In order to reduce the lag in simple moving averages, technicians sometimes use exponential moving averages, or exponentially weighted moving averages. Exponential moving averages reduce the lag by applying more weight to recent prices relative to older prices. The weighting applied to the most recent price depends on the length of the moving average. The shorter the exponential moving average is, the more weight that will be applied to the most recent price. For example: a 10-period exponential moving average weighs the most recent price 18.18% and a 20-period exponential moving average weighs the most recent price 9.52%. The method for calculating the exponential moving average is fairly complicated. The important thing to remember is that the exponential moving average puts more weight on recent prices. As such, it will react quicker to recent price changes than a simple moving average. For those who wish to see an example formula for an exponential moving average, one is provided below. Others may prefer to skip this section and move on the comparison of the moving averages.
Exponential Moving Average Calculation
The formula for an exponential moving average is:
X = (K x (C – P)) + P
X = Current EMA
C = Current Price
P = Previous period’s EMA*
K = Smoothing constant
(*A SMA is used for first period’s calculation)
The smoothing constant applies the appropriate weighting to the most recent price relative to the previous exponential moving average. The formula for the smoothing constant is:
K = 2/(1+N)
N = Number of periods for EMA
For a 10-period EMA, the smoothing constant would be .1818.
The EMA formula works by weighting the difference between the current period’s price and the previous period’s EMA and adding the result to the previous period’s EMA. There are two possible outcomes: the weighted difference is either positive or negative.
1. If the current price (C) is higher than the previous period’s EMA (P), the difference will be positive (C – P). The positive difference is weighted by multiplying it by the constant ((C – P) x K) and the answer is added to the previous period’s EMA, resulting in a new EMA that is higher ((C – P) x K) + P.
2. If the current price is lower than the previous period’s EMA, the difference will be negative (C – P). The negative difference is weighted by multiplying it by the constant ((C – P) x K) and the final result is added to the previous period’s EMA, resulting in a new EMA that is lower ((C – P) x K) + P.