MACD-V, Volatility Normalised Momentum (MACDV)

Summary

MACD-V, Alex Spiroglou's volatility-normalised MACD: the spread of a fast and a slow EMA of the close over the Average True Range, times 100. Like MACD it comes with an EMA-smoothed signal line and their histogram. Dividing by the ATR expresses momentum in units of the instrument's own volatility, so one reading means the same thing across instruments, timeframes and volatility regimes, where the raw MACD spread does not. Spiroglou reads the line in ranges: beyond 150 or -150 is an overextended move, between -50 and 50 a ranging market, and the bands in between a trend.

Formula

MACDV = (EMA(Close, fastPeriod) - EMA(Close, slowPeriod)) / ATR(slowPeriod) * 100 Signal = EMA(MACDV, signalPeriod) Hist = MACDV - Signal

Notes

The Average True Range is Wilder's, over the slow period: the publication's ATR(26) beside the 26-bar slow EMA, so one parameter sets both. Without price movement the line falls to 0, its neutral point.
The two price EMAs and the Average True Range each warm up as when calling EMA and ATR directly, so a caller who wants the line converged sets TA_FUNC_UNST_EMA and TA_FUNC_UNST_ATR, as for those functions.
If the slow period is set smaller than the fast period, the two are swapped so the slow EMA is always the longer one, as MACD does; the ATR period follows the slow period after the swap.
A signal period of 1 disables signal-line smoothing: the signal equals the MACD-V line and the histogram is zero.
The publication's MACD section writes the histogram as the signal line minus the MACD line; its reading of the histogram ("above 40" is stretched to the upside) holds only for MACD-V minus the signal, which is what is emitted here, as for MACD.

Inputs

inHigh — High price of each bar
inLow — Low price of each bar
inClose — Close price of each bar

Outputs

outMACDV — Fast EMA minus slow EMA, divided by the Average True Range, times 100
outMACDVSignal — EMA of the MACD-V line
outMACDVHist — MACD-V minus signal line

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Accepted values	Description
`optInFastPeriod`	integer	12	2–100000	Period of the fast EMA
`optInSlowPeriod`	integer	26	2–100000	Period of the slow EMA and of the Average True Range
`optInSignalPeriod`	integer	9	1–100000	Smoothing period of the signal line

Properties

Numerical Stability: Initial Unstable Period — Inherited from ATR and EMA, which MACDV computes internally; tunable via ATR and EMA's unstable period.


☐ Overlap Input
✅ Independent Y-Axis i
☐ Candlestick
☐ Can Output NaN or ±Inf
☐ Identity at Period 1
☐ Display Shift
☐ Uses Transcendental
☐ Input Must Be Positive

Implementation

TA-Lib Definition: macdv.c · macdv.yaml

Native	File
C	`ta_MACDV.c`
Rust	`macdv.rs`
Java	`Core_MACDV.java`
C#	`Core_MACDV.cs`

TA-Lib is also available for Python, R and more using a wrapper.

Aliases

MACD-V, volatility normalised MACD, volatility normalized MACD, volatility normalised momentum

References

Alex Spiroglou, MACD-V: Volatility Normalised Momentum, 2022, NAAIM Founders Award paper
MACD-V (StockCharts ChartSchool)