Rate of Change (ROC)

Rate of Change (ROC) measures the percentage change in price between the current price and the price N periods ago. It oscillates around zero, with positive values indicating upward momentum and negative values indicating downward momentum.

Problem​

You want a simple momentum indicator that shows how fast price is changing. Raw price differences don't account for the price level, making comparison across assets difficult.

Solution​

Calculate 12-period Rate of ChangeDemo this query
DECLARE
  @symbol := 'EURUSD',
  @lookback := '$now - 1M..$now'

WITH with_lag AS (
  SELECT
    timestamp,
    symbol,
    close,
    lag(close, 12) OVER (PARTITION BY symbol ORDER BY timestamp) AS close_12_ago
  FROM market_data_ohlc_15m
  WHERE symbol = @symbol
    AND timestamp IN @lookback
)
SELECT
  timestamp,
  symbol,
  round(close, 5) AS close,
  round(close_12_ago, 5) AS close_12_ago,
  round((close - close_12_ago) / close_12_ago * 100, 4) AS roc
FROM with_lag
WHERE close_12_ago IS NOT NULL
ORDER BY timestamp;

The formula: ROC = ((Close - Close N periods ago) / Close N periods ago) × 100

Interpreting results​

  • ROC > 0: Price higher than N periods ago, upward momentum
  • ROC < 0: Price lower than N periods ago, downward momentum
  • ROC crossing zero: Potential trend change
  • Extreme ROC values: Overbought/oversold, may revert to mean
Period selection

Common ROC periods:

  • 9 or 12: Short-term momentum
  • 25: Medium-term (roughly one month of daily data)
  • 200: Long-term trend
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