MetaStock Custom Indicators

5 35 5 MACD
Absolute Breadth Index
Advance/Decline Line with Negative Volume
Adaptive Moving Average, by Perry Kauffman
ADX/ADXR Custom (without rounding)
Arms Index (TRIN)
Aroon Indicators, by Tushar Chande
"Average-Modified Method", by Perry Kauffman
Bollinger Bands
Breadth Thrust
Candlecode
Candle Strength Index
Chande Momentum Oscillator Composite Average
Chande Momentum Oscillator Volatility
Chande's Momentum Oscillator
Chande's Trendscore
Changing Ways Accumulation/Distribution
Comparative Relative Strength in MetaStock for Windows
Confidence %
Coppock Curve
Daily Close vs High and Low Close
Detrended Price Oscillator
Disparity Index
Displaying the Price of a Security in 32nds and 64ths
Divergence between the Close and an Indicator
Dynamic Momentum Oscillator
Elliot Oscillator
End Point Moving Average
End Points of a Linear Regression Line with Standard Deviations
Gann High Low
Gann-Swing
Gann-Trend
Gap Identification
GRIIF1 Identification Oscillator
Hi Low Wave Daily
Historical Volatility Daily
Historical Volatility Weekly
Insync Index
Kurtosis Indicator
MACD Histogram
Market Facilitation Index
Market Facilitation Index Expert Advisor
Market Pressure - Ultimate
Market Thrust Oscillator
Martin Pring's KST Formulas
Mass Index
McClellan Oscillator
McClellan Summation Index
McGinley Dynamic
Modified VIX Indicator
Money Flow Index
Morris Double Momentum Oscillator
Moving Average of Only One Day of a the Week
Natenberg's Volatility
One Day Money Flow
Percent Above/Below Moving Average
Persistence of Money Flow
Plotting Alpha and Beta
Polarized Fractal Efficiency
Price Action Indicator (PAIN)
Price Oscillator Wave
Price Volume Rank
Price Volume Trend Stochastic
Random Walk Index
Rate of Change Since a Specific Date
Recursive Moving Trend Average
Regression Oscillator and the Slope/Close Indicator
Relative Strength Index (RSI) Custom
Relative Volatility Index (RVI)
R squared, Chande & Kroll's
Rule of 7 Oscillator
Short Volume Wave
Slope of a Line
Slope of a Linear Regression Line
Standard Error Bands for MetaStock for Windows
Special Trix
STIX Oscillator
Stochastic %D
Stochastic Relative Strength Index
Stochastic Wave Long
Stochastic Wave Short
Support and Resistance - Yoni
The New Advance Decline Line
Tick Line Momentum Oscillator
Trading Channel Index
Trending Bandini
Trendline Formula
True Strength Index
Tushar Chande's Target Price
Tushar Chande's Vidya with Volatility Bands
Volatility%
Volatility Difference
Volume Accumulation % Indicator
Volume Oscillator Wave
Weekly High Low Wave
Weekly Oscillator Segment
Weekly Price Oscillator
Wilder's Volatility

TASC Trader's Tips

Freeburg Precious Metal Switch Fund System
Rainbow Charts
Using Fibonacci Ratios and Momentum
Volatility % Indicator
Breaking out of Price Channels
Smoothing Techniques for more Accurate Signals
Anchored Momentum
Double Tops and Double Bottoms
Adaptive Moving Average
Automatic Support and Resistance
Mutated Variables, Volatility and a New Market Paradigm
Channel Analysis
A Volatility Trade in Gold
From Terms to Technical Tools
Simple Moving Average with Resistance and Support
"Combining Statistical and Pattern Analysis", Shark – 32
Better Bollinger Bands
Dynamic Multiple Time Frames
Sine-Wave Weighted Moving Average

MetaStock - 5 35 5 MACD

rev. 30/3/01

The 5,35,5 MACD is a variation of the standard 12,26,9 MACD and was made popular by Chris Manning, who uses it to identify major market divergence points:

When first plotted on a chart, the 5,35,5 MACD will appear as a solid line with no horizontal line at the value of zero (as shown in picture below).

After applying the 5 35 5 MACD indicator to your chart, use the following steps to create a histogram with vertical line at zero.

A) Double click the indicator to open the properties dialogue box.

