How to rescale MACD histogram?

[Harry]

The MACD indicator of NT uses the same scale for the main/signal line and the MACD histogram. This makes the histogram quite unreadable in trending markets, when the MACD has higher values and the histograms bars become tiny.

To improve readability of MACD histogram, I thought about two modifications:

- color the histogram bars (quickly and easily done by using two different plot functions)
- rescale the MACD histogram to make it readable

To achieve rescaling I would have to normalize the difference between macd and macdAvg, to use at best but not to exceed the y-axis range of MACD on the visible part of the chart.

Is there any method availlable that would return the number of bars visible in the chart, as shown on the screen?

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

>> Is there any method availlable that would return the number of bars visible in the chart, as shown on the screen?
Unfortunately not.

[Rollins]

simply do your own version of the macd, add a multiplier to the parameters and multiply the histogram value.
takes 5 mins

[Harry]

Rescaling MACD histogram

Hi Rollins,

do not think it is that easy. What I want is basically that MACD histogram autoscales independently from MACD. This would also involve a different zeroline for MACD histogram. The histogram scale does not need to be shown on the indicator panel.

Hi Dierk,

In the current version MACD and histogram do autoscale together, that means using the same scale - which I do not want.

So what I need is to overlay them using different scales, or alternatively rescaling the histogram to the range of the MACD within the visible part of the chart.

I am sure that NT has such a function, because the AutoScale property must use it.

[Rollins]

Don't think what you have in mind can be done, unless you display the histogram in a different panel. Using a multiplier is a practical solution, which can be done quickly and settles the issue for me.

Good luck

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

Harry, unfortunately the logic you are looking for is not exposed. As last report you could look into writing your own Plot() method which overwrites the complete plotting logic (see CustomPlotSample).

[Harry]

Thanks for your quick reply, Dierk.

Where can I find MyPlotSample (even if I do not use it, it might be interesting to have a look at it)?

[NinjaTrader_Dierk]

Sorry, CustomPlotSample. Edited post below

[Harry]

Adapted solution suggested by Rollins

Hi Rollins,

understand now that Plot/OnBarUpdate will not allow for easy scaling of MACD histogram. Your solution is indeed practical. I added a multiplier, put it into the indicator settings (default setting 3) and this is also good enough for me, so that I do not have to buy a larger screen.

Thanks for the suggestion.