What it is
One rate of change line only tells you about one time span. KST blends four of them into one line, so a signal only appears when momentum agrees across several horizons. That makes it slower than a single oscillator but steadier.
In WickSpeak the KST uses Pring's standard lengths and has no settings to tune, so the reading is the same one most charting platforms show.
How it is calculated
1. Work out four rates of change on the close: 10, 15, 20 and 30 candles. 2. Smooth each with a simple moving average: 10, 10, 10 and 15 candles. 3. Multiply them by weights of 1, 2, 3 and 4 and add them up. That total is KST. 4. The signal line is a 9 period simple moving average of KST.
How to read it
How to trade it
- 1
Use a 1 hour or 4 hour chart of US30 or gold so the four time spans cover meaningful swings.
- 2
Wait for KST to cross above its signal line, ideally from below 0.
- 3
Enter on the close of the candle after the cross if price is also above its last swing high or a short moving average.
- 4
Stop below the most recent swing low, for example 80 to 150 points on a 1 hour US30 chart.
- 5
Exit when KST crosses back below its signal line, or at a target of 2 times the stop.
The buy is wrong if KST crosses back below its signal line within two or three candles, or if price closes below the swing low used for the stop.
WickSpeak writes a plain-English reading of KST on the live candle: what it measures, whether blended momentum is turning up or down now, how to trade that and what would cancel it. In Playbook, a condition can check when KST crosses above or below its signal line, crosses above or below zero, stays above or below zero, or is rising or falling.
WickSpeak Know Sure Thing is one of the extra WickSpeak versions of the oscillators. The line is coloured by strength: faint when the reading is weak, glowing when it is strong, mint above the zero line and pink below it. Crosses of the zero line are marked only once the candle has closed, so a marker never vanishes after it appears. A gold marker shows a stretched reading, the strongest few percent of the indicator's own range. Divergences between price and the line are drawn on both the chart and the indicator, and a chip shows the same reading on a higher timeframe.
Best markets and timeframes
Suited to 1 hour, 4 hour and daily charts of indices and gold, where the four look-back lengths cover real swings. On very short charts it lags too far behind price.
Common mistakes
- Expecting early entries. KST is built to confirm, so it will always cross after the turn has started.
- Taking crosses in a flat market, where KST and its signal line wrap around each other.
- Ignoring where the cross happens. A cross up from well below 0 carries more weight than one just above 0.
Works well with
Questions traders ask
What are the KST indicator settings?
The standard settings are rates of change of 10, 15, 20 and 30, smoothed by 10, 10, 10 and 15, weighted 1 to 4, with a 9 period signal line. WickSpeak uses these fixed values.
Who created the Know Sure Thing indicator?
Martin Pring, a technical analyst and author. He designed it to combine short and long momentum cycles into one line.
Is KST a leading or lagging indicator?
It is a momentum indicator built from averages, so it lags price. Its value is that it confirms a turn across several time spans rather than calling it early.
What is the KST signal line?
It is a 9 period simple moving average of the KST line. Crosses between KST and its signal line are the main buy and sell signals.