B) Select the Color\Style tab and using the Style drop-down list, select the histogram setting (second from the bottom).

C) Select the Horizontal Lines tab and enter a value of zero (0) for the horizontal line value. Click Add.

D) Click OK (indicator will appear as per picture below)

MetaStock Formula - Absolute Breadth Index

rev. 01/06/97

The Absolute Breadth Index (ABI) is a market momentum indicator that was developed by Norman G. Fosback. The ABI shows how much activity, volatility, and change is taking place on the New York Stock Exchange while ignoring the direction prices are headed. You can think of the ABI as an "activity index". High readings indicate market activity and change, while low readings indicate lack of change. In Mr. Fosback's book, Stock Market Logic, he indicates that historically, high values typically lead to higher prices three to twelve months later.

The MetaStock™ formula for the Absolute Breadth Index is:

To plot it:

• Create a composite security of the Advancing Issues - Declining Issues. In Windows versions use The DownLoader™ to create the composite or in the DOS versions use MetaStock's File Maintenance to create the composite.
• In MetaStock open the composite and plot the custom formula ABS( C ) on it.

MetaStock Formula - Advance Decline Line with Negative Volume

rev. 01/06/97

There is a way to get the negative volume on an advance-decline line chart in MetaStock™ for Windows™.

The requirement is: Each security must have both the number of issues and the volume in the file. Advancing issues with advancing volume in one security and declining issues with declining volume in one security file. These files may be obtained from Reuters Trend Data by way of The DownLoader for Windows. You will also need to create a composite security of the Advance-Decline line, which is the advances - declines.

The following steps will get you an advance-decline line with negative volume where applicable. Follow these steps once and save as a CHART. When you want to use it simply load the chart and the program will calculate the new volume plot using the new data.

• Create a NEW chart of the advancing issues.
• Create a NEW chart of the declining issues.
• Create a NEW chart of the advance-decline composite.
• Create a NEW INNER WINDOW on the declining issues chart.
• Delete the volume plot on the advance-decline composite chart.
• Copy the volume from the advancing issues chart and paste it into the new inner window on the declining issues chart.
• Drop the custom formula, P-V on the advancing volume plot in the declining issues chart, creating a new scale.
• Copy that plot to the empty inner window (where the volume was) of the advance-decline composite.
• Save that chart as the adv-decl chart (perhaps advdecl.mwc).

This will be the chart you load to do your study of the advance-decline line with negative volume

MetaStock Formula - Adaptive Moving Average, by Perry Kaufman

rev. 01/06/97

This is a Metastock for Windows version 6.5 formula.

MetaStock Formula - ADX / ADXR Custom (without Rounding)

rev. 01/20/99

Here are custom ADX and ADXR formulas that will plot the decimals after the calculation. The built-in indicators plot exactly as Welles Wilder plots them in his book, New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems. These custom indicators calculate the same way except they do not round as Wilder does.

ADX Custom

ADXR Custom

MetaStock Formula - Arms Index (TRIN)

rev. 01/06/97

The Arms Index, also known as TRIN, is a market indicator that shows the relationship between the number of stocks that increase or decrease in price (advancing/declining issues) and the volume associated with stocks that increase or decrease in price (advancing/declining volume). The Arms Index was developed by Richard W. Arms, Jr. in 1967.

The Arms Index is primarily a short term trading tool. The Index shows whether volume is flowing into advancing or declining stocks. If more volume is associated with advancing stocks than declining stocks, the Arms Index will be less than 1.0; if more volume is associated with declining stocks, the Index will be greater than 1.0.

The formula for the Arms Index is:

To calculate the Arms Index in MetaStock™ for Windows you will need to first collect the four pieces of data.

• Reuters Trend Data (RTD) supplies this data in two files. The tickers are X.NYSE-A (Advances, number and volume) and X.NYSE-D (Declines, number and volume).
• Dial/Data also supplies this data in two files. Advances, number and volume and Declines, number and volume. The tickers are @*NAZ_K and @*NDZ_K.
• CompuServe supplies this data in 4 files. The tickers are NYSEI (Advances)use the cusip 00000157 rather than the symbol; NYSEJ (declines); NYUP (Advance volume) and NYDN (decline volume).
  

