I've just recently seen a video on an indicator in TradingView called Impulse MACD. Does anyone know where I could find a NinjaTrader 8 version? Has anyone had success using it?

vickisb 

I've just recently seen a video on an indicator in TradingView called Impulse MACD. Does anyone know where I could find a NinjaTrader 8 version? Has anyone had success using it?

The impulse system was developed by Dr. Alexander Elder over 20 years ago. If you wish to use or trade the system, you should have a look at the books

- Come into my trading room (about 5 pages deal with the impulse system)
- Entries & Exits - Visits to Sixteen Trading Rooms

The system basically looks at higher timeframe and lower timeframe momentum. You enter a trade when the lower timeframe momentum aligns to the higher timeframe momentum.
For both timeframes, momentum is measured with the help of only two indicators, an EMA(13) and a MACD (12,26,9).

Momentum trading was a fashion of the 1990s. Momentum trades for trend following were entered after a breakout (Turtle Trader) or after a retracement.
The impulse system is a good example for a systemic, rule based approach to trading. It is definitely worth a look, although I doubt that it can still be profitably traded today.

It is pretty easy to implement the system with NinjaTrader. All you need is

- a higher timeframe EMA - for instance an EMA(65)
- a lower timeframe EMA - for instance an EMA(13)
- a higher timeframe MACD - for instance a MACD (60, 130, 45)
- a lower timeframe MACD - for instance a MACD (12,26,9)

These indicators are NinjaTrader in-built indicators and you may directly call them from a strategy. Such a strategy can be built with the strategy builder of NinjaTrader, no coding required.
By the way, Dr. Alexander Elder used two charts - a higher timeframe and lower timeframe chart - with the same indicators. As an alternative you may use a single chart with higher and lower timeframe indicators.
This is what I suggested above. Instead of two charts with a timeframe multiplier of 5 (daily and weekly) I have muliplied the lookback periods of the indicators with 5.
This method is not suited for all types of indicators, but it can be done with the EMA & MACD thanks to the early work of Jack K. Hutson, see article: Filtering Price Data: Moving Averages vs. Exponential Moving Averages.
The result is an easier implementation of the impulse system on a single chart.

The system also requires a trailing stop to exit trades.

I think that the impulse system is a good point to start, if you wish to get an idea of momentum trading. It will probably be necessary to modify the original system to make it profitable for today.

Thanks a ton. I suspected the impulse system was one and the same as the Elder approach. Appreciate all the great info!

Fat Tails 

The impulse system was developed by Dr. Alexander Elder over 20 years ago. If you wish to use or trade the system, you should have a look at the books - Come into my trading room (about 5 pages deal with the impulse system) - Entries & Exits - Visits to Sixteen Trading Rooms The system basically looks at higher timeframe and lower timeframe momentum. You enter a trade when the lower timeframe momentum aligns to the higher timeframe momentum. For both timeframes, momentum is measured with the help of only two indicators, an EMA(13) and a MACD (12,26,9). Momentum trading was a fashion of the 1990s. Momentum trades for trend following were entered after a breakout (Turtle Trader) or after a retracement. The impulse system is a good example for a systemic, rule based approach to trading. It is definitely worth a look, although I doubt that it can still be profitably traded today. It is pretty easy to implement the system with NinjaTrader. All you need is - a higher timeframe EMA - for instance an EMA(65) - a lower timeframe EMA - for instance an EMA(13) - a higher timeframe MACD - for instance a MACD (60, 130, 45) - a lower timeframe MACD - for instance a MACD (12,26,9) These indicators are NinjaTrader in-built indicators and you may directly call them from a strategy. Such a strategy can be built with the strategy builder of NinjaTrader, no coding required. By the way, Dr. Alexander Elder used two charts - a higher timeframe and lower timeframe chart - with the same indicators. As an alternative you may use a single chart with higher and lower timeframe indicators. This is what I suggested above. Instead of two charts with a timeframe multiplier of 5 (daily and weekly) I have muliplied the lookback periods of the indicators with 5. This method is not suited for all types of indicators, but it can be done with the EMA & MACD thanks to the early work of Jack K. Hutson, see article: Filtering Price Data: Moving Averages vs. Exponential Moving Averages. The result is an easier implementation of the impulse system on a single chart. The system also requires a trailing stop to exit trades. I think that the impulse system is a good point to start, if you wish to get an idea of momentum trading. It will probably be necessary to modify the original system to make it profitable for today.

Vicki had asked "does anyone know where I could find a NinjaTrader 8 version?"

Thanks for the insightful and eloquent responses but I think she was hoping for a link where she could download the MACD Impulse Idicator.
I'd kind of like to see it as well? Can anyone help?

Kindly,

Ed