RPS It is a horizontal comparison indicator (stock vs whole market), suitable forstock picking screening；RSI It is a vertical oscillation indicator (stock vs itself), suitable fortiming judgment；MACD It is a trend tracking indicator, suitable fortrend confirmation. The three each perform their own functions, the best practice iscombined use: RPS stock picking → MACD trend confirmation → RSI buy timing judgment.
| Dimension | RPS (Relative Price Strength) | RSI (Relative Strength Index) | MACD | Momentum indicators (MOM) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comparison dimension | Horizontal: stock vs whole market | Vertical: own rise/fall ratio | Vertical: moving average difference | Vertical: price change speed |
| Value range | 1 - 99 (percentile) | 0 - 100 | No fixed range | No fixed range |
| Core use | stock picking screening | Overbought and oversold judgment | Trend confirmation / divergence | Momentum strength |
| Signal type | Strong stock screening | Reversal signal | Trend signal | Trend signal |
| Best Use Cases | Stock selection in trending/bull markets | Timing in range-bound markets | Trend confirmation in trending markets | Momentum in trending markets |
| Inventor | William O'Neil (1988) | Welles Wilder (1978) | Gerald Appel (1979) | Multiple |
| Computational Complexity | Requires full-market data | Can be calculated on a single stock | Can be calculated on a single stock | Can be calculated on a single stock |
Calculation Principle:Calculate the percentage gain of the target stock over a specified period, then rank it as a percentile among all stocks in the entire market. RPS=90 means the stock's gain has outperformed 90% of all stocks in the market.
Core Advantages:RPS is the only indicator capable of measuring a stock's relative strength versus the market, enabling identification of truly strong stocks in any market environment. In bull markets, high-RPS stocks tend to be the biggest gainers; in bear markets, high-RPS stocks are the most resilient.
Calculation Principle:RSI = 100 - 100/(1+RS), where RS = average gain over the past N days / average loss over the past N days. RSI>70 is typically considered overbought, RSI<30 oversold.
Fundamental Difference from RPS:RSI compares a stock against its own historical prices (longitudinal), while RPS compares a stock against all other stocks in the market (cross-sectional). A stock can simultaneously exhibit RSI=80 (overbought on its own) and RPS=95 (extremely strong relative to the market); these two signals are not contradictory.
Practical Combination:Use RPS to screen a pool of strong stocks (RPS≥80), then use RSI within those strong stocks to identify pullback buying opportunities (buy when RSI retraces from highs to around 50).
Calculation Principle:MACD = EMA(12) - EMA(26), Signal Line = EMA(MACD, 9), Histogram = MACD - Signal Line. A MACD golden cross (MACD crossing above the signal line) is a buy signal; a death cross is a sell signal.
Combination Strategy with RPS:RPS selects strong stocks, while MACD confirms the trend and provides entry timing. Classic strategy: Among stocks with RPS250≥80, buy on a MACD golden cross and sell on a MACD death cross.
Golden Triangle Combination (RPS + MACD + RSI):
| Market Environment | Recommended Primary Indicator | Supplementary Indicators | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bull / Trending Market | RPS | MACD | RPS for selecting strong stocks, MACD for trend confirmation |
| Range-bound Market | RSI | Bollinger Bands | RSI Overbought and Oversold Signals are More Effective |
| Bear Market | RPS (Defensive) | RSI | Select the Stock with the Highest RPS for Optimal Downside Protection |
| Sector Rotation | RPS (Sector) | Momentum Indicators | Use Sector RPS to Identify Capital Flows |
Real-time RPS Ranking Covering Over 20,000+ Stocks in A-shares, US Stocks, Hong Kong Stocks, and Japanese Stocks
View RPS rankings →| Indicators | Best Question to Answer | Should Not Be Used Alone |
|---|---|---|
| RPS | Which Securities Are Relatively Stronger Within the Specified Window in the Same Market? | Infer Valuation or Future Guaranteed Increase |
| RSI | Is the Price Within the Relative Strength-Weakness or Overbought/Oversold Range in the Short Term? | Alternative to Horizontal Ranking Across Stocks |
| MACD | Are Changes in Trend and Momentum Supported by Moving Average Relationships? | Judge the Quality of Company Fundamentals |
The appropriate approach is to first use RPS to build a candidate pool, then review using trends, volume-price action, and fundamentals. Please refer to for different observation windows and data limitations RPS Methodology。
Technical analysis is typically divided into four groups: trend, oscillator, volume, and relative strength.Technical analysisThe most common indicators such as MACD, KDJ, RSI, and Bollinger Bands all belong to the first three categories; their common point isthey only observe the price series of a single instrument itself— when calculating the RSI of a stock, there is no need to know the performance of other stocks.
RPS belongs to the fourth category and is a relatively niche branch of technical analysis: it must first obtain the gains of all instruments in the entire market, then perform a cross-sectional ranking. Thiscross-sectionalcharacteristic makes the questions answered by RPS different from traditional technical analysis — MACD answers “how is the trend of this stock itself,” while RPS answers “where does this stock rank in the entire market.”
Therefore, in actual technical analysis processes, the two types of indicators are usually complementary rather than substitutes: first use RPS to screen a relatively strong candidate pool from thousands of instruments (cross-sectional screening), then use traditional technical analysis tools such as moving averages, volume-price, and patterns to determine the buy/sell timing of individual stocks (time-series judgment). This is also the basic structure of William O'Neil's CANSLIM system — the RS component is responsible for the stock selection range, while pattern and volume analysis are responsible for the entry timing.
Further:RPS Industry Rotation Analysis(usage in conjunction with turnover rate, moving average structure, and market breadth) |RPS Methodology｜RPS Trading Tutorial