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Question

I'm seeing discrepancies between my indicator values in a Custom Column (Scan, Signal, or Backtest) versus the values I see in my chart (or in another program).  What might account for this?
   

Answer

I suspect that these indicators may be "cumulative" indicators.  A cumulative indicator us one that builds upon itself (it's own previous value).  Any indicator involving an exponential smoothing fits into this "cumulative" category.. When an indicator is cumulative, its value is dependant in some respect on all previous data elements that are considered/loaded for the calculation. While the chart is loading a certain number of bars (depending on the charts viewing period), the custom column is loading a minimal number of bars for efficiency purposes. Who's to say exactly which value is correct, but in my opinion, the chart would be more reliable because it's probably considering/loading more historical data in its calculations. How can you make the chart match the custom column? One way is to use a custom indicator setup with "Bars: All Data". That will force the custom column to calculate using all the data for the given periodicity that is available (as opposed the minimum efficient number of bars that I/RT determines it needs). This method is not as efficient, but more accurate.