Category Archives: technical indicator

Zero In On The MACD

EDS, Stocks & Commodities traders tips, technical indicator, trading strategy
The AIQ code based on Barbara Star’s article in May issue of Stocks and Commodities “Zero In On The MACD,” is provided at www.TradersEdgeSystems.com/traderstips.htm, and is also shown below.
Sample Chart

FIGURE 7: AIQ. Here is a sample chart of VIAB with MACDhist, the color bars, and the 34- and 55-bar EMAs.
Figure 7 shows the MACD histogram on a chart of Viacom (VIAB) with the color bars and the 34- and 55-bar exponential moving averages (EMA). Note that I did not code the weighted moving average (WMA) but substituted the EMA for the WMA. I chose to view the chart of VIAB by running the EDS “Zero MACD.eds” on 3/14/2016 and examining the alert messages on the report “List.” VIAB is the only one on that date that showed a cross up on the MACDhist (see Figure 8 for a look at part of this report for 3/14/2016).
Sample Chart

FIGURE 8: AIQ. This shows part of the EDS custom report “List” that shows the MACDhist values on 3/14/2016, the color status, and any alerts that were generated for that day.
! ZERO IN ON THE MACD

! Author: Barbara Star, TASC May 2016

! Coded by: Richard Denning 3/14/16

! www.TradersEdgeSystems.com



! INPUTS:

macd1  is  12.

macd2  is  26.

macdSig is  1.



! INDICATORS:

emaST  is expavg([Close],macd1).

emaLT  is expavg([Close],macd2).

MACD  is emaST - emaLT.  ! MACD line

SigMACD is expavg(MACD,macdSig). ! MACD Signal line

MACDosc is MACD - SigMACD. ! MACD Oscillator



HD if hasdatafor(macd2) = macd2.

MACDhist is MACD.                                 ! plot as historigram

MACDblue if MACDhist > 0.  ! use these rules to color MACDhist

MACDred  if MACDhist < 0.  ! use these rules to color MACDhist

MACDcolor is iff(MACDblue and HD,"Blue",iff(MACDred and HD,"Red","White")). !for report list

List if 1.



!ALERTS:

EMA1 is expavg([close],34).

EMA2 is expavg([close],55).

xupEMA1 if [close] > EMA1 and valrule([close] < EMA1,1).

xdnEMA1 if [close] < EMA1 and valrule([close] > EMA1,1).

xupEMA2 if [close] > EMA2 and valrule([close] < EMA2,1).

xdnEMA2 if [close] < EMA2 and valrule([close] > EMA2,1).

xupMACD if MACDhist > 0 and valrule(MACDhist < 0,1).

xdnMACD if MACDhist < 0 and valrule(MACDhist > 0,1).

UpAlerts is iff(xupEMA1,"xupEMA1",iff(xupEMA2,"xupEMA2",iff(xupMACD,"xupMACD"," "))).

DnAlerts is iff(xdnEMA1,"xdnEMA1",iff(xdnEMA2,"xdnEMA2",iff(xdnMACD,"xdnMACD"," "))).
The code and EDS file can be downloaded from www.TradersEdgeSystems.com/traderstips.htm.

