Standard MACD is the 12-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) less the 26-day EMA. Closing prices are used to form the MACD's moving averages. A 9-day EMA of MACD is plotted along side to act as a signal line to identify turns in the indicator. The MACD-Histogram represents the difference between MACD and its 9-day EMA, the signal line. The histogram is positive when MACD is above its 9-day EMA and negative when MACD is below its 9-day EMA.
As with MACD, the MACD-Histogram is also designed to identify convergence, divergence and crossovers. The MACD-Histogram, however, is measuring the distance between MACD and its signal line. The histogram is positive when MACD is above its signal line. Positive values increase as MACD diverges further from its signal line (to the upside) and decrease as MACD and its signal line converge. The MACD-Histogram crosses the zero line as MACD crosses below its signal line. The indicator is negative when MACD is below its signal line. Negative values increase as MACD diverges further from its signal line (to the downside). Conversely, negative values decrease as MACD converges on its signal line.
MACD comes with the MACD-Histogram, but the MACD-Histogram can be shown as a stand-alone indicator. This makes it much easier to identify divergences and crossovers. The MACD-Histogram can be set as an indicator above, below or behind the price plot of the underlying security. The histogram covers a lot of chart space so it is often best to place it above or below the main window. It is possible to show MACD without the histogram in the main window. Choose MACD as an indicator and change the signal line number from 9 to 1 (9,26,1). This will remove the signal line and the histogram. The signal line can be added separately by clicking the advanced indicator options and adding a 9-day EMA.
The signals from the MACD indicator tend to lag price movements. The MACD Histogram attempts to address this problem by plotting the distance between MACD and its signal line. Because of this, the histogram signals trend changes well in advance of the normal MACD signal, but is less reliable and should be confirmed by other indicators.
Momentum trading can be a nerve-wracking experience. If done right, you can rack up a lot of profit quickly. If not, you can falter and make wrong buy/sell decisions that can send you down a spiral of losses. One tool to help traders in momentum is the use of the MACD indicator and the MACD histogram. Here, we will discuss how you can make the most out of it.
The MACD line is generated based on a calculation which subtracts the 26-period EMA (also called long-term EMA) from the 12-period EMA (short term EMA). From this, we can have the MACD histogram by subtracting the signal line from the indicator line.
When you enable the MACD indicator, an indicator below the price chart. (Read about other indicators here: ATR Indicator, Stochastic Indicator, RSI Indicator) The MACD line is the blue line and the signal line is the orange line. Usually, when you enable the MACD indicator, it also provides you with the MACD histogram. Here, you are given bar charts that move with the two lines, which is the histogram.
The value of the MACD histogram can be positive or negative. It is positive when the short-term EMA is above the long-term EMA. Conversely, it is negative if the short-term EMA is below the long-term EMA. The distance between the MACD to its baseline, whether above or below, indicates that the distance between the two EMAs is increasing.
When the EMA rises, the inertia has a bullish bias. When the EMA falls, the inertia has a bearish bias. For the MACD histogram, if it rises, then the bullish momentum is picking up steam. If it falls, then it is a bearish momentum. Below is the MACD indicator with the MACD line and signal line invisible and the EMA indicator enabled.
For this system, you are looking for the moment when the EMA and MACD histogram are pointing in the same direction. That would be your entry signal. This is because the inertia and momentum are pushing the trend upward or downward together. So, when both EMA and MACD histogram are on the rise, that means it is a bearish momentum and the trend is most likely to continue to go up. Conversely, if both EMA and MACD are going down, that means the trend is going down. (Also read about: Trendline Trading)
For instance, if you trade on the daily chart and use the weekly chart for reference, you wait until the 13-day EMA and the MACD histogram to go up together. That is a strong buy signal and you should go long and stay there until the signal disappears, which is when the EMA and Histogram no longer go up together.
On the other hand, if the weekly trend is going down, wait until the 13-day EMA and MACD histogram to go down on the daily chart. That is a good sell signal and you should go short then. Moreover, you should be ready to cover the short position the moment the buy signal disappears.
