Digital Kahler MACD [Loxx] is a MACD indicator that uses an extreme noise reduction algorithm by Philipp Kahler. For our purposes here, we call it Digital Kahler.
What is Digital Kahler? From Philipp Kahler's article for traders-mag.com, August 2008. "A Classic Indicator in a New Suit: Digital Stochastic"
Digital Indicators Whenever you study the development of trading systems in particular, you will be struck in an extremely unpleasant way by the seemingly unmotivated indentations and changes in direction of each indicator. An experienced trader can recognise many false signals of the indicator on the basis of his solid background; a stupid trading system usually falls into any trap offered by the unclear indicator course. This is what motivated me to improve even further this and other indicators with the help of a relatively simple procedure. The goal of this development is to be able to use this indicator in a trading system with as few additional conditions as possible. Discretionary traders will likewise be happy about this clear course, which is not nerve-racking and makes concentrating on the essential elements of trading possible.
How Is It Done? The digital stochastic is a child of the original indicator. We owe a debt of gratitude to George Lane for his idea to design an indicator which describes the position of the current price within the high-low range of the historical price movement. My contribution to this indicator is the changed pattern which improves the quality of the signal without generating too long delays in giving signals. The trick used to generate this “digital” behavior of the indicator. It can be used with most oscillators like RSI or CCI.
First of all, the original is looked at. The indicator always moves between 0 and 100. The precise position of the indicator or its course relative to the trigger line are of no interest to me, I would just like to know whether the indicator is quoted below or above the value 50. This is tantamount to the question of whether the market is just trading above or below the middle of the high-low range of the past few days. If the market trades in the upper half of its high-low range, then the digital stochastic is given the value 1; if the original stochastic is below 50, then the value –1 is given. This leads to a sequence of 1/-1 values – the digital core of the new indicator. These values are subsequently smoothed by means of a short exponential moving average. This way minor false signals are eliminated and the indicator is given its typical form.