Schaff trend cycle
Blends MACD with a stochastic-style calculation to identify trend cycles faster than MACD alone, aiming to cut lag when catching turns.
What the numbers mean
Twenty-three and 50 are the fast and slow EMA periods of an underlying MACD; 10 is the cycle length over which a stochastic calculation is applied to that MACD, twice. The double stochastic pass is what makes it turn earlier than MACD alone.
- 23 — the fast EMA of the underlying MACD
- 50 — the slow EMA
- 10 — the cycle length used for the stochastic passes applied to that MACD
- 25 / 75 — the conventional oversold and overbought crossing levels
How it is used
Read on a 0–100 scale like an oscillator: crossings up through 25 and down through 75 are the conventional signals, used to catch trend turns sooner than a MACD crossover would.
- Crossing up through 25 → the trend cycle turning up
- Crossing down through 75 → turning down
- Flat at 0 or 100 → a strong trend in progress, not a signal to fade
How it relates to everything else
STC is MACD run through a stochastic twice, which is why it turns earlier than MACD and moves on a fixed 0–100 scale that MACD lacks. The speed is bought with stability: in a strong trend it will call a reversal several times while price carries on, so it is usually filtered by a longer moving average or by ADX.
- Built from MACD plus stochastic smoothing — it inherits both tempers
- Turns before MACD, at the cost of more false calls
- Pair with a 50 or 200 EMA so only cycle turns in the trend's direction are taken
What to watch for
Speed comes at the cost of stability — it produces more signals than MACD, and in a strong trend it will call a reversal repeatedly while price keeps going.