TRIX indicator: triple-smoothed momentum and its zero line

TRIX is a momentum oscillator built from a heavily smoothed price. It takes an exponential moving average of the close, smooths that with a second EMA, smooths the result with a third, and then plots the one-bar percentage change of that triple-smoothed line. Jack Hutson, the founding editor of Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, introduced it in the magazine's early issues in 1983.

The triple smoothing removes almost all of the day-to-day noise, so TRIX moves in long, gentle waves and crosses zero rarely. That makes it one of the easiest oscillators to read and one of the slowest to react. This guide calculates a real TRIX value on Walt Disney's chart by hand, shows what two years of its zero crossings looked like, and explains how Finabase scores it.

Do not confuse TRIX with TEMA

Both use three layers of EMA, and both are described as "triple exponential." They are opposites in spirit:

• The TEMA combines its three layers (3, −3, +1) to cancel lag, so it hugs price.
• TRIX uses only the third, slowest layer and plots its rate of change, so it is a smooth, slow momentum line.

The formula

TRIX values are small: a one-bar change in a very smooth line. On a typical stock they stay within about ±1%. Some platforms multiply by 10,000 instead of 100 (basis points) to get larger numbers; Finabase, following TA-Lib, uses percent.

A worked example on Disney

Walt Disney (DIS) crossed from negative to positive TRIX on April 22, 2026. Computing the three EMA layers from Finabase's daily closes (they reproduce Finabase's TRIX to within 0.001 once warmed up):

Each layer moves 12.5% of the way toward the layer above it. On April 22 the close of $104.82 pulled E1 up 38 cents, E1 pulled E2 up 31 cents, and E2 pulled E3 up 3.5 cents. That was enough to turn E3's slope positive, and TRIX crossed zero. Notice how far E3, at $99.70, still trailed the close: about five dollars. The third layer is always well behind.

TRIX on a real chart: Disney 2024–2026

Disney rose from $95.08 to $110.91 over the two years, with a low of $80.10 on April 7, 2025 and a high of $124.69 on June 30, 2025. Its TRIX traced long waves:

• Early warning before the spring 2025 slide. TRIX turned negative on March 6, 2025 with Disney at $105.43. Twenty sessions later the stock was 15.7% lower.
• A late bottom. TRIX made its low, −0.73, on April 22, 2025, two weeks after the price low. The smoothing that keeps TRIX steady also delays it.
• Momentum peaked before price. TRIX reached its high, +0.76, on May 28, 2025, with Disney at $111.52. The price kept rising for another month to its June 30 high, while TRIX was already falling: a classic momentum divergence.
• Few, mixed crossings. Over the two years TRIX crossed zero 14 times. The upward cross on May 12, 2025 was followed by a 7.5% gain over 20 sessions; several later crossings in 2026, as Disney drifted sideways, were followed by moves of about 2% or less either way.

How traders use TRIX

Zero-line crossings. The primary signal. Above zero, the smoothed trend is up. Because TRIX crosses rarely, each crossing tends to coincide with a meaningful change in the intermediate trend, at the cost of arriving late.

Signal line. Many traders add a 9-period EMA of TRIX as a signal line and trade crossovers, in the same way as MACD. It reacts sooner than the zero line.

Divergence. TRIX's smoothness makes divergences unusually clear, as Disney's May–June 2025 example shows.

Trend filter. A positive TRIX can be required before taking long trades from a faster tool.

Choosing the period

Every EMA layer adds about (n − 1) ÷ 2 bars of lag on a steady trend, and TRIX has three layers:

The Scanner's TRIX (10) sits near the fast end, so it lists more crossings than the chart's TRIX (15) would show for the same stock. Shorter periods also make the values larger, because a less smoothed line has a steeper slope. Whatever period you use, judge a reading against that period's own history on the same stock.

Pitfalls and limitations

Lag. On a steady trend each 15-bar EMA layer trails by 7 bars, so the third layer is about 21 bars behind. TRIX confirms trend changes well after they start.

Small numbers. Values like 0.04 look negligible but can be meaningful; compare TRIX with its own history, not with other oscillators.

Flat markets. When price drifts sideways, TRIX hovers near zero and crosses it on small moves.

Comparison table

See MACD indicator: signal line, histogram and divergence for the most common alternative and Exponential moving average (EMA): formula and how to use it for the building block.

How Finabase calculates and scores TRIX

Finabase computes TRIX with TA-Lib's TRIX function on closing prices. A new TRIX study defaults to 15 periods and is drawn in its own panel around a zero line. It is part of the ready-made "Moving Average Crossover" chart template, alongside MACD, RSI and EMAs of 16, 32 and 64.

In the technical gauge on the symbol page, TRIX (15) is scored on its zero line: zero or above counts as Bullish (a buy signal), below zero as Bearish (a sell signal); there is no neutral reading. The Scanner uses a faster TRIX (10) for its crossover list and shows the stocks whose TRIX crossed zero, with the date.

Frequently asked questions

What does TRIX stand for?

It is short for triple exponential: the rate of change of a triple exponentially smoothed moving average.

What is a good TRIX setting?

Hutson used periods in the teens; 15 is common and Finabase's default. Shorter periods (9 to 12) react sooner; longer ones (20 to 30) are even smoother and later.

Is TRIX a leading indicator?

No. Its smoothing makes it lag. Its useful early information comes from divergence, when TRIX turns down while price is still rising, as on Disney in mid-2025.

Summary

TRIX plots the slope of a triple-smoothed price, as a one-bar percent change. It filters out nearly all noise and crosses zero rarely: 14 times in two years on Disney. That steadiness came with lag, a TRIX low two weeks after the price low, and with one notable early warning, a momentum peak a month before the price peak. Read its zero line for the intermediate trend and its divergences for warnings.