what is the know sure thing kst 
the know sure thing kst is a momentum oscillator developed by martin pring to make rate of change readings easier for traders to interpret calculating the know sure thing kst the kst is calculated by taking the simple moving average sma of four different rate of change roc periods adding them together to come up with the kst and creating a signal line by taking the 9 period sma of the kst the kst is calculated with the following equation kst rcma 1 1 rcma 2 2 kst rcma 3 3 rcma 4 4 where rcma 1 10 period sma of 10 period roc rcma 2 10 period sma of 15 period roc rcma 3 10 period sma of 20 period roc rcma 4 15 period sma of 30 period roc begin aligned text kst text rcma 1 times 1 text rcma 2 times 2 phantom text kst text rcma 3 times 3 text rcma 4 times 4 textbf where text rcma 1 text 10 period sma of 10 period roc text rcma 2 text 10 period sma of 15 period roc text rcma 3 text 10 period sma of 20 period roc text rcma 4 text 15 period sma of 30 period roc end aligned kst rcma 1 1 rcma 2 2 kst rcma 3 3 rcma 4 4 where rcma 1 10 period sma of 10 period rocrcma 2 10 period sma of 15 period rocrcma 3 10 period sma of 20 period rocrcma 4 15 period sma of 30 period roc finally the signal line is calculated by taking the 9 period sma of the kst value understanding the know sure thing kst the kst indicator can be used in the same manner as many other momentum oscillators such as the well known relative strength index rsi trading signals are generated when the kst crosses over the signal line but traders may also look for convergence and divergence with the price overbought or oversold conditions or crossovers of the center line many traders combine the kst indicator with other forms of technical analysis to maximize their odds of success for example traders may look at other non momentum indicators chart patterns or candlestick patterns to help in their decision making in a 1992 stocks and commodities article pring referred to the indicator as summed rate of change kst but the kst term stuck with technical analysts 1example of the know sure thing kst let s take a look at an example chart in the example above the kst indicator reached highly overbought conditions in early february and eventually experienced a crossover which generated a well timed sell signal the indicator also crossed over in late february mid march and mid april with limited success but the key is looking for both overbought or oversold conditions as well as a crossover to signal the trade traders may have also looked at other forms of technical analysis to maximize their odds of a successful trade for example traders looking at the above chart may have considered the significant bearish volume on the day that the signal occurred or the candlestick patterns leading up to the trading signal when making their decision these insights could also be used to avoid making less profitable trades suggested by the kst indicator 