Schaff Trend Cycle

The Schaff Trend Cycle: A Technical Indicator for Market Analysis

Technical analysis is a broad and thorough concept. It includes various indicators, patterns, and charts traders can use. The Schaff Trend Cycle (STC) is one of the most extensively utilized technical indicators by investors and traders and can be accessed through an investment app. 

The Schaff indicator is comparable to the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator in online stock trading. However, it is more accurate. Let's look at the Schaff Trend Cycle indicator and figure out how it works in online share trading. 

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What is the Schaff Trend Cycle?

The Schaff Trend Cycle is an oscillating indicator conceptualized and produced in the 1990s by The Schaff Trend Cycle (STC) is an oscillating indicator developed by Doug Schaff in the 1990s. It is widely utilized in the stock markets, particularly in forex trading, to identify trends and their directions. Traders often rely on the STC to anticipate potential trend reversals as well. By analyzing the movements of the Schaff Trend Cycle, traders receive buy or sell signals that guide them in taking long or short positions.

The underlying principle of the Schaff Trend Cycle is based on the cyclical nature of trends. It recognizes that bullish or bearish trends follow a recurring pattern of reaching highs and lows. Consequently, the market's direction reverses at the culmination of each trend, initiating a new opposing trend. For example, after an upward trend, the market reverses to establish a downward trend, and subsequently, after a downward trend, it reverses again to establish an upward trend. This cyclical pattern perpetuates itself in an ongoing manner.

How does the Schaff Indicator appear?

Pay close attention to the white Schaff indicator line (also known as the signal line) to notice how it portrays the asset price movement above. Furthermore, you can see that it produces repeated highs and lows, showing that trends occur cyclically.  

The indicator additionally has two additional horizontal lines labelled '25' and '75'. These two lines show the indicator's lowest and upper bounds, respectively. The white area represents the time spent over or below the indicator's upper and lower limits. 

How should the Schaff Trend Cycle indicator be used?

Understanding and employing the Schaff Trend Cycle indicator is a simple and straightforward process. When the signal line on the Schaff indicator rises above the top limit of '75', the asset has entered the 'overbought' region. This provides a sell signal since the market can correct itself and the trend has the potential to reverse at any time. When the signal line crosses the '75' mark, traders have two options: sell the asset and exit the market, or start a short position to profit from the trend reversal. 

Similarly, once the signal line on the Schaff indicator falls below the lower limit of '25', it indicates that the asset has entered the 'oversold' region. This provides a 'buy' signal because the market can rebound back up and the trend could reverse at any time. When the signal line crosses the '25' level, traders can either enter a long position to gain from the impending price rise or quit the market by covering their short holdings. 

A trend is deemed to have formed when the signal line lies between the two extremes. Depending on the circumstances, the trend might be either bullish or bearish. Traders can also use ongoing trend information to initiate positions that they believe will turn profitable.  

How to Calculate Schaff Trend Cycle

To calculate the Schaff Trend Cycle, you can follow these steps:

1. Calculate the short-term exponential moving average (EMA1) using 23 days. Use the closing prices of the desired asset or security. EMA1 = EMA(Close, 23)
2. Calculate the long-term exponential moving average (EMA2) using 50 days. EMA2 = EMA(Close, 50)
3. Calculate the MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) by subtracting EMA2 from EMA1. MACD = EMA1 - EMA2
4. Calculate the 10-period Stochastic for the MACD values obtained in the previous step. %K (MACD) = %KV (MACD, 10) %D (MACD) = %DV (MACD, 10)
5. Finally, apply the Schaff and Trend Cycle formula using the MACD, %K (MACD), and %D (MACD) values: Schaff and Trend Cycle = 100 x (MACD - %K (MACD)) / (%D (MACD) - %K (MACD))

By substituting the calculated values into the formula, you can determine the Schaff and Trend Cycle for the given asset or security.

Conclusion

The Schaff and Trend Cycle indicator was initially designed to forecast currency market trends. On the other hand, the Schaff & Trend Cycle is widely employed by investors and traders across tradable financial securities due to its dependability and accuracy. Although it is one of the greatest and most dependable indicators, investors should use it with caution because it can become trapped between the overbought and oversold zones for an extended period. When combined with data from other technical indicators, the Schaff and Trend Cycle can effectively contribute to developing an ideal investing plan.