SMI Ergodic¶
Indicators · Momentum
SMI Ergodic — Blau's double-smoothed momentum with signal-cross & ±20 zones.
SMI Ergodic is William Blau's momentum oscillator — essentially a TSI (double-smoothed momentum) dressed up with a signal line and overbought/oversold zones. The "ergodic" name refers to the double-smoothing that gives it a clean, stable line. It reads momentum direction and strength like a smoothed MACD, but bounded enough to mark ±20 extreme zones, combining a trend read (zero line) with an overbought/oversold read (the zones).
How it works¶
The block double-smooths price momentum with two EMAs over First EMA (r) (5) and Second EMA (s) (20) — the same construction as the TSI — to produce the SMI line. A Signal line (EMA of SMI over Signal period, 5) gives the crossover trigger, and Overbought (+20) / Oversold (−20) zones with OB/OS signals mark the extremes. Bull ↑ / Bear ↓ fire on the signal cross. Everything sits in a sub-pane around zero.
When to use it¶
Use SMI Ergodic as a smooth momentum oscillator with both trend and OB/OS reads. The signal-line cross times entries; the zero-line cross marks trend state; the ±20 zones flag stretch; and the clean line makes divergence easy to spot. It's a good all-rounder for trend-with-momentum strategies, behaving like a more refined MACD that also tells you when momentum is extreme. The double smoothing means it lags — it confirms rather than leads.
Example¶
A momentum-trend entry: wire bars into SMI Ergodic and take the SMI-crosses-Signal-up event via a Crosses Above while SMI is below the oversold zone, into a Tester. Gate with a higher-timeframe EMA bias through an And and backtest in the Tester.
Tips & gotchas¶
- It's a TSI with zones — double-smoothed momentum plus a signal line and ±20 extremes.
- Signal cross = timing, zero cross = trend, zones = stretch — three reads in one.
- Double smoothing lags — a confirmer, not a leader.
- Don't confuse with the Stochastic Momentum Index — that's Blau's stochastic-based SMI; this is his ergodic (TSI-style) one.
Related blocks¶
Inputs¶
| Socket | Type | What to wire in |
|---|---|---|
| Source | bars / series |
Price bars or any indicator series |
Outputs¶
| Output | Type | Plots as | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMI | series |
Line · sub-pane | SMI Ergodic value |
| Signal | series |
Line · sub-pane | EMA of SMI |
| Bull ↑ | signal |
Signal arrows | SMI crosses above signal |
| Bear ↓ | signal |
Signal arrows | SMI crosses below signal |
| OB | signal |
— | True when SMI is above the overbought threshold |
| OS | signal |
— | True when SMI is below the oversold threshold |
Parameters¶
| Parameter | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| First EMA (r) | number · 2–100 | 5 |
|
| Second EMA (s) | number · 2–200 | 20 |
|
| Signal period | number · 1–100 | 5 |
|
| Overbought | number · 0.0–100.0 | 20.0 |
|
| Oversold | number · -100.0–0.0 | -20.0 |
|
| Source | choice (close, open, high, low, hl2, hlc3, ohlc4) |
close |
|
| SMI color | colour | #9ccc65 |
|
| Signal color | colour | #ba68c8 |
Chart guides
This indicator draws reference level(s): overbought, oversold.
Reference auto-generated from the block catalog · category Indicators.