MACD Scanner

MACD is the gap between two moving averages of price. The signal line is an average of MACD itself. When MACD crosses above the signal line, momentum is turning up; below, it is turning down. When MACD crosses zero, the faster average has crossed the slower one.

A MACD scanner tells you which stocks just made one of those crosses, without opening every chart.

Signal-line crosses come first and come often. They are the early read on a turn.

Zero-line crosses come later and less often. By then the move is usually under way, so traders use them as confirmation more than entry.

Many traders run both: the signal-line cross to get ready, the zero-line cross to confirm the trend.

For bullish crosses, turn on 15 Minute MACD Crossed Above Signal (MDAS15) or the timeframe you trade. Add Relative Volume (RV) at 1.5 or more and a Price range.

Want the cross with the trend? Add Change From 50 Day SMA (%) (MA50P) at a min of 0 so only stocks above their 50-day average come through.

Trade Ideas does not have a MACD divergence alert, and it has no daily MACD alert. What traders do instead is pair the MACD crosses with other readings.

Stochastic alerts like 15 Minute Stochastic Crossed Above 20 (SC20_15) fire when Stochastic leaves oversold. RSI filters like RSI (15 min) (RSI15) show whether the stock is stretched. A MACD cross up while RSI is low and Stochastic is turning up is a combination many traders look for. See the RSI scanner.

1. In TI Pro, open a Streaming Alerts window.
2. Turn on the MACD crosses you trade, like MDAS15 and MDBS15.
3. Add Relative Volume, Price and Dollar Volume filters.
4. Optional: add Change From 50 Day SMA (%) to trade with the trend.
5. Save the window and turn on sound.

Code-based screeners run a MACD rule when you ask, or on a schedule. Trade Ideas streams each cross as it happens across every US stock. You turn on an alert instead of writing a rule.

MACD subtracts a slower moving average of price from a faster one. The standard settings are 12 and 26 periods. The signal line is a 9-period average of MACD. The histogram, on charts that show it, is the gap between MACD and its signal line.

When the fast average pulls away from the slow one, MACD grows. When they come together, it shrinks. Crosses mark the moments those relationships flip.

The same stock can show a bullish cross on 5 minutes and a bearish one on 60 minutes. Neither is wrong; they measure different things.

5 and 10 minute crosses suit scalps and quick day trades. 15 and 30 minute crosses suit most day traders. 60 minute crosses suit traders who hold into the afternoon or overnight.

A common approach is to trade the shorter cross only in the direction of the longer one.

MACD needs bars to calculate. Early in the session, the short timeframes have few bars from today, so readings lean on yesterday's data. Many traders let the first 30 minutes pass before trusting a 5 minute MACD cross.

Cross with the trend. A 15 minute signal-line cross up in a stock above VWAP and above its 50-day average.

Zero-line confirmation. A 60 minute MACD crossing above zero after a pullback, as a sign the pullback is done.

Failed cross. A bullish cross that reverses within two bars, often a sign the move has no buyers.

MACD is built from price only. Add Relative Volume (RV) so the crosses you see come with volume. A cross on a stock trading half its normal volume is easy to ignore.

There is no daily MACD alert. Swing traders often use the 60 minute crosses as a proxy for the daily trend turning, and use daily filters like Change From 50 Day SMA (%) for the bigger picture.

1. A stock above VWAP pulls back for an hour.
2. MACD on the 15 minute chart turns up and crosses its signal line. MDAS15 fires.
3. Relative Volume is above 1.5, and price is back over VWAP.
4. A trader using this setup might enter with a stop under the pullback low.

Trend turning up

Trend turning down

Faster day trade version

A signal line cross is the early one. It fires when MACD turns, even if it is still below zero. A zero line cross comes later and means the faster average is now above the slower one. Many traders use the signal cross to get ready and the zero cross to confirm the trend changed.

On 5 minute bars, both fire many times a day on active stocks. On 60 minute bars, a cross may be days apart.

• Trend filter. Take bullish crosses only above the 200 day with Change From 200 Day SMA (%) (MA200P) at a min of 0.
• Strength filter. Average Directional Index (ADX) above 20 drops choppy names where MACD crosses back and forth.
• Volume filter. Relative Volume (RV) at 1.5 or more.
• Repeat filter. Same-Alert Count Today (Count), Same-Alert Count Today, with a max of 2 drops stocks crossing over and over.

Example numbers, not a real trade

1. A stock above its 50 day pulls back for three days.
2. On Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET, MDAS60 fires: MACD crosses its signal line on 60 minute bars.
3. A swing trader buys at $48.30 with a stop under the pullback low at $46.90.
4. MDAZ60 fires the next day, confirming the turn.

Trade Ideas has MACD cross alerts on 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 minute bars. There is no alert for MACD divergence and no daily MACD alert. For daily trend, the moving average filters do the job.

The MACD histogram is the gap between MACD and its signal line. When the bars grow, momentum is building. When they shrink toward zero, momentum is fading, and a signal line cross is close. A signal cross is the moment the histogram flips from negative to positive or back. Trade Ideas alerts on that flip; the histogram itself is something you read on the chart.

MACD with volume

• MACD is built from moving averages, so it lags. In a choppy range the averages tangle and cross back and forth.
• One big bar can force a cross that the next bar undoes.
• Low volume names cross on very little trading.
• On short bars, the noise of a single minute can be enough. Longer bars or an ADX floor reduce this.

In the first half hour, 5 minute MACD crosses are mostly noise from the opening swings. Many traders use the Time Of Day (Time) filter with a min of 30 to skip them.

MACD lags price. On a fast stock, the cross can come after much of the move.

Short timeframes cross back and forth in choppy markets. Use 15 minutes or more, or add volume.

Test your rules in a simulated account first.

• Acting on every cross on a 5 minute chart.
• Ignoring the trend the cross happens in.