help better understand MACD?

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where it is MACD line?

Signal LINE understand where? what means in tech analyse the "signal line?"

 
Migdal DRAGAN:

where it is MACD line?

Signal LINE understand

search google or this site for macd. There is many threads and discussions about macd. The macd is the histogram. If you want the 2nd line, then change the code at top of the source code from histogram to line, or just search codebase where there is many macd indicators with 2 lines. The only difference is that the default macd in mt5 shows the histogram bars instead of a line.

 

@Migdal DRAGAN, in the original MACD definition:

  • MACD line = Fast EMA minus Slow EMA (default 12 and 26 periods)
  • Signal line = EMA of the MACD line (default 9 periods)
  • Histogram = MACD line minus Signal line (shows the distance between them)

If you want to see both MACD and Signal as lines, you can modify the indicator code or download a "two-line MACD" from the CodeBase.

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@Michael Charles Schefe, the histogram is not the MACD itself. The MACD is the value calculated from the two EMAs, and in MetaTrader 5 the default display replaces the MACD line with a histogram for convenience. The only line you see by default is the Signal line.


 
Migdal DRAGAN:
where it is MACD line?

Lines, histogram, arrows, and alerts by David W. Thomas.

Files:
MACD_True_Alerts.mq5  55 kb
 
Migdal DRAGAN:

where it is MACD line?

Signal LINE understand

The standard MACD parameters are not very useful. You should experiment with many, many different parameters till you get a MACD that generally mimic the general market trend. 

 
MAC D was relevant in the 90's it gets swallowed up by algos these days . 
 

One of the worst kept secrets of the internet is the fact that the Signal Line of the MACD remains highly valuable as a trade entry filter.

  1. Recolor everything but the Signal Line and the 0 Level to None (blank),
  2. Enable your buy entry logic when the Signal Line is above the 0 Level and closes upwardly (this inherently includes upward 0 Level crossovers),
  3. Enable your sell entry logic when the Signal Line is below the 0 Level and closes downwardly (this inherently includes downward 0 Level crossovers).
Just be aware that there are mainly two MACD formulas floating around... the "old" fast MACD, and a smoother/slower MACD.
 
Victor Paul Hamilton #: MAC D was relevant in the 90's it gets swallowed up by algos these days . 

You must be joking! Have you ever analysed the maths behind the MACD?

It is essentially a moving average cross-over. So, whether you call it a MACD or a Cross-Over, it is still a valid concept used profitably by many traders today.

 
Victor Paul Hamilton #:
MAC D was relevant in the 90's it gets swallowed up by algos these days . 

the crossover of the macd is more reliable than a raw moving average crossover. If you don't like moving averages or macd (which is essentially a momentum based transformation of moving averages), that's fine...but people have profitable systems based on moving averages

 

Here's the stripped-down indicator to go with Post #6.

Code Base

MACD Signal Line indicator for MT5

Ryan L Johnson, 2025.09.03 18:52

A stripped-down (signal line only) version of Metaquotes' MACD indicator from the MT5==>Indicators==>Examples folder.

 
Ryan L Johnson #:
    Just be aware that there are mainly two MACD formulas floating around... the "old" fast MACD, and a smoother/slower MACD.

    What do you mean by slower macd? 

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