Adaptive Moving Average System by Perry Kaufman The adaptive moving average that was discussed in the interview with Perry Kaufman in the 1998 STOCKS & COMMODITIES Bonus Issue (the article originally appeared in March 1995) is an excellent alternative to standard moving average calculations. In this month's Traders' Tips, I will present two Easy Language studies and an Easy Language system that are based on the adaptive moving average. The adaptive moving average calculation that is used in the studies and system in TradeStation or SuperCharts is performed primarily by a function referred to as "AMA." Another function referred to as "AMAF" is used to calculate the adaptive moving average filter. As always, the functions should be created prior to the development of the studies/system. Type: Function, Name: AMA Inputs: Period(Numeric); Vars: Noise(0), Signal(0), Diff(0), efRatio(0), Smooth(1), Fastest(.6667), Slowest(.0645), AdaptMA(0); Diff = AbsValue(Close - Close[1]); IF CurrentBar <= Period Then AdaptMA = Close; IF CurrentBar > Period Then Begin Signal = AbsValue(Close - Close[Period]); Noise = Summation(Diff, Period); efRatio = Signal / Noise; Smooth = Power(efRatio * (Fastest - Slowest) + Slowest, 2); AdaptMA = AdaptMA[1] + Smooth * (Close - AdaptMA[1]); End; AMA = AdaptMA; Type: Function, Name: AMAF Inputs: Period(Numeric), Pcnt(Numeric); Vars: Noise(0), Signal(0), Diff(0), efRatio(0), Smooth(1), Fastest(.6667), Slowest(.0645), AdaptMA(0), AMAFltr(0); Diff = AbsValue(Close - Close[1]); IF CurrentBar <= Period Then AdaptMA = Close; IF CurrentBar > Period Then Begin Signal = AbsValue(Close - Close[Period]); Noise = Summation(Diff, Period); efRatio = Signal / Noise; Smooth = Power(efRatio * (Fastest - Slowest) + Slowest, 2); AdaptMA = AdaptMA[1] + Smooth * (Close - AdaptMA[1]); AMAFltr = StdDev(AdaptMA-AdaptMA[1], Period) * Pcnt; End; AMAF = AMAFltr; The "MovAvg Adaptive Fltr" system below is based on the rules set forth for entries based on the filtered adaptive moving average calculation. Type: System, Name: Adaptive Moving Average Fltr System Inputs: Period(10), Pcnt(.15); Vars: AMAVal(0), AMAFVal(0), AMALs(0), AMAHs(0); AMAVal = AMA(Period); AMAFVAl = AMAF(Period, Pcnt); IF CurrentBar = 1 Then Begin AMALs = AMAVal; AMAHs = AMAVal; End Else Begin IF AMAVal < AMAVal[1] Then AMALs = AMAVal; IF AMAVal > AMAVal[1] Then AMAHs = AMAVal; IF AMAVal - AMALs Crosses Above AMAFVal Then Buy This Bar on Close; IF AMAHs - AMAVal Crosses Above AMAFVal Then Sell This Bar on Close; End; The second indicator, "Mov Avg Adaptive Fltr," takes the filtering concept and applies it to an indicator. Based on the filtered adaptive moving average (AMAF) parameters, this indicator will plot a vertical blue or red line, depending on the condition that is met. The values reflected by the vertical lines reflect the value of the AMA filter calculation. Some suggested format settings are given after the indicator code. Type: Indicator, Name: Adaptive Moving Average Fltr System Inputs: Period(10), Pcnt(.15); Vars: AMAVal(0), AMAFVal(0), AMALs(0), AMAHs(0); AMAVal = AMA(Period); AMAFVAl = AMAF(Period, Pcnt); IF CurrentBar = 1 Then Begin AMALs = AMAVal; AMAHs = AMAVal; End Else Begin IF AMAVal < AMAVal[1] Then AMALs = AMAVal; IF AMAVal > AMAVal[1] Then AMAHs = AMAVal; IF AMAVal - AMALs Crosses Above AMAFVal Then Buy This Bar on Close; IF AMAHs - AMAVal Crosses Above AMAFVal Then Sell This Bar on Close; End; This code is also available at Omega Research's Web site. The name of the file is "AMA.ELA." Please note that all Traders' Tips analysis techniques posted at Omega Research's Web site can be utilized by both TradeStation and SuperCharts. Whenever possible, the posted analysis techniques will include both Quick Editor and Power Editor formats.