Acceleration/deceleration
The difference between the Awesome Oscillator and its own moving average — aiming to show momentum changes even before they show up in AO or in price.
What the numbers mean
Built from the same 5 and 34 midpoint averages as the Awesome Oscillator, then subtracting a 5-period average of AO itself. What is left is the change in momentum rather than momentum — the second derivative, in effect.
- 5 and 34 — inherited from the Awesome Oscillator it is built on
- 5 — the average of AO that gets subtracted
- Zero line → where momentum is neither building nor fading
How it is used
Used as an early warning: because momentum tends to slow before price turns, a series of shrinking bars is read as the current move losing drive while it is still going.
- Bars shrinking while price rises → the move is decelerating
- Colour change → the earliest warning in the Williams system
- Never used alone; it is a supporting reading
How it relates to everything else
AC is to AO what the MACD histogram is to MACD: the rate of change of a momentum measure. Being two derivatives away from price, it turns first and is wrong most often, which is exactly why Williams intended it to be read alongside the Alligator rather than traded directly.
- Same relationship to AO as the histogram has to MACD
- Earliest and noisiest signal in the Williams toolkit
- Confirm against the Alligator before acting
What to watch for
Two layers removed from price means it reverses often and early, much of it noise. It is a supporting reading, never a standalone trigger.