After the data has been collected follow these steps:

For data from RTD or Dial Data

• In the DownLoader™ create a composite security of the Advances / Declines.
• In MetaStock open the composite.
• Create and plot the custom formula: C/V
• This gives you the Arms Index (TRIN).

For data from CompuServe

• In the DownLoader create the two composites.
  • Advancing Issues / Declining Issues
  • Advancing Volume / Declining Volume
• In MetaStock open both composites.
• Tile the charts so they can both be viewed.
• Drag the plot of the Adv. Volume/Dec. Volume composite into an inner window in the Adv. Issues/Dec. Issues chart.
• Create the custom formula: C/P
• Plot this formula on top of the Adv. Volume/Dec. Volume plot (the Adv. Volume/Dec. Volume plot will turn a purplish color to signify the formula will be plotted on it).

You will know have the Arms Index (TRIN) plotted. You can drag it to its own inner window if you prefer.

MetaStock Formula - Aroon Indicators, by Tushar Chande

rev. 01/06/97

For interpretation of the Aroon indicators refer to Tushar Chande's article "Time Price Oscillator" in the September, 95 Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazine.

The Aroon down:

The Aroon up:

The Aroon Oscillator = Aroon up - Aroon down.

** The UP and DOWN Aroon indicators are to be plotted in the same inner-window.

** These are constructed using 14 time periods, you can alter this by replacing every entry of 14 with the desired time period.

Note: The Aroon indicators are built in indicators, in MetaStock 6.0 for Windows.

MetaStock Formula - Average Modified Method by Perry Kaufman

rev. 10/27/97

From The New Commodity Trading Systems and Methods, by Perry J. Kaufman

Chapter 4 - Moving Averages, pg. 60.

This formula is for version 6.5 of MetaStock for Windows 95 & NT only and cannot be written in previous version.

This is a modified simple moving average.

The formula will prompt you for input for the number of time periods to use in the moving average.

MetaStock Formula - Bollinger Bands

rev. 01/06/97

"Trading bands are one of the most powerful concepts available to the technically based investor, but they do not, as is commonly believed, give absolute buy and sell signals based on price touching the bands. What they do is answer the perennial question of whether prices are high or low on a relative basis. Armed with this information, an intelligent investor can make buy and sell decisions by using indicators to confirm price action.

But before we begin, we need a definition of what we are dealing with. Trading bands are lines plotted in and around the price structure to form an ''envelope". It is the action of prices near the edges of the envelope that we are particularly interested in…."

Taken from Stocks & Commodities, V. 10:2 (47-51): Using Bollinger Bands by John Bollinger

For further interpretation refer to the above article found in the February 1992 issue of Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities.

Bollinger Bands are built into MetaStock™, however you may prefer to use the individual custom formulas.

The custom formulas for the components of the Bollinger Bands are as follows:

MetaStock Formula - Breadth Thrust

rev. 01/06/97

The Breadth Thrust indicator is a market momentum indicator developed by Dr. Martin Zweig. The Breadth Thrust is calculated by taking a 10-day exponential moving average of the advancing issues divided by the advancing plus declining issues.

According to Dr. Zweig a Breadth Thrust occurs when, during a 10-day period, the Breadth Thrust indicator rises from below 40 percent to above 61.5 percent. A "Thrust" indicates that the stock market has rapidly changed from an oversold condition to one of strength, but has not yet become overbought.

Dr. Zweig also points out that there have only been 14 Breadth Thrusts since 1945. The average gain following these 14 Thrusts was 24.6 percent in an average time frame of 11 months. Dr. Zweig also points out that most bull markets begin with a Breadth Thrust.

To plot the Market Breadth in MetaStock™ for Windows you will need to:

• Create a composite security of the Advancing Issues + Declining Issues in The DownLoader™.
• In MetaStock open a chart of the composite and a chart of the Advancing Issues.
• Tile the charts so you can see both of them on the screen.
• Drag the plot of the composite into the chart of the Advancing Issues.
• Create the custom indicator: mov( C / P, 10, E ), then plot it on top of the plot of the composite (the composite's plot will turn a purplish color ). If you get a flat line then it was not plotted directly on top of the composite's plot.
• You can then right-click on the Breadth Thrust, select Breadth Thrust Properties, go to the Horizontal Lines page and add horizontal lines at 40 and 60.

