Chaikin Money Flow indicator discrepancies

[Tasuki]

See attached chart of the ES with two versions of the CMF indicator, one from Stockcharts.com, the other from Ninjatrader. At first glance, the indicators look similar, but that's about all you can say. A closer inspection shows that there are numerous differences. Are these discrepancies considered normal? Sure doesn't give me much confidence when using the indicator if I'm seeing the same price action in the candlestick charts but quite different movement in their respective indicators. I haven't done an exhaustive survey (but maybe I should!)---will I find these kinds of differences with every indicator? Please weigh in with your opinions if you've seen this sort of thing before.

[NinjaTrader_Kyle]

Hello,

Thank you for your post

I am seeing differences in the price data between these two sources which could lead to differences in indicator output.

So that I may test here please tell me which data provider you are connected to. Additionally, please tell me which Session Template is used in your chart. To check, right click in the chart and select Data Series - Session Template is shown on the right side of this window.

[Tasuki]

Hello Kyle,
So, session template is just "use instrument settings". Typically, I don't mess with the session templates. Maybe I should?
Also, using Kinetick EOD.
Yes, I also see a few differences in the candlesticks, but they are extremely minor, and would not appear to be able to account for the fairly significant differences in the CMF indicators. No, I'm thinking that there has to be something else at work here, and it might be valuable to track it down.
Thanks,
Tasuki

[NinjaTrader_EricB]

Thank you for your rpely,

The first thing to keep in mind is the data on the charts may not be the same. Since the indicator calculates on historical data, you would first want to verify the same amount of data is on each chart (right click on the chart > Data Series).
The time frames on the chart are controlled by the Session Template, which can also impact how the indicators calculate as this changes the historical data the indicators use to plot.

You can check what Session Template is in use on your charts via the Data Series menu (right click on the chart > Data Series).

To view what times the Session Template is referencing, you can use the top drop-down menu of the Session Manager (Tools > Session Manager).

To expand on this, it would also be important to know how each respective platform uses the historical data to build chart bars, which can vary. You can read more about this in the following help guide article.

Understanding the variables involved in building chart bars >> Discrepancies Between Different Data Feeds

http://ninjatrader.com/support/helpG..._are_built.htm

Also, how each platform calculates the indicator. You can find this with NinjaTrader via Tools > Edit NinjaScript. Double click on the indicator to view it's calculation logic.

Let us know if we may assist further.

[Tasuki]

Good grief, what a mess. Thanks for the excellent explanation, anyway. So, basically, there's no reliable way to compare indicators from different data feeds. Kinda makes you want to focus exclusively on price action and forget the indicators!

[Harry]

Good grief, what a mess. Thanks for the excellent explanation, anyway. So, basically, there's no reliable way to compare indicators from different data feeds. Kinda makes you want to focus exclusively on price action and forget the indicators!

You made the discovery that indicator values depend on the price data that you use to calculate them.

I thought that this was more than obvious!

In other terms it is called "garbage in garbage out" and has little to do with the indicator itself.