Your Best MACD settings

Hi guys.
I know we are all trying to find the "Holy Grial" for the forex trading. We are absolutelly determined to win money or pips -call them what you want-, that we miss that somethimes the easiest solutions are just infront of us.

I have studied several articles about the MACD indicator, and i finding if EXTREMLY RELIABLE.

This is why i want to know your opinion. If you use this indicator, what are your settings.

I personally trade with the MACD lines, using the 4 hour chart and this settings 5-34-21.

I hope we can find a good and reliable settings for this indicator.
tnx

If you believe that indicators are self prophesising then i would go along with the default setting, if not then ask a thousand (i know thats what you are doing lol) traders and choose from the 100 or so answers you will get. i think its very subjective. If you use it for divergance then most settings will give very similar answers.

Nearly always use the default settings. Especially on 15 min, 1 hour and daily time frames.

MACD rules the 15 minute chart on Eur/USD, at least for divergances.

I use MACD, but ONLY for divergence with the default settings (12,26,9). That's all you'll wanna use it for. I suggest you don't go using it to signal your buy/sell signals based on what the text books say (ie: death/golden crosses). I have found over the years it will whipsaw you in and out of the market.

Most text books/websites on these types of indicators will post a chart with a picture perfect senario. I suggest you test the indicator over time (I did, the hard way, over 12 months) using such indicator's (Stochastics, RSI, ADX, DMI, W%R, etc) and you will see the results for yourself.

Curve fitting an indicator (ie: optimising the settings) doesn't help either. You need to ask yourself, will it work in all market condition's over a long period of time?

Like I say, you've gotta try it for yourself and see what the results are with your back testing.

All the best with your trading

So far, no one has posted their settings & the reasons for them.

I found this post through Google "macd settings" search. Might be a great opportunity for a stud to get his name out by posting their SUCCESSFUL settings & WHY they use them.

Thanks in advance!

the MACD just shows a moving average cross. thats it. so mess around with some moving averages, find some you like, and use those setting in the indicator. you know, it's not really that hard to find things out for yourself.

Indicators are not and shouldn't be used as self fullfilling prophecies. Not even fibonacci. What you should do is trade a method having backtested it first. What I like doing is the following: Make a hundred trades and count the success rate. If 75 trades out of 100 are winners then it is a 75% winning method. If you don't like that number you can make some changes to your trading strategy and backtest it for another 100 entries to see if it goes any better. Then you can see how many pips loss has your average losing position (if you decide to go on that plan) so you can set the leverage and your stop losses accordingly.

Indicators are ok. I use 3 with them like other tools as fibonacci expansions for take profit and identification of support resistance levels and 123 swings and other things. For biggest accuracy I use them in trades fundamentally inclined with the security I'm trading. If eur/usd news come out good for the eur I won't use my technical indicators to short the eur but to find a place to go long after the european news aftermath.

Jumping in to any financial market without proper planning and backtesting is idiotic. 50% loss needs 100% return to get the money you lost back. Forex and other financial markets are not a joke. I was lucky cause being 14 years old it was forbidden for me to trade. Now I am 18 and I have passed 4 years of everyday study of the markets. I love that forum especially for broker conversations and I wish prosperity to everybody.

The most effective strategies are the simplest ones. I have been searching for the holy grail 4 years now and it just doesn't exist. Discipline is the key along with a simple but carefully designed and backtested plan. A trader may get the best holy grail trading plan in the world and lose it all cause he/she lacked the most important part of a trading strategy. DISCIPLINE. An average DISCIPLINED trader will get an average strategy and will turn it to a big winner.

I really wanted to say that cause I am bored of the holy grail discussions. Although I really see my trading plan as a holy grail because it's simple.

Also I want to make a question here. I am concerned too of tweaking my MACD but the thought that whoever made it knows best passes my mind. I am concerned with the 1 minute, 5 minute, 15 minute charts. The original setup is 12/26/9 ?

Thank you in advance for your answers. I'm happy to write here.

yeah sorry guys

I meant a fixed return, so the prices wouldn't really affect the percentage return. i want a safe account, pretty much similar to a bank account, however maybe a bit more risky.
but a better percentage return than a bank. i heard about certificate deposits etc.
any good advice for that sort of investment?

thanks

This is a little invalid on here. Being greek i'm not sure what you are talking about but if you are talking about what i think yes it is a very good idea and safe.

I wanted to ask if i can use MACD with its factory settings at any time frame. If anyone knows just tell me.

Hi. I trade with indicators and I would like to know if there is any need to tamper with macd. Using many indicators I don't think it's very important. Can someone tell me if it is ok to use macd's in house settings for any time frame?

Hi all! I am new here and I got a question. Does classic MACD indicator built-in MT4 repaint or something of the sort? Doesnt it change its forms and hystogram in time?

