new high — the close's "progress efficiency" is fading: a fake-strength warning.
Efficiency collapse filter
Price still rising but RVI dropping fast (0.4 → 0.1) — the move has entered "plenty of road, little progress" territory; trim and watch.
Limitations & common mistakes
- Do not confuse with the Relative Volatility Index: both abbreviate to RVI — MT5's is Ehlers's Vigor index; the Volatility index is a different, non-builtin tool.
- Unitless readings do not compare across instruments: the absolute value depends on the range structure — read direction and crosses, never compare raw values across symbols.
- Huge-range days dilute: one earnings bar with a giant range drags the efficiency down — let the smoothing recover after events.
- Doji sequences distort: consecutive dojis (CO ≈ 0) drive the main line toward zero — the reading loses directional information until structure resolves.
- Role overlap with the Stochastic: both are sensitive to the close's position — RVI is structural (uses the open), the Stochastic is positional; running both duplicates signals.
RVI in MT5
RVI is a built-in MT5 oscillator (main + signal lines). The MQL5 function for programmatic use is iRVI:
| MQL5 function | iRVI() |
| Default period | ma_period=10 |
| Buffers | 0=RVI main, 1=signal line (4-period SMA) |
| Algorithm | SMA(C−O, N) ÷ SMA(H−L, N), signal = SMA4 |
| Display window | Sub-window (around zero) |
The signal line is fixed at 4-period SMA (Ehlers's original) and is not separately tunable. Readings are unitless around zero — the sub-window has no preset guides; programmatic bull/bear logic uses the main-vs-signal position or the zero direction.
Behavior across timeframes
15-minute
Crosses are frequent — take only far-from-zero extreme crosses, ignore zero-line noise
1-hour / 4-hour
The main swing-vigor monitor; divergence structures are clearest here
Daily
The classic habitat: zero-direction and extreme-zone crosses are most representative on dailies
Weekly
A weekly extreme-zone cross is rare — a heavyweight multi-month vigor reversal
Indicator combinations
Common pairings for RVI:
- With RSI: RSI weighs the gain/loss ratio, RVI weighs progress efficiency — two "momentum quality" lenses; joint extremes are the strongest signals. RSI
- With MACD: MACD sets the trend direction; RVI finds vigor-recovery entries in that direction — trend filter plus efficiency timing. MACD
- With Force Index: FI uses volume, RVI uses bar structure — two "power quality" systems that complement without overlap. FORCE
FAQ
Q What does an RVI of 0.25 mean?
Over the last 10 periods, net displacement (close − open) averaged 25% of the range (high − low) — a quarter of the road became real progress. The reading is unitless around zero: positive = bullish vigor leads, negative = bearish.
Q Is RVI the same as the Relative Volatility Index?
No — only the abbreviation is shared: MT5's RVI is John Ehlers's 2002 Relative Vigor Index (net-displacement efficiency); the Relative Volatility Index is a different, older indicator that MT5 does not ship. Check which one your source means.
Q How is RVI different from the Stochastic?
Both are sensitive to the close's position but with different engines: the Stochastic measures where the close sits in the high-low range (positional geometry); RVI measures net open-to-close displacement as a share of the range (bar efficiency). RVI additionally uses the open — sharper on spike-and-fade fake strength.
Q RVI has no overbought/oversold lines — how do I spot extremes?
Use relative history: a reading at an extreme percentile of its own past year (e.g. the 95th) is "overbought" for that instrument. The scale varies with volatility, so fixed thresholds do not generalize — compare direction and crosses across instruments, absolute values only within one.
Q How do I add RVI in MT5?
Menu: Insert → Indicators → Oscillators → Relative Vigor Index, or drag it from the Navigator onto a sub-window. Default period 10; the main and 4-period signal lines draw automatically — no extra guides needed.
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