Can I change the AO periods?

Not through iAO. Unlike almost every other MT5 indicator, the Awesome Oscillator takes no period arguments — 5 and 34 on median price are part of its definition. If you need different windows you are building a custom indicator, or you can express the same idea with two moving-average nodes and a subtraction. The upside is that there is nothing here to overfit.

What does a green AO bar mean?

That this bar's value is higher than the previous bar's — momentum is increasing. It does not mean AO is positive. Green bars below zero happen constantly and mean downward momentum is easing. Sign and colour answer different questions, and confusing them reverses several of the classic rules.

They are close relatives. Both subtract a slow average from a fast one and draw the result around zero. The differences are that AO uses simple averages of median price with fixed 5/34 windows and no signal line, while MACD uses EMAs of a configurable applied price with a signal line. AO is the simpler, unconfigurable member of the family.

How do I trade a saucer or twin peaks?

Both are multi-bar patterns rather than single conditions — a saucer needs three bars on the same side of zero in a specific shape, and twin peaks needs two peaks with the second lower. They are readable by eye but need explicit state tracking in code, so they sit outside what the node palette expresses.

Can I build an AO EA without coding?

Yes for the zero cross and for bar-to-bar momentum. The AO + AMA template wires an AO node and a Constant zero into a Cross node, gated on an adaptive trend line. The pattern rules — saucer and twin peaks — are the exceptions and need custom MQL5.

How should I validate settings before going live?

There are no AO settings to optimise, which removes one source of overfitting but not the others — the filters, stops and targets around it are still fitted parameters. Backtest on quality tick data, then demo before risking money, and hold back data the search never saw when tuning anything that surrounds the signal.

Awesome Oscillator for MT5 traders

What AO tells you

AO compares the recent momentum of the market to its medium-term momentum by subtracting a slow average of the bar midpoint from a fast one. Above zero the short-term is leading; below zero it is lagging. There is nothing to configure, which removes a whole category of overfitting.

Above zero: short-term momentum leads the medium term
Below zero: it lags
The bar colour reports whether this bar is higher than the last, not the sign

1 Average median price over 5 bars
2 Average it over 34 bars
3 Subtract the slow from the fast

Show the formula & calculation detail

The Awesome Oscillator is a difference of two simple averages, computed on the midpoint of each bar:

Take the median price of each bar: MP = (High + Low) / 2.
Compute a 34-period simple moving average of MP, and a 5-period simple moving average of the same series.
Subtract: AO = SMA(MP, 5) − SMA(MP, 34).

The result is published on buffer 0 and drawn as a histogram. MT5 colours each bar by comparing it to the previous one — green when the value rose, red when it fell — which is a separate piece of information from whether the bar is above or below zero.

Every number in that calculation is fixed. iAO accepts only a symbol and a timeframe; there are no period arguments, no applied-price argument, and no signal line. That is unusual in MT5 and it is deliberate: Bill Williams designed AO as a single unambiguous reading of whether short-term momentum is leading or lagging the medium term, and there is nothing in it to tune.

In MQL5 the call is iAO(symbol, period) and it returns a handle to one buffer. Because the output is a raw price difference, its magnitude scales with the instrument — only the sign, the direction of change and the shape carry meaning from one symbol to another.

Signals

The distinct, backtestable signals AO gives — and the regime each one suits.

Zero-Line Crossover

Builder ready

Condition: AO crosses above or below zero
Best regime: Trending or turning markets
Typical use: Flip the momentum bias with a single unambiguous event

Bar Colour Change

Builder ready

Condition: The histogram stops falling and starts rising, or vice versa
Best regime: Either regime
Typical use: Read acceleration one step before the zero cross

Saucer

Advanced logic

Condition: Three bars on the same side of zero forming a shallow dip and recovery
Best regime: Trend continuation
Typical use: Join a trend on a pause rather than a reversal

Twin Peaks

Advanced logic

Condition: Two peaks on the same side of zero, the second lower
Best regime: Trend exhaustion
Typical use: Anticipate a stall before price confirms

MT5 implementation

What MetaTrader 5 itself computes and draws — the reference every rule on this page is written against.

Buffers

Index	Buffer	Drawn in MT5 as	What it holds
0	MAIN_LINE	Histogram	The AO value — SMA(5) minus SMA(34) of median price. MT5 draws it as a histogram coloured by whether each bar is higher or lower than the one before.

Platform notes

MQL5 function

iAO

Applied price

This indicator takes no applied-price argument.

In the Builder

iAO takes no arguments beyond symbol and timeframe — not even a period. The 5 and 34 windows and the median-price input are fixed in the indicator's definition, so the Builder's AO node exposes only shift and timeframe.

Implementation notes

iAO publishes one buffer and takes no parameters, so an AO rule is one node plus whatever comparison you need.
A zero-line cross needs something to cross against: the Builder's template supplies a Constant node set to 0 and feeds both into a Cross node.
The bar colour is not a buffer — it is derived from whether this bar is higher than the previous one, so an EA expresses it as two AO nodes at shift 0 and 1 with a Compare, not by reading a colour.
Saucer and twin-peak patterns need multi-bar state across three or more bars on the same side of zero, which the node palette does not express.

Works best / use carefully

No indicator is a universal edge. Here is where AO helps — and where it misleads.

Works best

Trending markets
As a momentum confirmation
Higher timeframes
When you want zero parameters to fit

Use carefully

Tight, directionless ranges
Comparing AO values across instruments
The pattern rules without careful definition
AO alone as an entry

Build a strategy with AO

Wire the signal into entry and exit rules, then export a compilable MT5 EA — no code.

