Is there a way to easily in Excel whether a moving average is pointing up or down?

[SoyUnGanador]

I did some testing recently with moving averages in Excel, i.e. buy when stock prices go above various moving averages, sell when below. The results were not spectacular. But I know some people use moving averages differently - they say if the moving average is pointing up that's when you should be in, pointing down, you should be out.

But how can I tell Excel to check if a moving average is pointing up or down?

 

[murray t turtle]

I did some testing recently with moving averages in Excel, i.e. buy when stock prices go above various moving averages, sell when below. The results were not spectacular. But I know some people use moving averages differently - they say if the moving average is pointing up that's when you should be in, pointing down, you should be out [for longs= my comment].

But how can I tell Excel to check if a moving average is pointing up or down?

%%
THAT's partly true SoyU\
but for EXCELlance, study something like SPY or QQQ a lot , a lot, alot, alot, alot, alot.
Nobert said you repeated , i know/ i meant to repeat,+ repeat like market.
200 day moving average on UDOW = down bear\
50 dma on udow also down, both 50 +200 dma are main + medium trend down \down.
More tricky but some times do/able. UDOW bear rally closed above 50 period on hourly candles this week + bear rally thru today= EXCELlant + may not bear rally that good, very much.
Bottom line is slope of ma, ma cross, ma length , open +close price is is only part of it.
Leveraged ETFs = not suitable for all investors ; + buy signal on UDOW this week was not depending on slope

 

[DaveV]

But how can I tell Excel to check if a moving average is pointing up or down?

The simplest way is to use two moving averages, a fast and a slow, and compare them. For example, if a fast average EMA(4) is greater than a slow average EMA(10), then the fast EMA is rising; otherwise, it is falling.

 

[themickey]

The answer is so obvious, it's not worth mentioning. This would have to be a troll thread right?

 

[themickey]

For those mentally challenged.....
If yesterday MA level is less than today, then MA is rising.

The difference in yesterday/today level = slope.

Depending on your lookback period, these results will change, eg, 30 day lookback will be different to 5 day lookback.

Also obviously the MA amount changes the result, are you using a MA10, MA28, MA50, MA200....???