MetaStock Formula - Candlecode

MetaStock Formula - Candle Strength Index

MetaStock Formula - Chande Momentum Oscillator Composite Average

MetaStock Formula - Chande Momentum Oscillator Volatility

MetaStock Formula - Chande's Momentum Oscillator

rev. 01/06/97

The following are MetaStock formulas for Tuschar Chande's Momentum Oscillator. For interpretation refer to the book The New Technical Trader, by Tuschar Chande and Stanley Kroll.

You could also combine the above three formulas into one formula. The syntax would be:

*** These formulas were constructed using 14 time periods, you can change this by replacing every occurrence of 14 with your desired time period value.

MetaStock Formula - Chande's Trendscore

MetaStock Indicator - Changing Ways Accumulation/Distribution

Comparitive Relative Strength in MetaStock™ for Windows

rev. 01/06/97

Comparative Relative Strength charts can be useful in deciding which security to buy, by helping to pinpoint the best performer. They can also be useful in developing spreads, i.e., purchase of the best performer "long", and selling the weaker issues "short." Comparative Relative Strength can be applied in MetaStock for Windows as follows:


Creation of a Template for Comparative Relative Strength

(For this illustration, we assume an equity/stock is compared to the S&P 500, both of which must first have been collected from your vendor. Both data files should be in the same periodicity.)

1. Load the S&P 500.
2. Load the equity, or whatever you wish to find the relative strength for.
3. Drag the S&P 500 plot into a new inner window of the equity. (You may need to click Stack first.)
4. Close the S&P 500 chart.
5. Create a custom indicator: Div(close, p)
6. Drag the custom indicator into the inner window containing the S&P 500 plot, moving it over the plot until the plot changes to a pink or lavender color, then release your mouse button. (This is called dragging and dropping an indicator on an indicator. The new indicator will plot in the same window as the S&P 500 plot.) You have two options here:
   • You can change the color of the S&P 500 plot to be the same as the chart background color, so that it is effectively invisible. (Double-click the S&P 500 plot to get to its "properties", then choose the color you need from the Colors list.)
   • You can give both plots different colors so you can tell which is which.
7. Save this chart as a Template. (File|Save As, set "Save File As Type" to Template, and give it a name, such as CMPRELST.MWT.)

Any time you want to see Comparative Relative Strength of an equity against the S&P 500, apply this template to the equity's chart. Note: if you should move the data file against which you are comparing, such as the S&P 500, this template will no longer work, and would have to be recreated.

To Run an Exploration Using Comparative Relative Strength

1. Load the S&P 500 (or whatever you want to compare against).
2. Create a custom indicator of the Close.
3. Drag and drop this indicator on the S&P 500 (or whatever...). (Note: the S&P 500 plot must change to pink/lavender color before you drop it.) The indicator will plot.
4. Select the indicator plot (by single-clicking with the left mouse button on the line).
5. Do an Exploration with DIV(Close,p) in column A, and specify which directory to explore.
6. The results are displayed in the Exploration report.

(P is a special variable that points at the last indicator plotted or selected.)

MetaStock Formula - Confidence %

MetaStock Indicator - Coppock Curve

rev. 01/06/97

The Coppock Curve was developed by Edwin Sedgwick Coppock in 1962. It was featured in the November 94 issue of Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, in the article "The Coppock Curve", written by Elliot Middleton.:

Taken from Stocks & Commodities, V. 12:11 (459-462): The Coppock Curve by Elliott Middleton

"We are creatures of habit. We judge the world relative to what we have experienced. If we're shopping for a mortgage and rates have been in the teens (as they were in the early 1980s) and then drop to 10%, we are elated. If, however, they've been at 8% and then rise to 10%, we are disappointed. It all depends on your perspective.

The principle of adaptation-level applies to how we judge our income levels, stock prices and virtually every other variable in our lives. Psychologically, relativity prevails..

SIMPLEST FORMS

The moving average is the simplest form of adaptation-level. Moving average crossover rules accurately signal the onset of periods of returns outside the norm, whether positive or negative. This makes moving average crossovers useful to traders who want to get a boost on entering or exiting stocks or funds.