The Value of the ‘Perspective’ Indicator

educational newsletters, jay kaeppel, technical indicator
Not every indicator that you look at needs to generate exact buy and sell signals.  There are many useful indicators that offer “perspective” more than “precision market timing.”  It can be very helpful to track some of these. The downside of course is that the more indicators you follow the more you can be susceptible to “analysis paralysis” – plus at some point you do have to have “something” that tells you “make this trade NOW!”
But the basis for considering tracking certain “perspective indicators” is that they can help to keep you from falling for those age-old pitfalls, “fear” and “greed”.  As the market falls – and especially the harder it falls – the more likely an investor is to start to feel fear.  And more importantly, to start to feel the urge to “do something” – something like “sell everything” to alleviate the fear. On the flipside, when things are going great there is a tendency to ignore warning signs and to “hope for the best”, since the money is being made so easily.
In both cases a perspective indicator can serve as – at the very least – a slap upside the back of the head that says “Hey, pay attention!”
So today let’s review one of my favorites.
The JK HiLo Index
OK, I will admit it is one of my favorites because I developed it myself.  Although in reality the truth is that it simply combines one indicator developed long ago by Norman Fosback and another that I read about in a book my either Martin Pring or Gerald Appel.
I first wrote about this indicator in the October 2011 issue of Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities magazine and I believe it is available via Bloomberg.
The calculations are as follows:
A = the lower of Nasdaq daily new highs and Nasdaq daily new lows
B = (A / total Nasdaq issues traded)*100
C = 10-day average of B
D = Nasdaq daily new highs / (Nasdaq daily new highs + Nasdaq daily new lows)
E = 10-day average of D
JK Hi/Lo Index = (C * E) * 100
In a nutshell:
*High readings (90 or above) suggest a lot of “churning” in the market and typically serve as an early warning sign that a market advance may be about to slow down or reverse.  That being said, a close look at Figure 1 reveals several instances where high readings were NOT followed by lower prices.  However, as a perspective indicator note the persistently high reading starting in late 2014.  This type of persistent action combined with the “churning” in the stock market could easily have served as a warning sign for an alert investor.
*Low readings (20 or below) indicate a potential “washout” as it indicates a dearth of stocks making new highs.  Readings under 10 are fairly rare and almost invariably accompany meaningful stock market lows.
Figure 1 displays the Nasdaq Composite (divided by 20) with the JK Hi/Lo Index plotted since 2011.
1
Figure 1 – JK HiLo Index (red line) versus Nasdaq Composite (/20) since 2011
Regarding the difference between a “timing” indicator and a “perspective” indicator, note the two red lines in Figure 2.  The JK HiLo Index first dropped below 20 on the date marked by the first red line.  It finally moved back above 20 on the date marked by the second red line.  2
Figure 2 – JK HiLo Index (red line) versus Nasdaq Composite (/20) since 2015 (Courtesy AIQTradingExpert)
Can we say that the JK HiLo Index “picked the bottom with uncanny accuracy”?  Not really.  The Nasdaq plunged another 10% between the first date the indicator was below 20 until the actual bottom.
Still, can we also say that it was useful in terms of highlighting an area where price was likely to bottom?  And did it presage a pretty darn good advance?  I think a case can be made that the answers to those questions are “Yes” and “Yes”.
Summary
The bottom line is that while there was a great deal of fear building in the market during January and February, an indicator such as this one can help alert an investor the fact an opportunity may be at hand.
Jay Kaeppel
Chief Market Analyst at JayOnTheMarkets.com and TradingExpert Pro client

We’ve been watching MIDZ – Direxion Daily Mid Cap bear 3X

ETFS, indexes, real time charts, Stock trading, technical indicator
We’ve been watching MIDZ – Direxion Daily Mid Cap bear 3X in our barometer the last few trading days. This 3 x bearish ticker has been in a long down trend, but recently Moneyflow has begun to show signs of accumulation and the MACD diverged up when the price was still heading down.
The 5 day barometer readings on Moneyflow and MACD in our Quotes montage are showing some bullish signs either all green or green arrow up. Maybe times are a changing.
How do we do what we do? TRY US http://aiqeducation.com/

Back to Basics with MACD (Part 2)

back testing, EDS, Stocks & Commodities traders tips, technical indicator
In this article I detailed one relatively “simple” approach to using the MACD indicator to identify potentially bullish opportunities.  In this piece we will look at one to actually put those signals to use.
The Limited Risk Call Option
One possibility upon generating a bullish signal as described in the last article is to buy shares of the stock/ETF/index/etc in question.  Not a thing wrong with that.  But there is a less expensive alternative.
Figure 1 reproduces Figure 1 from the last piece showing ticker XLF.  Let’s look at the signal generated on 2/12/16.
1Figure 1 – Ticker XLF (Courtesy AIQ TradingExpert)
One alternative that I like is to use the “Percent to Double” routine at www.OptionsAnalysis.com to find an inexpensive call option that has lot of upside potential.  The input screen with a few key input selections highlighted appears in Figure 1a (if it looks intimidating please note that a reusable set of criteria can be captured in a “Saved Wizard”, which appear towards the lower right of of Figure 1a.  Once a set of criteria is saved it can be reused by simply clicking on the Wizard name and clicking “Load”.)
NOTE: My own personal preference is to consider options that have at least 45 days left until expiration (as time decay can become a very negative factor as option expiration draws closer).

