What are the Fibonacci levels on a 100-point gold swing?
Gold up from 2,600 to 2,700 (illustrative): retracements come down from the high, extensions go up from the low.
| Level | Formula | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | the swing high | 2,700.00 |
| 23.6% | 2,700 − 0.236 × 100 | 2,676.40 |
| 38.2% | 2,700 − 0.382 × 100 | 2,661.80 |
| 50% | 2,700 − 0.5 × 100 | 2,650.00 |
| 61.8% | 2,700 − 0.618 × 100 | 2,638.20 |
| 70.5% | 2,700 − 0.705 × 100 | 2,629.50 |
| 78.6% | 2,700 − 0.786 × 100 | 2,621.40 |
| 100% | the swing low | 2,600.00 |
| 127.2% | 2,600 + 1.272 × 100 | 2,727.20 |
| 161.8% | 2,600 + 1.618 × 100 | 2,761.80 |
| 200% | 2,600 + 2 × 100 | 2,800.00 |
| 261.8% | 2,600 + 2.618 × 100 | 2,861.80 |
The arithmetic, line by line
Say gold rose from a swing low at 2,600 to a swing high at 2,700 (illustrative prices). The range is 100. Each retracement is the high minus the ratio times the range: 23.6% is 2,700 − 0.236 × 100 = 2,676.40, and 61.8% is 2,700 − 61.80 = 2,638.20. Each extension is the low plus the ratio times the range: 161.8% is 2,600 + 1.618 × 100 = 2,761.80, 61.80 above the high. These are the calculator's default inputs.
How do the levels flip in a downtrend?
Measure from the other end: retracements add to the low, extensions subtract from the high.
| Level | Uptrend, 2,600 → 2,700 | Downtrend, 1.1000 → 1.0800 |
|---|---|---|
| 23.6% retracement | 2,676.40 | 1.08472 |
| 38.2% retracement | 2,661.80 | 1.08764 |
| 50% retracement | 2,650.00 | 1.09000 |
| 61.8% retracement | 2,638.20 | 1.09236 |
| 70.5% retracement | 2,629.50 | 1.09410 |
| 78.6% retracement | 2,621.40 | 1.09572 |
| 127.2% extension | 2,727.20 | 1.07456 |
| 161.8% extension | 2,761.80 | 1.06764 |
| 200% extension | 2,800.00 | 1.06000 |
| 261.8% extension | 2,861.80 | 1.04764 |
A falling EURUSD swing, worked
Say EURUSD fell from 1.1000 to 1.0800, a range of 0.0200 or 200 pips. Retracements are now bounces up from the low, so they add to it: 38.2% is 1.0800 + 0.382 × 0.0200 = 1.08764. Extensions continue the fall, so they subtract from the high: 161.8% is 1.1000 − 1.618 × 0.0200 = 1.06764. Entering the swing in the wrong direction mirrors every level, a common mistake with any Fibonacci tool.
Why do Fibonacci extension calculators disagree?
Three conventions give three prices for the same ratio; check which one a level means.
| Extension | From the start (this page) | Added to the end | From a 2,640 pullback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 127.2% | 2,727.20 | 2,827.20 | 2,767.20 |
| 161.8% | 2,761.80 | 2,861.80 | 2,801.80 |
| 200% | 2,800.00 | 2,900.00 | 2,840.00 |
| 261.8% | 2,861.80 | 2,961.80 | 2,901.80 |
The three conventions, with sources
From the swing's start, this calculator's: L + e × (H − L) in an uptrend, so 100% is the swing high and 161.8% is 61.8% of the range beyond it. Added to the swing's end: H + e × (H − L), which is omnicalculator's formula (UE = H + (H − L) × percentage, checked 8 October 2026); every level sits one full range further, so its 161.8% is this page's 261.8%. Projected from a pullback: three prices, the swing's two ends and where the pullback after it ended, C + e × (H − L). That is what TradingView's trend-based fib extension tool draws from its three clicks. The table uses the gold swing, with a pullback to 2,640.
None is wrong. Before you use a level from a video, a course or another tool, check which of the three it means.
Where do the Fibonacci ratios come from?
Powers and roots of 0.618; 50% and 70.5% are not Fibonacci ratios at all.
| Level | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| 23.6% | 0.618³ ≈ 0.236; in the sequence, a number divided by the one three places later (21 ÷ 89) |
| 38.2% | 0.618² ≈ 0.382, which is also 1 − 0.618 (21 ÷ 55) |
| 50% | Half the swing. Not a Fibonacci ratio; tools include it because traders watch the midpoint |
| 61.8% | 1 ÷ 1.618, the inverse of the golden ratio (21 ÷ 34 ≈ 0.618) |
| 70.5% | Halfway between ICT's 62% and 79%. Not a Fibonacci ratio |
| 78.6% | √0.618 ≈ 0.786. Some tools use 76.4% (1 − 0.236) instead |
| 127.2% | √1.618 ≈ 1.272 |
| 161.8% | 1.618, the golden ratio itself |
| 200% | Twice the swing: a round-number extension, not a power of the golden ratio |
| 261.8% | 1.618² ≈ 2.618 |
The sequence behind 0.618
In the Fibonacci sequence, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89 and on, each number divided by the next approaches 0.618, the inverse of the golden ratio 1.618. The other ratios are powers and roots of it. Two of the levels in the calculator are not Fibonacci ratios at all, and we label them that way.
Which swing should you measure?
Any two points make a Fibonacci; the hard part is a rule for which two.
One rule, and two habits
The levels are only as good as the two prices. ICT's optimal trade entry draws it on the leg that broke structure, from its origin to its extreme, and only once that extreme is confirmed as a swing: until then, every new high moves every level. Our ICT OTE guide writes that rule down and replays it, including the 62% to 79% band with 70.5% inside it that the calculator reports.
Two habits keep the numbers comparable: anchor on the same thing every time, usually the wicks, and measure on the timeframe you trade. Location Desk, in Pine Pro Library, draws the leg that broke structure and its 50% line on TradingView; it does not draw Fibonacci levels, so put TradingView's own retracement tool on the same two points, or type them in here.
Do Fibonacci levels work?
We haven't tested them. In a random walk every level breaks even before costs, so any edge has to come from the market.
The arithmetic behind that
We can't tell you: ProEA hasn't published a test of any Fibonacci level. One piece of arithmetic is worth knowing first. With a stop at the swing low and a target at the swing high, an entry at the 61.8% retracement sits 0.382 of the swing above the stop and 0.618 below the target. In prices with no memory and no drift, a random walk, the chance of reaching the target first is 38.2%, which exactly pays for a target 1.6 times as far away as the stop. Every level breaks even before costs, so any edge has to come from the market, not from the ratio. Check what a planned entry, stop and target need with the risk reward calculator.