I've been playing for 2 years on normal stock market (not forex). i used technical analysis + macd + rsi. it was a good strategy and it worked for me

About MACD settings. Funny how they work. But once you understand how the three lines (or histograms) are computed it makes a it bit more sense. That explanation is posted many places, just take the time to read it. That being said, it still doesn't provide the magic wand. I use the MACD extensively but mostly for momentum. You can pretty well count on the Value and average cross to indicate a sure change in direction. However, do not us it alone of you will find situations that will whip saw you to death because the MACD does not guarantee how long that change in direction will last. It might be only 1 or 2 canles. All indicators are just that, indicators. They are like like speedometers they tell you what is happening, but a speedometer will not tell you have fast or slow you will go in the future; that depends on the weight of the foot on the pedal, much like indicators depending on the weight price plays. Even speedometers lag as the vehicle must accelerate to match the speed the pedal position calls for and if the foot is lifted it won't get there. Same with price and the indicators. So what are they good for? Well, they make a lot of people feel a whole lot better about what they are doing, but I don't know that it actually helps them make better trades. I don't know, maybe it does. I do know that no one knows what the market is going to do any further out that was has already happened. So here is the deal, if you want to use an indicator, or the flip of the coin either will work. Just do it the same way every time, make sure you have good risk control and a good risk to reward ratio. That means managing your risk and making good exits. You do that consistently and you will probably profit. Then again, who really knows?

Best Time Frame which I am using is 24,52,9 Have attach the screen shot as well. It gives you late signal but it gives 85% accurate signals.

I do a 1, 8, 6 and only use the histogram. I remove the lines. It's the only indicator I use.

It spots divergence very early, and was the key to me consistently winning.
The sensitivity of the lower settings is beautiful.

I love it, I love it, I love it!

Did a 27% increase in overall bankroll last week, and on par to do the same or better this week.
I risk 2% of my account on a trade. No more, no less. I hit a minimum 3:1 - profit:loss on my trades.

Price action, support and resistance, MACD histo for velocity readings. 4H and Daily charts...I look at both - per currency pair, before pulling the trigger on a trade. Trade only 9 currency pairs.

That's it. Keys to the kingdom baby.

Happy trading!

-Dr. Ninja

Hi Dr Ninja

your system sounds pretty good...cluttered screens with tons of indicators just doesn't do it for me..i prefer candles and maybe 21 ema and MACD...but your settings and use of the MACD seems very interesting...do you mind telling me the pairs you trade this on and a little more about the strat?
thanks bud

That would mean you are trading the 8 EMA. Knowing that, you can now put both EMA's and MACD's on the 4HR chart for easier analysis. EMA's 8 and 48, MACD's 1/8 and 1/48. Or you can use OSMA and make the MACD SMA high, like 2000. Same thing. If you take the 4HR signals, this means you are trading the 1.3 EMA of the Daily Chart. Recommend using an interpolated MACD for the Daily on the 4HR. Also, if you use a ribbon indicator for drawing the EMA's, you get a nice pic. Just trying to help you simplify. Trading such large time frames means you have plenty of time for analysis between charts, but if you want it all on one chart, this is one way to do it. I also understand why you make up a profit target instead of trading the market because that time frame is hard to monitor alone. Anyway, I attached a sample design.
Good Luck.

Why do you have to go and do that, and do that now, why do you have to go and do that?

You switched the screenshot didn't want to give away your super duper indicator, I'm guessing it's a MACD or OSMA variant. Anyway thanks for the 411.

??. This is what Dr Ninja is trading. I removed the name of the indicator because it is not the original. I always change the names because often the emails between my team cross international borders, so everything is kept in spyland by the NSA. I don't want a record of any actual tools being held by any government. You might think it is paranoid, lol, but when it comes to money, you should be a little paranoid.

As I said, and he said, the chart is EMA 8 and 48. The indicators are MACD's 1/8/4000 for the 4HR and Daily charts because he said he trades the histogram, not the internal line crossover between the main line and signal line. He is trading the fast ema and slow ema, EMA 1 vs EMA 8, which is the 0 line. Using 4000 for the signal line helps to make it similar to the 0 line. The candle colors and arrows are 4HR 1/8/4000 MACD signals. Nothing super duper, lol. It is not my strategy. It's his. Just showing him an alternative to viewing multiple charts.

By the way, you see the aqua colored line on the moving average field? That is the EMA 8 of the Daily chart. See the points where price crosses it? They are mostly break-even trades. This is why I don't know why anyone trades high time frames, unless they are investors. No money being made.

Here is the same thing in the traditional manner. Options.

Hi Dr Ninja,
Can you please explain in more detail how exactly you use your MACD indicator to confirm your trades ?
I would appreciate your generosity.
Thanks
Viper