Educational reference. Measured from 1380 recorded 1m bars of MES (Micro E-mini S&P 500) on Monday, October 5, 2026.
RSI crossed above 70 23 separate times during the session, and the typical visit lasted 1 minutes. Across the whole session it sat above 70 for 5.9% of the time, between 30 and 70 for 91.7%, and below 30 for 2.3%.
| Band | Share of session | Bars | Separate visits | Median visit | Longest visit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Above 70 | 5.9% | 82 | 23 | 1 min | 11 min | |
| Between 30 and 70 | 91.7% | 1266 | 34 | 25 min | 178 min | |
| Below 30 | 2.3% | 32 | 11 | 1 min | 13 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 23 times, with a median stay of 1 minutes and a longest of 11. 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.