Concept
MA of MA
MA of MA is a Trend concept. The Library holds 3 implementations, each one a working definition you can pull into Quant.
Top MA of MA indicators
3 total
What is an MA of MA?
An MA of MA is double smoothing: a moving average computed not on price but on the output of another moving average. Feeding one filter into another compounds their effects. Noise that survives the first pass is attenuated again, the composite weighting is the convolution of the two windows (an SMA of an SMA, for instance, produces the center-weighted triangular MA), and the lags roughly add. The construction generalizes freely: smooth three times, mix different average types, or average an indicator line that is itself already smoothed.
Two opposite design goals use it. The first accepts the extra lag to buy stability: double- and triple-smoothed baselines barely wiggle, so their slope changes and crossings fire rarely, and a line crossing its own smoothed copy (the MACD signal-line grammar) acts as a turn detector on the first average. The second exploits the algebra to remove lag: DEMA, TEMA, and T3 combine EMA-of-EMA terms so the compounded lag largely cancels. Either way, smoothness is not foresight; a very smooth line confirms trends late.
How traders use it
- As a slow baseline: a double-smoothed average serves as the trend reference that price or a faster average must cross, cutting whipsaw at the cost of later entries.
- As a turn detector: crossing a moving average with a smoothed copy of itself approximates detecting when the first average changes slope, which can fire earlier than waiting for two independently computed averages to cross.
- As a building block: TRIX (the rate of change of a triple-smoothed EMA), signal lines on oscillators, and lag-corrected averages like DEMA and TEMA are all MA-of-MA constructions with different arithmetic on top.
- As a tamer of rough series: inputs too jagged for one pass, such as volume, breadth counts, or raw oscillator values, are routinely smoothed twice before rules are applied to them.
MA of MA vs related constructions
MA Ribbon: A ribbon runs many averages of price in parallel at different lengths; an MA of MA runs averages in series, one feeding the next. The ribbon fans out to show trend maturity; the cascade collapses to a single, extra-smooth line.
Triangular MA: The triangular MA is the named special case: an SMA applied twice with roughly half-length windows, yielding triangular, center-heavy weights. 'MA of MA' is the general recipe with any average types and lengths.
DEMA: DEMA contains an EMA of an EMA but subtracts it from twice the single EMA, cancelling most of the lag instead of compounding it. A plain MA of MA does the opposite: it embraces the extra smoothing and the extra lag that comes with it.
Related concepts · MA applications
Concept family
Trend
100 concepts mapped · 88 in the Library
MA of MA FAQ
Does smoothing a moving average twice make it more accurate?
No, only smoother. Double smoothing removes more noise but adds lag, so the line describes where the trend was with more confidence and more delay. Whether that helps depends on the job: it suits slow regime filters and signal lines, and it hurts anything that needs a fast reaction to new prices.
How much lag does an MA of MA have?
Roughly the sum of the component lags. A simple N-period average sits about (N-1)/2 bars behind price, so a 20-period SMA smoothed by another 20-period SMA trails by roughly 19 bars. The additivity is exact for simple averages in cascade and approximately right for recursive ones like the EMA.
Why do indicators use a signal line instead of a second faster average?
A signal line is a smoothed copy of the indicator itself, so it trails the exact series it is compared against. Crossings therefore flag turns in that specific line rather than a relationship between two separately computed averages, which is usually the more direct question when timing an indicator's own reversals.
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