If the weekly trend is going down and the EMA and MACD histogram are also going down on the daily chart, and that you are in a short position (and you should), it is best to cover your shorts the moment any of the two indicators stop giving a sell signal. That is when the downward momentum is losing steam and has already done most of its descent. You should sell before the trend hits rock bottom.
The MACD is able to show the strength of the current market trend via the histogram. On top of that it is also able to identify overbought and oversold areas, whereby, the signal line value is more than the MACD value and where the signal value is less than the MACD value respectively. In addition, the MACD is highly customizable to your trading style. Furthermore, the MACD has multiple strategies alone, making it an advanced tool to master with multiple additions to your trading arsenal. However, it is a lagging indicator, meaning that the MACD crosses might have a few candles of delay, hence not providing the sharpest entry and exit possible. Subsequently, it is capable of providing conflicting signals during choppy markets, making it somewhat unreliable.
And that is everything you need to know about MACD histogram to get started. If you are not familiar with momentum trading, it is best to start with a demo account with some virtual currency to start so you can get some experience before you put your actual capital at risk.
In the case of the MACD indicator, the most widely suggested entry signal is when the MACD line crosses over the signal Line in the direction of the trend. Since these two lines are simply two moving averages, by their very nature the crossover will not occur until the move itself is under way. Some traders prefer this method of suggested entry as it offers more confirmation that the move is more likely to continue in that direction however, the MACD histogram can offer an earlier signal to enter.
The suggestive buy signal on the left (blue) was created by five swelling red bars in a row followed by a fifth bar that closed smaller. Two bars later, the MACD line crosses above the signal line which is a traditional MACD signal. This later signal would have missed most of the move to the upside that the histogram signal would have caught.
The opposite is true when price is decreasing. When price is decreasing, the Signal line is generally going to be positioned above the MACD line and the histogram will be red. The faster price decreases, the farther the Signal line will get from the MACD line and, therefore, the longer the red histogram bars will become.
Trading a MACD cross is very similar to trading a moving average cross. In a bullish scenario, traders will be looking for the MACD line to cross up on the Signal line. The histogram can be used as a reference point for assessing the validity of a MACD cross. A cross-up below the zero line after a period of volatility contraction can result in a powerful upside move like the one shown in the chart below.
The MACD-Histogram measures the difference between MACD and the 9-day EMA of MACD. This makes it an indicator of an indicator. MACD is a basic momentum indicator that measures the difference between two moving averages. Typically, MACD equals the 12-day EMA less the 26-day EMA. MACD turns positive when the 12-day EMA crosses above the 26-day EMA and turns negative when the 12-day crosses below the 26-day EMA. A 9-day EMA is applied to MACD to act as the signal line for upturns and downturns. MACD is moving higher when it breaks above its 9-day EMA and moving lower when it breaks below its 9-day EMA. The chart below shows the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) with the two exponential moving averages in the main window and MACD in the indicator window.
Click this image for a live chart.
As a moving average based indicator, positive/negative crossovers in MACD can lag turns in the underlying security. MACD-Histogram was created to speed up MACD. The MACD-Histogram measures the difference between MACD and its 9-day EMA. The histogram is positive when MACD is above its signal line and negative when MACD is below its signal line. Basically, MACD measures momentum, while the MACD-Histogram measures the momentum of momentum, which can be thought of as acceleration. The red arrows show the MACD-Histogram moving closer to the zero line, which means MACD is moving closer to its signal line. These moves can be used to anticipate a signal line crossover. The green arrows show MACD-Histogram moving away from the zero line, which means MACD is moving further from its signal line. These moves show that directional momentum is strengthening. You can read more on MACD in our ChartSchool article.
Click this image for a live chart.
As seen on the historical 1 hour chart of the EURUSD below, as soon as price action begins to move to the downside, the green histogram bars will begin to shorten. As soon as a bar does not close above the previous bar, that means that the upside movement by price has subsided for that moment in time. An aggressive trader can use that as a signal to short the pair at that point.
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