The Rate of Change is a technical analysis momentum indicator that measures the percent change in price from the current price to the price periods specified. It is a momentum indicator because it measures the strength of momentum change.

The ROC indicator forms an oscillator that gravitates above and below zero. For signals, one would look for higher highs or lower lows, divergences, and crossovers of the zero line.

The most powerful way to use the ROC is to look for divergences. When the indicator is heading up, and the price is heading down, we have positive divergence. This can be a sign for a sharp bull market. Typically, any reading above the zero line is considered to have more buying pressure, while anything below zero has more selling pressure.

Here is an example of the oscillator forming positive divergence, and heading above zero. Around December 26th, Intel shot back up to $22.