Category · 12 articles
Volume indicators
Volume is the number of shares, contracts or coins traded in a period. Volume indicators combine it with price: some add or subtract each bar's volume depending on the close, some weight an average price by volume, some show how much traded at each price level. Traders use them to judge whether a move has participation behind it. This category has 12 volume indicator guides. Volume is one of four indicator families; see all of them on the indicators page.
These guides explain how an indicator is calculated and how traders read it. The pattern test bench does not measure indicators. Some guides run their rule on real bars (Bitcoin, the S&P 500 ETF, EUR/USD) and give the sample size; those worked examples are not bench results. For tested patterns, see the pattern statistics table and the methodology.
To plot them, TradingView has On Balance Volume among its built-in indicators (affiliate link).
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On Balance Volume (OBV) Indicator: Formula, Divergences, Volume Spikes, and a Real S&P 500 ExampleOBV adds a whole day's volume on up closes. On the S&P 500 ETF since 1993, its classic bearish divergence was followed by better 20-day returns, not worse.
VWAP Indicator: How the Volume Weighted Average Price Is Calculated, Why It Resets Each Session, and What It Did on Hourly BitcoinVWAP resets each session, so on a daily bar it is just the typical price. The formula, a worked example, and how hourly Bitcoin moved around it in 25 days.
Volume Profile Indicator: POC, Value Area and High and Low Volume Nodes, Computed on Real ChartsA volume profile turns the volume of a period sideways, so you see how much traded at each price instead of on each day.
Accumulation Distribution Line: Formula, How to Read It, and Why It Misses GapsChaikin's A/D line weights each bar's volume by where the close sits in its range. The formula, how to read it, and a real day it disagreed with OBV.
Lines built from volume and price direction
Running totals or bar values that count volume as buying or selling from the close. On Balance Volume is a built-in TradingView indicator (affiliate link).
- On Balance Volume (OBV) Indicator: Formula, Divergences, Volume Spikes, and a Real S&P 500 ExampleOBV adds a whole day's volume on up closes. On the S&P 500 ETF since 1993, its classic bearish divergence was followed by better 20-day returns, not worse.
- Accumulation Distribution Line: Formula, How to Read It, and Why It Misses GapsChaikin's A/D line weights each bar's volume by where the close sits in its range. The formula, how to read it, and a real day it disagreed with OBV.
Negative Volume Index (NVI): Fosback’s Formula, the 255-Day EMA Rule, and What It Did on the S&P 500 ETFThe NVI moves only on quiet days. On the S&P 500 ETF since 1994, the 313 days it sat below its 255-day EMA were followed by better returns, not worse.
Price Volume Trend (PVT) Indicator: Formula, How It Differs From OBV, and a Real S&P 500 ExamplePrice Volume Trend (PVT) adds each day’s volume weighted by its percentage price change. Formula, PVT vs OBV on the same days, and real S&P 500 data.
Net Volume Indicator: What It Measures, Why the Timeframe Changes It, and a Real Bitcoin ExampleNet volume is uptick minus downtick volume. On Bitcoin, the daily figure and the one rebuilt from hourly bars disagreed in sign about one day in five.
Volume oscillators
Klinger Volume Oscillator (KVO): Formula, the Two Versions, and the Signal Line on Real PricesKlinger's oscillator crossed its signal line 54 times in 250 days on the S&P 500 ETF, and buying the crosses lagged holding. Its formula and two versions.
Volume Oscillator: Formula, Settings, the Weekend Trap on Bitcoin, and What It Added to BreakoutsThe Volume Oscillator compares a fast and a slow average of volume: the formula, the 5/10 and 12/26 settings, the weekend trap on Bitcoin, and breakouts.
Volume by price and volume weighted prices
- Volume Profile Indicator: POC, Value Area and High and Low Volume Nodes, Computed on Real ChartsA volume profile turns the volume of a period sideways, so you see how much traded at each price instead of on each day.
- VWAP Indicator: How the Volume Weighted Average Price Is Calculated, Why It Resets Each Session, and What It Did on Hourly BitcoinVWAP resets each session, so on a daily bar it is just the typical price. The formula, a worked example, and how hourly Bitcoin moved around it in 25 days.
VWMA Indicator: Volume-Weighted Moving Average Formula, VWMA vs SMA and VWMA vs VWAPThe VWMA weights each close by its volume. Formula, VWMA vs SMA and vs VWAP, and the 4.29% gap on Bitcoin in 2026 that followed a day of triple volume.
Raw volume and the order book
Trading Volume: What It Counts, How to Read It With Relative Volume, and Real S&P 500 and Bitcoin DataOn April 7, 2025, the S&P 500 ETF traded 4.09 times its usual volume, one session before its low close. How to read volume with relative volume (RVOL).
Depth of Market (DOM): How to Read the Order Book, What It Hides, and Tape ReadingWhat a depth of market screen shows, and what it hides: canceled size, iceberg orders, one venue only, and why a retail forex DOM is one dealer's book.