Singular and Cumulative Volume Delta (SVD+CVD)This a Volume Delta indicator with Cumulative Volume Delta.
I have been studying Volume Delta and CVD trading strategies and indicator styles.
This implementation was developed to test a basic trailing window / oscillator approach.
Script has been republished as public and searchable.
Changelog from private era follows.
Jun 9 (2022)
Release Notes:
Added option to use EMA/SMA based cumulation. This will not scale well with singular data, so default view is still SUM.
Jun 9 (2022)
Release Notes:
Outdated comment correction.
Jun 9 (2022)
Release Notes:
Added default option to normalilze visual scale of MA cumulation types. The averaging creates a singular value sized results, instead of a range-sums. This multiples that candle result by the range length to get a range-sum sized result.
Added option to scale the cumulation size relative to the volume size. 1-to-1 scaling creates singular deltas that can be hard to see with all options on. This allows you to beef them up for visual or weighting purposes.
Jun 15 (2022)
Release Notes: * Added break even level for current delta. Tells where current delta must land for cumulative delta to stay flat.
* Added comparison of historical cumulative levels to current level. The historical levels are the initial values going into current accumulation window.
* Changed title of indicator to be more generic, clear, and searchable.
Jun 15 (2022)
Release Notes: * Added option to have the cumulation cutoff line AFTER or OVER the end of the cumulation window. This change is to ensure the indicator clearly documents it's behavior and avoids confusion on this / last cumulation window semantics.
* Bugfix: Initial levels were pulled from cumulation line which was AFTER end of window. This has been changed to the initial values INSIDE the cumulation window.
* Code cleanup.
June 17th (2022)
Release Notes: Marked as beta because TV confirmed they no longer allow private scripts to be changed to public. (Despite lingering documentation that says otherwise.
June 17th (2022)
Re-published as public.
Volumedelta
LTF -> HTF volume delta Up/DownThis script derives from my previous Educational LTF -> HTF volume delta script.
Total volume is displayed as columns in the background.
With request.security_lower_tf() we get data from a lower timeframe.
In this case, volume, which is placed in an 'up-array' when the 'lower timeframe close' > 'lower timeframe open',
or in an 'down-array' when the 'lower timeframe close' < 'lower timeframe open'.
This is displayed here as 2 (red/green) lines
When you're at a chart timeframe (Higher timeframe), lower than Daily, the lower timeframe is automatically 50x smaller than the higher timeframe.
Example D = 1440 minutes -> divided by 50 = 28.8 or rounded a lower timeframe of 29 minutes
When this number is below 1, it will take the '1 minute timeframe' as lower timeframe
If the higher timeframe chart is Daily or higher, a 'x minute-lower timeframe' chart is calculated from the timeframe.multiplier multiplied by 25,
for example a 2D higher timeframe will do the 'lower timeframe calculations' with a 50 minute TF (25 * 2 'D')
Looking at for example BTC on the Daily higher timeframe, some interesting observations can be done when looking at the 'spikes'
This script doesn't have build in arrows, it is merely made to give some stimulation,
and hopefully some of you can work further on this technique, because I think it is very promising!
I want to thank Tradingview very deeply, why?
Just so many reasons, development, moderation, organisation, helpdesk, ...
The amount of work they are doing is incredible!
Educational LTF -> HTF volume deltaThis script shows 1 of several technique to gather volume delta
-> more explanation can be found in the script itself,
Cheers!
CVD - Cumulative Volume Delta Candles█ OVERVIEW
This indicator displays cumulative volume delta in candle form. It uses intrabar information to obtain more precise volume delta information than methods using only the chart's timeframe.
█ CONCEPTS
Bar polarity
By bar polarity , we mean the direction of a bar, which is determined by looking at the bar's close vs its open .
Intrabars
Intrabars are chart bars at a lower timeframe than the chart's. Each 1H chart bar of a 24x7 market will, for example, usually contain 60 bars at the lower timeframe of 1min, provided there was market activity during each minute of the hour. Mining information from intrabars can be useful in that it offers traders visibility on the activity inside a chart bar.
