FAQ

FAQ

Short answers to common questions. Each answer points to the deeper explanation on the relevant page.

Does this indicator repaint?

With default settings (On Bar Close = ON), no. Each slot uses the last confirmed higher-timeframe bar, and plotted values do not change after they appear. You can verify this yourself — the MTF and Repainting page has a step-by-step walkthrough. If you turn On Bar Close OFF, the most recent bars use the current building HTF bar and can change until that bar closes. History always looks stable regardless of the setting — the instability with On Bar Close = OFF is only visible at the live edge, which is exactly where it matters most.

Full explanation: MTF and Repainting

What does "On Bar Close" actually do?

It controls whether each slot uses the last confirmed higher-timeframe bar (ON) or the current in-progress one (OFF). ON gives you stable readings with a one-bar delay. OFF gives you faster updates with provisional values on the most recent bars. It is a repaint control toggle, not a display preference.

Full explanation: MTF and Repainting and Settings

Why did I get a runtime error when I loaded this?

Most likely your chart timeframe is higher than one of the slot timeframes. The default slots are 5m, 15m, and 60m. If your chart is on a 15m timeframe, the 5m slot cannot request lower-timeframe data and the indicator errors. Increase the slot timeframes to match or exceed your chart timeframe.

The other common cause: Fast Length >= Slow Length on a slot. Fast must be strictly less than Slow.

Full explanation: Quick Start and Troubleshooting

Why is my oscillator stuck near +100 or -100?

ATR Sensitivity is too high. When sensitivity is increased, the oscillator reaches its bounds with smaller momentum moves. Readings cluster near ±100 and the oscillator loses its ability to distinguish moderate from extreme momentum. Lower the sensitivity toward 1.0 (the default).

Full explanation: Settings and For the Geeks

Can I use this on stocks and crypto at the same time?

Yes. Set each slot's Optional Ticker to a different instrument. The ATR normalization converts each instrument's MACD into a unitless reading on the same -100 to +100 scale, making cross-instrument comparison meaningful. A reading of +50 on SPY and +50 on BTC means both have similar relative momentum intensity for their own volatility profiles — not the same dollar movement, but proportionally similar momentum.

Be aware that instruments with very different volatility stability may produce normalization of different quality. The comparison is valid on any single bar, but the stability of that comparison over time depends on how consistent each instrument's volatility is.

Full explanation: Multi-Ticker Mixing

What happens if I set one slot's weight to 0?

The slot is excluded from the blended K, D, and Histogram calculation. It still plots its individual K line (unless hidden) and still fires per-slot alerts. This is a deliberate design choice — it lets you monitor a timeframe without letting it influence the consensus.

Note: a zero-weight slot that is still enabled counts toward the alignment alerts. If you want to exclude it from alignment entirely, disable it rather than zeroing its weight.

Full explanation: Settings

Is the "All Slots Bullish" alert a buy signal?

No. It is a state alert that tells you all enabled slots that are currently returning values have K > D. It confirms multi-timeframe regime agreement at this moment, not timing, freshness, participation, or price structure. One slot may have been bullish for 100 bars while another just flipped. The alert cannot distinguish fresh alignment from stale alignment, and the difference between the two is often the difference between useful information and misleading information. Use it as one data point in a larger decision process, not as a standalone trigger. The Alerts page has a five-step verification checklist for what to do after this alert fires.

Full explanation: Alerts and Limitations and Trust Boundaries

What is the difference between the blended histogram and the blended K?

The blended K tells you the momentum level of the weighted consensus — where it sits on the -100/+100 scale. The blended histogram tells you where the blended H series sits: the weighted average of each slot's independently normalized MACD-minus-Signal value.

K can be at +60 with a shrinking histogram. That means the blend is still positive while the stacked histogram pressure is easing. Those two often travel together, but the histogram is not the literal blended K-minus-D gap, so use it as context rather than as a mechanical countdown to a regime flip.

Full explanation: Visuals and Logic

Should I turn on Master Smoothing?

Probably not, unless you have a specific reason. Master Smoothing adds a final moving average pass to the blended output, which reduces noise but delays every signal. It is off by default because the indicator already has lag from three MACD calculations, ATR normalization, and blending. Adding more smoothing makes the output cleaner at the cost of later regime flips, later zero crosses, and later OB/OS crosses.

If the blended output is too noisy for your workflow and you have already tried adjusting signal lengths and ATR settings, Master Smoothing is an option. But try those adjustments first.

Full explanation: Settings

How is this different from just putting three MACDs on my chart?

Three things make this different:

1. Normalization. Standard MACDs at different timeframes produce values at different scales. This indicator normalizes each slot by ATR and maps it to a fixed -100 to +100 range, making the readings comparable.

1. Blending. The indicator produces a weighted composite of the three slots — a single K/D/Histogram reading that synthesizes the multi-timeframe picture. You can control how much each timeframe influences the blend.

1. Repaint control. The On Bar Close toggle gives you explicit control over whether slots use confirmed or provisional higher-timeframe data. Standard MACD does not offer this choice.

The tradeoff: you gain synthesis and comparability, but you lose some per-slot detail. Each slot only plots its normalized K line — you do not see the individual signal lines or histograms for each slot, only for the blend.

Full explanation: README and For the Geeks

What does it mean when the readings are near ±100 and the line looks flat?

The oscillator has saturated. The bounding function compresses extreme values asymptotically — as raw momentum gets larger, each additional unit produces a smaller and smaller change in the normalized reading. Near ±100, the oscillator has run out of range to show you further increases.

This does not mean momentum has peaked. It means the oscillator cannot tell you whether momentum is still growing. The flattening is a property of the bounding math, not a prediction about the market. When you see this, shift your attention from the oscillator to price structure and volume — the oscillator has told you everything it can at this range.

Full explanation: For the Geeks and Limitations and Trust Boundaries