Awesome Oscillator
Zero constant
AO crosses above zero and price is above the AMA → Open Buy · SL 50 / TP 100
AO crosses below zero and price is below the AMA → Open Sell

Combine AO with other indicators

One indicator rarely stands alone. These pairings cover AO's blind spots.

AO + Accelerator Oscillator

AO above zero
AC higher than the previous bar
Buy

Why: AC is this indicator with its own five-bar average subtracted, so it reports whether the momentum AO is measuring is still building. Requiring AO to be above zero before acting on a rising AC bar separates accelerating within an up move from accelerating out of a down one — the pairing Bill Williams intended
Best regime: Trending

No single-flow template pairs them, though both nodes exist. Start from AC Acceleration + Pitch Trail and add an AO node with a Compare against a Constant of 0 into the same AND gate.

Open Builder →

AO + AMA

AO crosses above zero
Price above the AMA
Buy

Why: Take the momentum flip only when the adaptive trend line agrees on direction, so a zero cross inside a range is ignored
Best regime: Trending

Build this strategy →

AO + Alligator

Lips crosses teeth
AO crosses zero
Buy

Why: Pair Bill Williams' momentum tool with his regime tool, which is how the two were designed to be read together
Best regime: Trend start

No single-flow template pairs AO with the Alligator. Start from AO + AMA and swap the AMA condition for Alligator nodes into a Cross.

Open Builder →

AO + Fractals

AO above zero
Price breaks the last fractal high
Buy

Why: Use momentum for the bias and the last swing level for the trigger, so entries happen at structure rather than at an arbitrary bar
Best regime: Breakout

No single-flow template pairs AO with Fractals. Start from AO + AMA and add Fractals nodes with a Price node into a Cross.

Open Builder →

AO + BW MFI

AO above zero
Index and volume both rising
Buy

Why: The other half of Bill Williams' bar-by-bar reading. AO says which way momentum points and over what horizon; the Market Facilitation Index says whether the single bar in front of you moved efficiently and whether anyone was in it. AO cannot tell a wide participated bar from a wide empty one, and the index cannot tell up from down — each supplies exactly what the other lacks
Best regime: Trending

No single-flow template pairs the two. Start from BW MFI Green Bar and add an AO node with a Compare against a Constant of 0, feeding it into the AND tree in place of the Close-versus-Open pair.

Open Builder →

Parameters

Starting values to validate on your own pair and timeframe — not guaranteed settings.

Parameter	Default	Suggested test range	What it does
Periods	5 / 34	—	Fixed in the indicator. iAO takes no period arguments at all, so these cannot be changed without writing a custom indicator.
Applied price	Median	—	Also fixed. AO is defined on median price, (high + low) / 2, and iAO exposes no way to change it.
Shift	0	0–3	Which bar back the value is read from — a node-level setting, not an indicator input. Shift 1 compares against a fully closed bar.

Starting presets

Standard 5 / 34 The only configuration — AO has no inputs

Market examples

Where AO works, where it fails, and how a filter changes the outcome.

Works

Zero cross into a trend

AO crosses up through zero as a range resolves and stays positive for the whole leg — the clean momentum flip the template trades.

Fails

Zero cross in a range

In a flat market AO oscillates around zero and crosses repeatedly. Each cross is a trade with no move behind it.

Filtered

Trend line filters the cross

With the adaptive average as a second condition, the same cluster of zero crossings is ignored while price goes nowhere.

Related indicators

MACD View guide →

Alligator View guide →

Fractals View guide →

Accelerator Oscillator View guide →

FAQ

Can I change the AO periods?: Not through iAO. Unlike almost every other MT5 indicator, the Awesome Oscillator takes no period arguments — 5 and 34 on median price are part of its definition. If you need different windows you are building a custom indicator, or you can express the same idea with two moving-average nodes and a subtraction. The upside is that there is nothing here to overfit.
What does a green AO bar mean?: That this bar's value is higher than the previous bar's — momentum is increasing. It does not mean AO is positive. Green bars below zero happen constantly and mean downward momentum is easing. Sign and colour answer different questions, and confusing them reverses several of the classic rules.
Is AO just MACD?: They are close relatives. Both subtract a slow average from a fast one and draw the result around zero. The differences are that AO uses simple averages of median price with fixed 5/34 windows and no signal line, while MACD uses EMAs of a configurable applied price with a signal line. AO is the simpler, unconfigurable member of the family.
How do I trade a saucer or twin peaks?: Both are multi-bar patterns rather than single conditions — a saucer needs three bars on the same side of zero in a specific shape, and twin peaks needs two peaks with the second lower. They are readable by eye but need explicit state tracking in code, so they sit outside what the node palette expresses.
Can I build an AO EA without coding?: Yes for the zero cross and for bar-to-bar momentum. The AO + AMA template wires an AO node and a Constant zero into a Cross node, gated on an adaptive trend line. The pattern rules — saucer and twin peaks — are the exceptions and need custom MQL5.
How should I validate settings before going live?: There are no AO settings to optimise, which removes one source of overfitting but not the others — the filters, stops and targets around it are still fitted parameters. Backtest on quality tick data, then demo before risking money, and hold back data the search never saw when tuning anything that surrounds the signal.

Glossary

Key terms

Backtest Overfitting Exponential Moving Average