The oscillator is also based on adaptation-level, although in a slightly different way. Oscillators generally begin by calculating a percentage change of current price from some previous price, where the previous price is the adaptation-level or reference point. The mind is attuned to percentage changes because they represent returns. If you bought Microsoft Corp. stock (MSFT) at $50 and it goes to $80, you make 60% before dividends. If you bought Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) at $4,000 and it rises to $4,030, the same dollar gain, you make 0.75% before dividends. It's the percentage change that counts. Relativity again.

Coppock reasoned that the market's emotional state could be determined by adding up the percentage changes over the recent past to get a sense of the market's momentum  (and oscillators are generally momentum indicators ). So if we compare prices relative to a year ago - which happens to be the most common interval - and we see that this month the market is up 15% over a year ago, last month it was up 12.5% over a year ago, and 10%, 7.5% and 5%, respectively, the months before that, then we may judge that the market is gaining momentum and, like a trader watching for the upward crossover of the moving average, we may jump into the market."

The MetaStock™ formula for the Coppock Curve is:

MetaStock Indicator - Daily Close vs. High and Low Close

MetaStock Indicator - Detrended Price Oscillator

rev. 01/06/97

The Detrended Price Oscillator (DPO) is an indicator that attempts to eliminate the trend in prices. Detrended prices allow you to more easily identify cycles and overbought/oversold levels. Here is the MetaStock custom formula for the DPO:

***where X is the number of Time Periods for the Oscillator and T = X / 2 + 1.

For example, a 20 period DPO would be:

X = 20
T = (20/2 + 1) = 11
Close-Ref( Mov(Close, 20, Simple),11)

MetaStock Indicator - Disparity Index

rev. 01/06/97

Steve Nison refers to the his Disparity Index "as a percentage display of the latest close to a chosen moving average". This can be defined in MetaStock using the formula:

** where X is the number of time periods and ? is the calculation type of the moving average.

For example:

( ( C - Mov( C ,13,E ) ) / Mov( C ,13 ,E ) ) * 100

** where X = 13 time periods and ? = Exponential moving average.

MetaStock Indicator - Displaying the Price of a Security in 32nds and 64ths

rev. 01/06/97

All versions of MetaStock prior to our Windows software would need this formula.

You can display your security's prices in 32nds and 64ths, by using the following custom formulas. Once plotted these values will be displayed in the indicator window.


For 32nds:

For 64ths:

**Where C is for the security's closing price and can be replaced with O, H, or L for the open, high, or low price instead.

MetaStock Indicator - Divergence Between the Close and an Indicator

Rev. 03/18/97

The following formula will calculate the correlation of the Close and the MACD. It is written using a "long form" MACD so that the time periods used by the MACD may be changed. This indicator shows "divergence" between the close and the indicator:

In the Windows versions of MetaStock the formula is:

The interpretation of the indicator output is as follows:

- .08 (80%) and lower is divergence between the Close and the MACD.
- 1 is very strong divergence.
+ 1 is very strong correlation.

The formula was constructed this way so that most other indicators may be used in place of the MACD.

For example here is the same indicator using the RSI(14):

Correl(((Sum(Cum(1)*(RSI(14)),100))-(Sum(Cum(1),100)*
Sum((RSI(14)),100)/100))/((Sum(Power(Cum(1),2),100))-(Power(Sum(Cum(1),100),2)/100)),
((Sum(Cum(1)*C,100))-(Sum(Cum(1),100)*Sum(C,100)/100))/((Sum(Power(Cum(1),2),100))-
(Power(Sum(Cum(1),100),2)/100)),12,0)

MetaStock Indicator - Dynamic Momentum Oscillator

rev. 01/06/97

In July 1996 Futures magazine, E. Marshall Wall introduces the Dynamic Momentum Oscillator (Dynamo). Please refer to this article for interpretation.

He describes the Dynamo Oscillator to be:

This concept can be applied to most any oscillator to improve its results.

For example:

Applying the Dynamo Oscillator to a 5-period %K slowed 3 periods Stochastic Oscillator would give:

50-(Mov(Stoch(5,3),21,S)-Stoch(5,3))

where:
Mc = Stochastic Oscillator's midpoint = 50
MAo = Moving average of the Stochastic = Mov(Stoch(5,3),21,S
O = Stochastic Oscillator = Stoch(5,3)

This example applies it to an RSI oscillator:

50-(Mov(RSI(14),21,S)-RSI(14))

where:
Mc = RSI's midpoint = 50
MAo = Moving average of the RSI = Mov(RSI(14),21,S
O= RSI Oscillator = RSI(14)

MetaStock Indicator - Elliot Oscillator

MetaStock Indicator - End Point Moving Average

rev. 01/06/97

The End Point Moving Average was introduced in the October 95 issue of Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities in the article "The End Point Moving Average", by Patrick E. Lafferty. The exact formula for the End Point Moving average is as follows:

The above formula plots the last value of a linear regression line of the previous 14 periods. The Time Series Forecast takes this value and the slope of the regression line to forecast the next day and then plots this forecasted price as today's value.

