starting an EMA?

Question

how do you start an exponential moving average

Answer 1

It doesn't really matter, as long as you realize that the EMA needs some time to settle down. Therefore if you want an n day EMA, take f=2/(n+1). Then
EMA (t+1) = (1-f) EMA (t) + f Close (t+1).
For EMA(0) use Close(0).

Answer 2

Here is some documentation on moving averages:

http://stockcharts.com/education/IndicatorAnalysis/indic_movingAvg.html

It includes information on EMAs and even has a downloadable EXCEL spreadsheet with sample calculations.

Answer 3

You don't. You start with a simple moving average and then introduce the exponential algorithm.