What does the MACD indicator say about US stocks?

Here's what this indicator says about US stocks. MACD is a technical indicator that can generate buy-and-sell signals. It can be most useful in trending markets. MACD gave a sell signal most recently. The possibility of more rate hikes. Fitch's US credit rating downgrade (plus a warning on some bank ratings). China growth worries.

What is a MACD chart?

The MACD chart is usually graphed just below the security's price chart, so that price movements can be compared with changes in the MACD chart. The MACD line is calculated by subtracting a long-term exponential moving average (EMA) from a shorter-term exponential moving average.

What is the MACD line?

Moving average convergence/divergence (MACD, or MAC-D) is a trend-following momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two exponential moving averages (EMAs) of a security’s price. The MACD line is calculated by subtracting the 26-period EMA from the 12-period EMA. The result of that calculation is the MACD line.

How does MACD work?

The MACD indicator works using three components: two moving averages and a histogram. The two lines within the indicator may look like simple moving averages (SMAs), but they are in fact layered exponential moving averages (EMAs). The main, slower line is the MACD line, while the faster line is the signal line.