Legacy EMA Study

By Samantha Baltodano

TL;DR:

The Legacy EMA study is range-dependent because it lacks the prefetching mechanism used by the updated EMA. The initialization point for Legacy EMA is the specified price of the first bar.

What Is the Legacy EMA Study?

The Legacy EMA study is a version of the Exponential Moving Average that uses a calculation mechanism prior to November 13, 2010. 

Its difference from the updated EMA is in the way the initialization point (the first intermediate EMA value) is determined. 

For the Legacy EMA, the specified price of the first bar is considered the initial value, while the updated EMA study comprises historical data prefetching for that purpose. This means that it fetches price data prior to the beginning of the predetermined time period for the initial EMA calculation (e.g. 10-day EMA, 20-day EMA, etc.).

The absence of the prefetching mechanism makes the Legacy EMA study highly range-dependent, whereas the updated EMA is considered range independent.

Legacy EMA is just one of many studies that Archaide automates. For a full list of strategies and studies available click here.

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