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explanattion from yahoo:
You have the option to change the slow, fast and signal periods used to calculate the MACD above. The default slow, fast and signal periods are set to 26, 12 and 9, respectively. Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is a trend-following momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two moving averages of prices. The default MACD is represented as the difference between a 26-day and 12-day EMA of the price. A 9-day EMA of the MACD, referred to as the signal (or trigger) line, is plotted on top of the MACD to indicate buy/sell opportunities. Divergence, the difference between the MACD and the signal, is also plotted as a histogram.The MACD is most effective in wide-swinging trading markets. There are three standard ways to interprete the MACD: 1. Crossovers: The basic MACD trading rule is to sell when the MACD falls below its signal line. Similarly, a buy signal occurs when the MACD rises above its signal line. It is also popular to buy/sell when the MACD goes above/below zero. 2. Overbought/Oversold Conditions: The MACD is also useful as an overbought/oversold indicator. When the shorter moving average pulls away dramatically from the longer moving average (i.e. the MACD rises), it is likely that the security price is overextending and will soon return to more realistic levels. MACD overbought and oversold conditions exist vary from security to security. 3. Divergences: An indication that an end to the current trend may be near occurs when the MACD diverges from the security. A bearish divergence occurs when the MACD is making new lows while prices fail to reach new lows. A bullish divergence occurs when the MACD is making new highs while prices fail to reach new highs. Both of these divergences are most significant when they occur at relatively overbought/oversold levels. - "Technical Analysis from A to Z" by Stephen Aechlis |
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