Lower timeframes (LTFs)
A lower timeframe is a timeframe that is smaller than the chart's timeframe. This script uses a LTF to access intrabars. The lower the LTF, the more intrabars are analyzed, but the less chart bars can display CVD information because there is a limit to the total number of intrabars that can be analyzed.
Volume delta
The volume delta concept divides a bar's volume in "up" and "down" volumes. The delta is calculated by subtracting down volume from up volume. Many calculation techniques exist to isolate up and down volume within a bar. The simplest techniques use the polarity of interbar price changes to assign their volume to up or down slots, e.g., On Balance Volume or the Klinger Oscillator . Others such as Chaikin Money Flow use assumptions based on a bar's OHLC values. The most precise calculation method uses tick data and assigns the volume of each tick to the up or down slot depending on whether the transaction occurs at the bid or ask price. While this technique is ideal, it requires huge amounts of data on historical bars, which usually limits the historical depth of charts and the number of symbols for which tick data is available.
This indicator uses intrabar analysis to achieve a compromise between the simplest and most precise methods of calculating volume delta. In the context where historical tick data is not yet available on TradingView, intrabar analysis is the most precise technique to calculate volume delta on historical bars on our charts. Our Volume Profile indicators use it. Other volume delta indicators in our Community Scripts such as the Realtime 5D Profile use realtime chart updates to achieve more precise volume delta calculations, but that method cannot be used on historical bars, so those indicators only work in real time.
This is the logic we use to assign intrabar volume to up or down slots:
• If the intrabar's open and close values are different, their relative position is used.
• If the intrabar's open and close values are the same, the difference between the intrabar's close and the previous intrabar's close is used.
• As a last resort, when there is no movement during an intrabar and it closes at the same price as the previous intrabar, the last known polarity is used.
Once all intrabars making up a chart bar have been analyzed and the up or down property of each intrabar's volume determined, the up volumes are added and the down volumes subtracted. The resulting value is volume delta for that chart bar.
█ FEATURES
CVD Candles
Cumulative Volume Delta Candles present volume delta information as it evolves during a period of time.
This is how each candle's levels are calculated:
• open : Each candle's' open level is the cumulative volume delta for the current period at the start of the bar.
This value becomes zero on the first candle following a CVD reset.
The candles after the first one always open where the previous candle closed.
The candle's high, low and close levels are then calculated by adding or subtracting a volume value to the open.
• high : The highest volume delta value found in intrabars. If it is not higher than the volume delta for the bar, then that candle will have no upper wick.
• low : The lowest volume delta value found in intrabars. If it is not lower than the volume delta for the bar, then that candle will have no lower wick.
• close : The aggregated volume delta for all intrabars. If volume delta is positive for the chart bar, then the candle's close will be higher than its open, and vice versa.
The candles are plotted in one of two configurable colors, depending on the polarity of volume delta for the bar.
CVD resets
The "cumulative" part of the indicator's name stems from the fact that calculations accumulate during a period of time. This allows you to analyze the progression of volume delta across manageable chunks, which is often more useful than looking at volume delta cumulated from the beginning of a chart's history.
You can configure the reset period using the "CVD Resets" input, which offers the following selections:
• None : Calculations do not reset.
• On a fixed higher timeframe : Calculations reset on the higher timeframe you select in the "Fixed higher timeframe" field.
• At a fixed time that you specify.
• At the beginning of the regular session .
• On a stepped higher timeframe : Calculations reset on a higher timeframe automatically stepped using the chart's timeframe and following these rules:
Chart TF HTF
< 1min 1H
< 3H 1D
<= 12H 1W
< 1W 1M
>= 1W 1Y
The indicator's background shows where resets occur.
