Momentum Indicator
Measures the absolute change in price over n periods; positive and growing values confirm trend strength, declining values warn of exhaustion.
Momentum = Close_t − Close_{t − n}The raw Momentum Indicator subtracts the close n periods ago from the current close. Unlike ROC, which expresses the change as a percentage, Momentum is an absolute difference. A value above zero means price is higher than n bars ago; a rising value means it is gaining ground faster than before.
Despite its simplicity, momentum divergence — when price makes a new high but Momentum does not — is one of the most reliable reversal warnings in technical analysis. The indicator feeds into more complex tools like the Coppock Curve and is conceptually the ancestor of MACD.