***Please note the above formula is using 14 regression periods. If you desire to use different time periods you must change all instances of the number 14 to the desired number of time periods.

For interpretation refer to Mr. Lafferty's article.

MetaStock Indicator - End Points of a Linear Regression with Standard Deviations

rev. 01/06/97

In MetaStock 5.x for Windows there is a way to plot the end points of a linear regression line with channels +/- 2 Standard Deviations.

Here are the three formulas:

MetaStock Indicator - Gann High Low

MetaStock Indicator - Gann Swing

MetaStock Indicator - Gann Trend

MetaStock Indicator - Gap Identification

MetaStock Indicator - GRIIF1 Identification Oscillator

MetaStock Indicator - Hi Low Wave Daily

MetaStock Indicator - Historical Volatility Daily

rev. 01/21/97

With MetaStock™ for Windows, you can easily plot the 10 and 100 day Historical Volatility. First use the Indicator Builder to enter the following Custom indicators:

Next plot both indicators in the same inner window. If the Scaling Options dialog appears, choose the Merge with Scale on Right (or left) option.

I find it easier to see the Historical Volatility signals by combining the 10 and 100 day indicators into the following indicator.

Plot this indicator in MetaStock for Windows, then click your mouse button on the indicator. Choose Historical Volatility Indicator Properties and then choose the Horizontal Lines page. Add a horizontal line at .5 and then choose the OK button. You now know the 10 period volatility is less than half the 100 period volatility anytime this indicator crosses below its horizontal line.

To test trading systems using this indicator it would he helpful to use the alert function along with a trend following indicator, such as the following example:

Enter Long: Cross(CLOSE,Mov(C,20,E)) AND Alert(Fml("Historical Volatility Indicator")<=5,10)

Enter Short: Cross(Mov(C,20,E),CLOSE) AND Alert(Fml("Historical Volatility Indicator")<=5,10)

This system will enter a long trade when the close has crossed above its 20 day moving average, and when Historical Volatility Indicator was .5 or lower within the last 10 days. The system will sell when the close crosses below its 20 day moving average, and when Historical Volatility Indicator was .5 or lower within the last 10 days. Use any indicator you would like, this just provides a basic example of how to use this indicator in a system test.

MetaStock Indicator - Historical Volatility Weekly

rev. 01/21/97

With MetaStock™ for Windows, you can easily plot the 10 and 100 week Historical Volatility. First use the Indicator Builder to enter the following Custom indicators:

Next plot both indicators in the same inner window. If the Scaling Options dialog appears, choose the Merge with Scale on Right (or left) option.

I find it easier to see the Historical Volatility signals by combining the 10 and 100 week indicators into the following indicator.

Plot this indicator in MetaStock for Windows, then click your mouse button on the indicator. Choose Historical Volatility Indicator Properties and then choose the Horizontal Lines page. Add a horizontal line at .5 and then choose the OK button. You now know the 10 period volatility is less than half the 100 period volatility anytime this indicator crosses below its horizontal line.

To test trading systems using this indicator it would he helpful to use the alert function along with a trend following indicator, such as the following example:

Enter Long: Cross(CLOSE,Mov(C,20,E)) AND Alert(FmI("Historical Volatility Indicator")<=5,10)

Enter Short: Cross(Mov(C,20,E),CLOSE) AND Alert(Fml("Historical Volatility Indicator")<=5,10)

This system will enter a long trade when the close has crossed above its 20 week moving average, and when Historical Volatility Indicator was .5 or lower within the last 10 weeks. The system will sell when the close crosses below its 20 week moving average, and when Historical Volatility Indicator was .5 or lower within the last 10 weeks. Use any indicator you would like, this just provides a basic example of how to use this indicator in a system test.

