Calculator · Technical Analysis

Fibonacci retracement calculator

Enter a swing low, a swing high and the direction of the move. You get every Fibonacci retracement level from 23.6% to 78.6%, the 127.2% and 161.8% extensions, and the subtraction behind each price.

Your numbers

Retracements are measured back from the end of the swing.

38.2% level

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50% level

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61.8% level

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161.8% extension

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The working

    How the levels are drawn

    A retracement level is a fraction of the swing, counted back from where the swing ended. In an uptrend the move runs from the low to the high, so each level sits below the high by that fraction of the range: the high minus the range times the ratio. With a $40 low and a $60 high the range is $20, and the 61.8% level is $60 minus $12.36, or $47.64. A downtrend flips it. The swing ends at the low, so the levels are counted upward from there. How to draw Fibonacci retracements covers which highs and lows to anchor on, a choice that moves the answer more than any ratio does.

    Extensions past the swing

    The 127.2% and 161.8% levels project beyond the swing. They are measured from its start, the low in an uptrend, so a $20 swing from $40 gives $65.44 and $72.36. Some charting packages anchor extensions to a third point, the end of the pullback. Their numbers will differ. Check which anchor your chart uses before comparing.

    What a level does not tell you

    The ratios are arithmetic, and nothing in the formula says price will stop at 61.8%. A level on its own marks a place to watch. A pullback that stalls near a level which also lines up with a prior swing high, a rising moving average or an old gap has more going for it, since several reasons for buyers to show up sit at the same price. Fibonacci swing trading sets out rules for turning a zone into a trade with a stop beyond it. Fibonacci retracement, defined covers the term, and the technical analysis desk has the other chart tools.

    Questions about this calculator

    Is 50% a Fibonacci ratio?

    Strictly, no. A halfway pullback does not come from the Fibonacci sequence. Charting tools draw it next to 38.2% and 61.8% because traders watch for a stock giving back half a swing, and the sum is the same as for the other levels: the high minus half the range in an uptrend.

    Should I use closing prices or wicks for the swing high and low?

    Either works if you stay consistent. Wicks mark the actual extremes traded, while closes ignore brief spikes. The levels shift by the difference, so on a stock with long wicks the two choices can put the 61.8% level some distance apart. Pick one convention and use it on every chart you compare.

    What does the 78.6% level mean?

    It is the square root of 0.618, used as a deep retracement level. A pullback that closes past it has given back most of the swing, which is why it often marks the last level before the prior trend itself is in question. In an uptrend it sits at the swing high minus 78.6% of the range.

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