what is macd 
the moving average convergence divergence macd is used by traders to monitor the relationship between two moving averages calculated by subtracting a 26 day exponential moving average from a 12 day exponential moving average the macd also employs a signal line that helps identify crossovers and which itself is a nine day exponential moving average of the macd line that is plotted on the same graph the signal line is used to help identify trend changes in the price of a security and to confirm the strength of a trend 