Educational reference. Measured from 275 recorded 5m bars of CL (Crude Oil) on Monday, September 21, 2026.
RSI crossed above 70 3 separate times during the session, and the typical visit lasted 20 minutes. Across the whole session it sat above 70 for 7.3% of the time, between 30 and 70 for 91.3%, and below 30 for 1.5%.
| Band | Share of session | Bars | Separate visits | Median visit | Longest visit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 70 | 7.3% | 20 | 3 | 20 min | 75 min | |
| Between 30 and 70 | 91.3% | 251 | 7 | 105 min | 425 min | |
| Below 30 | 1.5% | 4 | 3 | 5 min | 10 min |
RSI compares the size of recent gains with recent losses, so a reading above 70 says buying has dominated the last 14 bars — not that price is high. A long stay above 70 is a market trending up, which is the opposite of the reversal the word 'overbought' suggests.
Here the reading entered overbought territory 3 times, with a median stay of 20 minutes and a longest of 75. A brief excursion above 70 that resolves in minutes is noise on this timeframe. A sustained one is the signature of a trend that is still running, and selling into it is how traders get run over.