After reading Technical Analysis by Gerald Appel(inventor of MACD), I have realized the strength in the MACD's accuracy lays in using it on multiple time frames in intervals of 4-6x for each chart.
To determine an entry, all 3 charts need to be crossed in the same direction. The trade is higher conviction if you have multiple crosses and also above 0 on the histogram, especially on the higher time frames. When the MACD line is above 0 it's showing strength in that particular direction until a cross shows otherwise.
This example on Pfizer very easily describes this example. The 30 Minute MACD line is trending up towards 0. The 5 Minute MACD line is above 0. It's opening crossed below the signal, but it's still above 0, meaning it is hasn't crossed multiple moving averages downward yet.
At 9:36am, on the 1M Chart, the MACD line has a bullish crossover up above 0. It is showing strong convergence with the 5M crossing up and the 30M going above 0.
If you are scalping. You are taking MACD crosses on the 1M as entries and exits.
If you are day trading. You take entries on the 1M and exits on the 5M.
This example is for scalpers and day traders on the 1M/5M/30M timeframes. The same can apply for swing trading with the 15M/1H/4H. This even works with position trading(1D/1W/1M), although you may wind up getting too many signals than simply following MACD crosses on the W and M.
To determine an entry, all 3 charts need to be crossed in the same direction. The trade is higher conviction if you have multiple crosses and also above 0 on the histogram, especially on the higher time frames. When the MACD line is above 0 it's showing strength in that particular direction until a cross shows otherwise.
This example on Pfizer very easily describes this example. The 30 Minute MACD line is trending up towards 0. The 5 Minute MACD line is above 0. It's opening crossed below the signal, but it's still above 0, meaning it is hasn't crossed multiple moving averages downward yet.
At 9:36am, on the 1M Chart, the MACD line has a bullish crossover up above 0. It is showing strong convergence with the 5M crossing up and the 30M going above 0.
If you are scalping. You are taking MACD crosses on the 1M as entries and exits.
If you are day trading. You take entries on the 1M and exits on the 5M.
This example is for scalpers and day traders on the 1M/5M/30M timeframes. The same can apply for swing trading with the 15M/1H/4H. This even works with position trading(1D/1W/1M), although you may wind up getting too many signals than simply following MACD crosses on the W and M.