MetaStock Indicator - Insync Index

rev. 01/06/97

The interpretation for the following formulas came from the article "The Insync Index", by Norm North, in Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities Jan 1995.

All of these formulas are necessary for the last one, Insync Index to run properly. They are listed in the order in which they should be copied and pasted into the MetaStock Formula Builder

These formulas were provided by Barry Millman. All questions should be addressed to him at 73374.1364@Compuserve.com.

Mr. Millman wrote these formulas using many Custom Formula slots for clarity and ease of understanding. Please note that the final formula 'InSync Index' requires all of the previous formulas to be correct.

MetaStock - Kurtosis Indicator

rev. 01/06/97

The Kurtosis is a market sentiment indicator. The MetaStock formula for the Kurtosis is as follows:

The Kurtosis is constructed from three different parts. The Kurtosis, the Fast Kurtosis(FK), and the Fast/Slow Kurtosis(FSK).

The Kurtosis(K) portion of this calculation is mo(3)-ref(mo(3),-1). Which is today's Kurtosis - yesterday's Kurtosis.

The Fast Kurtosis(FK) is mov(K,66,E) mov(mo(3)-ref(mo(3),-1,66,E). Which is the Kurtosis smoothed with a 66 period exponential moving average.

The Fast/Slow Kurtosis(FSK) is the complete formula mov(mov(mo(3)-ref(mo(3),-1),66,E),3,S). Which is the FK smoothed with 3 period simple moving average.


**You may want to experiment with different time periods to optimize the results. For example, to calculate a 4 period Kurtosis, a 50 period FK and a 10 period FSK, use the following formula:

MetaStock Indicator -  MACD Histogram

rev. 03/18/98

These two formulas are for the Dr. Alexander Elder indicators.

The custom formula for the MACD Histogram is:

The custom formula for the Weekly MACD Histogram utilizing daily data is:

MetaStock Indicator - Market Facilitation Index

rev. 01/06/97

The following formulas were constructed using interpretation from Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities Magazine June 1994, article "The Market Facilitation Index", by Gary Hoover.

Taken from Stocks & Commodities, V. 12:6 (253-254): The Market Facilitation Index by Gary Hoover

"Applying technical analysis to developing trading signals begins with the investigation of price movement and often incorporates volume studies to improve trading accuracy. The Market Facilitation Index (MFI) is one indicator that synthesizes both price and volume analysis. The MFI is the ratio of the current bar's range (high-low) to the bar's volume.

The MFI is designed to gauge the efficiency of price movement. The efficiency is measured by comparing the current bar's MFI value to the previous bar's MFI value. If the MFI increased, then the market is facilitating trade and is more efficient, implying that the market is trending. If the MFI decreased, then the market is becoming less efficient, which may indicate a trading range is developing that may be a trend reversal…."

Market Facilitation Index Expert Advisor

Rev. 02/24/97

In the August 1996 Stocks & Commodities, an article by Thom Hartle titled "The Market Facilitation Index" showed how to color bars to identify chart patterns based on changes in the market facilitation index and volume. Here is how to do this in MetaStock 6.0's new Expert Advisor.

The first step is to create a new expert by choosing Expert Advisor from MetaStock's Tool menu, and then choose New from the Expert Advisor. Name the expert "Market Facilitation Index", enter any notes you like and then click on the Highlights tab. Enter the following Highlights by choosing New, the color and then entering the following formulas:

After you have entered the four highlights click OK to finish editing the expert's properties. You can now right-click on the heading or background of any chart. Next select Expert Advisor and then Attach from the Chart shortcut menu. Attach the market facilitation index expert, and it will highlight the four market facilitation patterns that were discussed in Hartle's article. Note: You can save a chart as a template with this expert attached, and then any time you apply the template to a chart the market facilitation index expert will automatically attach to the chart.

 -- Allan J. McNichol, Equis International

MetaStock Indicator - Market Pressure - Ultimate

MetaStock Indicator - Market Thrust Oscillator

rev. 01/06/97

The following formulas were taken from the article, "The Cumulative Market Thrust Line", by Tushar Chande, in the December 1993 issue of Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities.

Taken from Stocks & Commodities, V. 11:12 (506-511): The Cumulative Market Thrust Line by Tushar S. Chande, PhD.

