Educational reference. Measured from 1380 recorded 1m bars of ES (E-mini S&P 500) on Monday, September 28, 2026.
RSI crossed above 70 8 separate times during the session, and the typical visit lasted 1 minutes. Across the whole session it sat above 70 for 1.8% of the time, between 30 and 70 for 94.8%, and below 30 for 3.4%.
| Band | Share of session | Bars | Separate visits | Median visit | Longest visit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 70 | 1.8% | 25 | 8 | 1 min | 14 min | |
| Between 30 and 70 | 94.8% | 1308 | 22 | 50 min | 178 min | |
| Below 30 | 3.4% | 47 | 14 | 1 min | 18 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 8 times, with a median stay of 1 minutes and a longest of 14. 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.