1a

Figure 1a – Percent to Double Inputs (Courtesy www.OptionsAnalysis.com)

Figure 1b displays the output screen.
NOTE: For my own purposes I like to see a Delta of at least 40 for the option I might consider buying (nothing “scientific” here.  It is just that the lower the Delta the further out-of-the-money the option strike price is. I prefer to buy a strike price that is not too far from the current price of the stock; hence I look for a Delta of 40 or higher).  With XLF trading at $20.49, in Figure 1b I have highlighted the 2nd choice on the list – the April 21 call – which has a delta of 43.1bFigure 1b – Percent to Double Output (Courtesy www.OptionsAnalysis.com)
So a trader now has two alternatives:
*Buy 2 Apr 21 strike price XLF calls for $70 apiece ($140 total cost; 86 total deltas)
*Buy 86 shares of XLF at $20.49 apiece ($1,760 total cost, 86 total deltas)
Figure 1c displays the particulars for buying a 2-lot of the April 21 call for a total cost of $140.1cFigure 1c – XLF Apr 21 call (Courtesy www.OptionsAnalysis.com)
By 3/18 the shares had gained 11% and the Apr 21 call had gained 143%.  See Figure 1d.1dFigure 1d – XLF Apr 21 call (Courtesy www.OptionsAnalysis.com)
Summary
Obviously not every trade works out as well as this one.  Still, the key things to remember are:
*The option trade cost $140 instead of $1760
*The worst case scenario was a loss of $140.
Something to think about.
Chief Market Analyst at JayOnTheMarkets.com and TradingExpert Pro client

Back to Basics with MACD

back testing, EDS, Stocks & Commodities traders tips, technical indicator
One danger of getting “way to into” the financial markets is that you can find yourself progressing into some needlessly complicated stuff (“Hi, my name is Jay”).  I mean it is only natural to wonder “hey, what if I divided this indicator value by that indicator value” and such.  But once you start finding yourself taking an exponential moving average of a regression line with a variable lag time, well, you can find yourself “a tad far afield.”  (Trust me on this one).  Which leads us directly to:
Jay’sTradingMaxim #44: Every once in awhile it pays to remember that the end goal is simply to make money.  The more easily the better.
So today let’s go back to a simple “basic approach.”
The Bullish MACD Divergence
We will define an “asset” as any stock, ETF, commodity, index, etc. that can be traded on an exchange (and for my purposes, there should be a liquid market for options on that asset).
Step 1. An asset price falls to a new 20-day low and the MACD value is less than 0.  Note the MACD value on this date.
Step 2. Not less than one week but not more than 2 months later:
*Price closes below its closing level in Step 1
*The MACD indicator is above its level at the time of Step 1
Step 3. The next time the daily MACD indicator “ticks higher” a buy alert is triggered
Can it really be that simple?  The Good News is “Yes, it can.”  The Bad News is that “It isn’t always.”  To put it another way, like a lot of trading methods it can generate a surprising abundance of useful trading signals.  However, there is no guarantee that any given signal will turn out to be timely.  In other words:
This method gives you a good guideline for when to get in, but:
*It may be early at times (i.e., price will move lower still before advancing)
*It will at times be flat out wrong
*You still have to decide when to exit the bullish position.
*Call options are useful with this approach as it allows you to risk a limited amount of capital.
Examples
Figures 1 through 4 highlight some recent examples using this method.  Note that the charts show only entry points.  Exit points are “a separate topic”.
1
Figure 1 – Ticker XLF (Courtesy TradingExpert Pro)
2
Figure 2 – Ticker WMT (Courtesy TradingExpert)
3
Figure 3 – Ticker AAPL (Courtesy TradingExpert)
4
Figure 4 – Ticker GDX (Courtesy TradingExpert)
As you can see, some signals were quite timely while others were quite early.  For the record, I started getting bullish on gold and gold stocks early in 2016 based in part on the multiple alerts that appear in Figure 4.
Chief Market Analyst at JayOnTheMarkets.com and TradingExpert Pro client