Momentum Percentile Rank
A raw momentum reading in price units is hard to interpret on its own. Forty pips of momentum is unremarkable on a volatile pair in a fast market and unusually strong on a quiet one in a calm week, and the same symbol's own typical momentum range drifts as volatility regimes change. A fixed overbought/oversold threshold on raw momentum quietly stops meaning the same thing over time. This indicator sidesteps that by never comparing the current reading to a fixed number at all. Instead it takes today's N-bar momentum and asks what percentage of the last several hundred momentum readings on this same symbol and timeframe were smaller. The output is always 0-100 by construction, and a reading near 100 always means "about as strong as this instrument's momentum gets", whatever the underlying price units happen to be - the same interpretation whether it is attached to a forex pair, a metal, or an index CFD. The percentile is computed by direct comparison against every reading in the lookback window rather than an assumed distribution shape, so it stays honest on skewed or fat-tailed momentum distributions where a z-score-style normalisation would understate how extreme a reading really is. Notes and limitations - Needs InpMomPeriod + InpLookback bars of history before it plots anything; on a freshly opened chart with thin history it stays blank until enough bars are available. - The ranking is entirely relative to the chosen InpLookback window - a reading of 90 on a 500-bar lookback is not directly comparable to a reading of 90 on a 2000-bar lookback computed on the same data. - Computation cost scales with InpLookback since each bar's percentile compares against every reading in the window; very large lookback values on a long history can make the initial calculation noticeably slower to complete, though it still finishes well within MetaTrader's normal indicator load time.
Indicator · MT5 · v1.0 · Free
About Momentum Percentile Rank
Momentum Percentile Rank is an indicator for MetaTrader 5. It can alert you with a pop-up, sound, email or push message. It has 3 settings, such as Mom period, Lookback and Alerts. MQL source code included.
Files in the download: MomentumPercentileRank.ex5, MomentumPercentileRank.mq5, MomentumPercentileRank.txt.
Settings
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Mom period | 14 | Bars back the raw momentum is measured against |
| Lookback | 500 | Number of past momentum readings ranked against (long history, not a short window) |
| Alerts | true | Alert once per closed bar when the rank crosses 10 or 90 |
How to install
- Download the ZIP from your PolyMaria library and unzip it.
- In MetaTrader 5 open File → Open Data Folder, then go to MQL5 → Indicators.
- Copy the .mq5 file(s) there. Put any .mqh files in MQL5 → Include.
- Open the .mq5 file in MetaEditor and press Compile (F7) if MetaTrader does not show it.
- Drag the indicator from the Navigator onto a chart and adjust the settings.
Tags: Momentum · Alerts · MT5 Indicator · MQL5 Source Code