"STOCKS & COMMODITIES contributor Tushar Chande originally introduced the concept of market thrust in August 1992 as a method by which to overcome the limitations of the Arms index. Since then, variations have been suggested on the theme and here, Chande offers the variation of a cumulative market thrust line, in which market thrust is cumulated to calculate a volumetric advance-decline line by including the effect of up and down volume."

Composite securities are created from 4 separate files. Advances, Declines, Upvolume, Downvolume. The article side bar presupposes the user has these four files.

Reuters Trend Data (RTD) supplies this data in two files. The tickers are X.NYSE-A (Advances, number and volume) and X.NYSE-D (Declines, number and volume). To use these two files, you must utilize two different custom formulas and the indicator buffer in MetaStock™ for DOS.

CompuServe supplies this data in 4 files. The tickers are NYSEI (Advances); NYSEJ (declines); NYUP (Advance volume) and NYDN (decline volume).

Dial/Data supplies this data in two files. Advances, number and volume and Declines, number and volume. The tickers are @*NAZ_K and @*NDZ_K.

For the Windows versions of MetaStock:

For RTD and Dial Data:

To plot it:

• Load advances, plot formula #1.
• Load declines.
• Drag the plotted formula #1 from the advances in to the declines chart.
• Plot the thrust indicator formula (#2) directly on top of the plotted formula #1 in the declines chart.

For CompuServe data:

To plot it:

• Create a composite of the Advances * Up Volume
• Create a composite if the Declines * Down Volume
• Load advances composite , plot formula #1.
• Load declines composite.
• Drag the plotted formula #1 from the advances in to the declines chart.
• Plot the thrust indicator formula (#2) directly on top of the plotted formula #1 in the declines chart.

** To create the cumulative thrust oscillator line perform the same steps as above except change formula #2 to:

Cum(100*(P-C)/(P+C)) for CompuServe data
Cum(100*(P-(C*V))/(P+(C*V))) for RTD and Dial Data

** To create the cumulative market thrust line, the formula is:

Cum(P-C) for CompuServe data
Cum(P-(C*V)) for RTD and Dial Data

You now have the thrust indicator plotted exactly as the article discusses.

Martin Pring's KST Formulas

rev. 01/06/97

The KST indicator was developed by Martin J. Pring. The name KST comes from "Know Sure Thing". The KST is constructed by summing four smoothed rates of change. For more interpretation refer to Martin Pring's article "Summed Rate of Change (KST)" in the September 92 issue of TASC.

The following formulas are MetaStock formulas for the KST.


Daily KST Simple Moving Average

Long-Term Monthly KST Simple Moving Average

Intermediate KST Simple Moving Average

Intermediate KST Exponential Moving Average

Long-Term KST Exponential Moving Average

Short-Term KST Weekly Exponential Moving Average

MetaStock Indicator - Mass Index

rev. 01/06/97

The Mass Index was designed to identify trend reversals by measuring the narrowing and widening of the range between the high and low prices. As the range widens the Mass Index increases; as the range narrows the Mass Index decreases.

The MASS Index appeared in the June 92 Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities article "The Mass Index", by Donald Dorsey.

Taken from Stocks & Commodities, V. 10:6 (265-267): The Mass Index by Donald Dorsey

"Range oscillation, not often covered by students of technical analysis, delves into repetitive market patterns during which the daily trading range narrows and widens. Examining this pattern, Donald Dorsey explains, allows the technician to forecast market reversals that other indicators may miss. Dorsey proposes the use of range oscillators in his mass index."

The following is the MetaStock formula for

MetaStock Indicator - McClellan Oscillator

rev. 01/06/97

The McClellan Oscillator, developed by Sherman and Marian McClellan, is a market breadth indicator that is based on the smoothed difference between the number of advancing and declining issues on the New York Stock Exchange. The McClellan Oscillator is one of the most popular breadth indicators. Buy signals are typically generated when the McClellan Oscillator falls into the oversold area of -70 to -100 and turns up. Sell signals are generated when the oscillator rises into the overbought area of +70 to +100 and then turns down.

Extensive coverage of the McClellan Oscillator is provided in their book Patterns for Profit.

To plot the McClellan Oscillator, create a composite security in The DownLoader™ of Advancing Issues minus Declining Issues. Open a chart of the composite in MetaStock™ and plot this custom indicator.