[MAS-tips] Re: Problem with MACD Market Analyzer

[Jim C. <jt...@di...>]

> I have been trying to get MAS to give me MACD data that matches BigCharts 
> and Yahoo. They both use MACD values of 26, 12, & 9. MAS defaults when 
> installed were 13, 5, & 6. I modified all of the MACD analyzer values to 
> long = 26, short = 12, and average = 9, to match BigCharts and Yahoo.
> 
> This morning I got this signal.

Stephen -

A couple things to check: What time period are you using for the MACD on
each system?  If you're using the existing MACD analyzers in MAS, these are
weekly analyzers, whose purpose is to find long-term trends.  Are you using
a weekly time period on the other systems?  (If you want daily, you'll need
to use the command-line to create your own analyzers.)  [You can find out
what time period an analyzer is using from the mas command line, e.g.:

m
v
2

where 2 specifies the 2nd analyzer in the list.

If you are using the same period type, another thing to check is whether
you changed the right object - if you changed the MACD from the "edit
indicators" menu, you will not change MACD object used in any of the market
analyzers, since the objects are not shared.

Another thing to check is when does the data begin?  The more the start period
for analysis differs in the different systems, the more likely that is to
affect the results.

A final note: although using 26, 12, 9 is useful for making comparisons
like this, I wouldn't recommend using these settings for actual trading
because they are too slow - by the time you receive the signal, the move
will already have happened and if you base a trade on this your entry will
be late.  I've found that the 13,5,6 values are much better in this regard.
I obtained these settings from Jack Hershey, who often posts in
misc.invest.technical and misc.invest.futures.


Jim

> 
> Event for: BHI, date: 05/19/2003, type: MACD Crossover (Buy)
> description: Crossover for weekly trading period with indicators:
> MACD Difference and
> MACD Signal Line (EMA of MACD Difference)
> values: -0.285593, -0.325897
> 
> Looking at BigCharts, it show that the MACD buy crossover happened at about 
> 3 May.
> 
> I also got this signal this mornings.
> 
> Event for: CIEN, date: 05/19/2003, type: MACD Crossover and Stochastic %D 
> Crossover (Buy)
> description: Pair of events:
> left event: 05/09/2003, 12:00:00.0 AM, Crossover for weekly trading period 
> with indicators:
> MACD Difference and
> MACD Signal Line (EMA of MACD Difference)
> values: -0.17077, -0.176887
> right event: 05/19/2003, 12:00:00.0 AM, Crossover for daily trading period 
> with indicators:
> Stochastic %D and
> Line
> values: 29.8506, 35
> 
> Looking at BigCharts, it shows that the MACD buy crossover happened at 
> about 16 Apr. It also shows a MACD _SELL_ or yesterday, and a Stochastic 
> sell on 14 May with the indicators moving down and seperating.
> 
> This should be that same math over the same set of data. How can MAS give 
> me an answer so dramatically different than these two other charting sources?