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Depth and Dimension
by kensey

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The MACD Histogram gives depth and dimension to what the MACD lines are telling you.

The MACD Histogram measures the difference between the MACD fast line (in red) and the MACD signal line (in blue). If the fast line is above the signal line, the MACD Histogram is positive, and the bars are drawn above the centerline. If the fast line is below the signal line, MACD Histogram is negative, and the bars are drawn below the centerline.


Chrysler Corp (C)








The MACD Histogram indicator graph is the second from the bottom. The MACD indicator graph is right above that one. The two are used in conjunction with one another.

Do you see that smallish hump above the centerline on Chrysler's MACD Histogram indicator graph that occurs in mid-April? That's a bearish development. Why? Because the hump is smaller than the preceding hump above the centerline, yet prices are higher. In other words, there is a divergence between the events on the price graph and the Histogram. On the price graph we are seeing new highs, yet on the MACD Histogram, quite a small hump is being traced.

Does this mean that mid-April's short green bar is bogus? Not entirely. The green bar was born when there was quite a bit of up volume, as indicated in blue on the Volume graph (which in this case was treacherously deceiving). You simply can't be sure what is going to happen next when dealing with the right edge of any graph, and the bullish green bar above the price graph does terminate correctly after the retracement begins.

When MACD Histogram starts to tick down right after a bullish green bar is born, that's the time to watch carefully and get ready to bail. It means that a new leg on an uptrend might be failing.


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