Intrabar precision
The precision of calculations increases with the number of intrabars analyzed for each chart bar. It is controlled through the script's "Intrabar precision" input, which offers the following selections:
• Least precise, covering many chart bars
• Less precise, covering some chart bars
• More precise, covering less chart bars
• Most precise, 1min intrabars
As there is a limit to the number of intrabars that can be analyzed by a script, a tradeoff occurs between the number of intrabars analyzed per chart bar and the chart bars for which calculations are possible.
Total volume candles
You can choose to display candles showing the total intrabar volume for the chart bar. This provides you with more context to evaluate a bar's volume delta by showing it relative to the sum of intrabar volume. Note that because of the reasons explained in the "NOTES" section further down, the total volume is the sum of all intrabar volume rather than the volume of the bar at the chart's timeframe.
Total volume candles can be configured with their own up and down colors. You can also control the opacity of their bodies to make them more or less prominent. This publication's chart shows the indicator with total volume candles. They are turned off by default, so you will need to choose to display them in the script's inputs for them to plot.
Divergences
Divergences occur when the polarity of volume delta does not match that of the chart bar. You can identify divergences by coloring the CVD candles differently for them, or by coloring the indicator's background.
Information box
An information box in the lower-left corner of the indicator displays the HTF used for resets, the LTF used for intrabars, and the average quantity of intrabars per chart bar. You can hide the box using the script's inputs.
█ INTERPRETATION
The first thing to look at when analyzing CVD candles is the side of the zero line they are on, as this tells you if CVD is generally bullish or bearish. Next, one should consider the relative position of successive candles, just as you would with a price chart. Are successive candles trending up, down, or stagnating? Keep in mind that whatever trend you identify must be considered in the context of where it appears with regards to the zero line; an uptrend in a negative CVD (below the zero line) may not be as powerful as one taking place in positive CVD values, but it may also predate a movement into positive CVD territory. The same goes with stagnation; a trader in a long position will find stagnation in positive CVD territory less worrisome than stagnation under the zero line.
After consideration of the bigger picture, one can drill down into the details. Exactly what you are looking for in markets will, of course, depend on your trading methodology, but you may find it useful to:
• Evaluate volume delta for the bar in relation to price movement for that bar.
• Evaluate the proportion that volume delta represents of total volume.
• Notice divergences and if the chart's candle shape confirms a hesitation point, as a Doji would.
• Evaluate if the progress of CVD candles correlates with that of chart bars.
• Analyze the wicks. As with price candles, long wicks tend to indicate weakness.
Always keep in mind that unless you have chosen not to reset it, your CVD resets for each period, whether it is fixed or automatically stepped. Consequently, any trend from the preceding period must re-establish itself in the next.
█ NOTES
Know your volume
Traders using volume information should understand the volume data they are using: where it originates and what transactions it includes, as this can vary with instruments, sectors, exchanges, timeframes, and between historical and realtime bars. The information used to build a chart's bars and display volume comes from data providers (exchanges, brokers, etc.) who often maintain distinct feeds for intraday and end-of-day (EOD) timeframes. How volume data is assembled for the two feeds depends on how instruments are traded in that sector and/or the volume reporting policy for each feed. Instruments from crypto and forex markets, for example, will often display similar volume on both feeds. Stocks will often display variations because block trades or other types of trades may not be included in their intraday volume data. Futures will also typically display variations.
Note that as intraday vs EOD variations exist for historical bars on some instruments, differences may also exist between the realtime feeds used on intraday vs 1D or greater timeframes for those same assets. Realtime reporting rules will often be different from historical feed reporting rules, so variations between realtime feeds will often be different from the variations between historical feeds for the same instrument. The Volume X-ray indicator can help you analyze differences between intraday and EOD volumes for the instruments you trade.
If every unit of volume is both bought by a buyer and sold by a seller, how can volume delta make sense?
Traders who do not understand the mechanics of matching engines (the exchange software that matches orders from buyers and sellers) sometimes argue that the concept of volume delta is flawed, as every unit of volume is both bought and sold. While they are rigorously correct in stating that every unit of volume is both bought and sold, they overlook the fact that information can be mined by analyzing variations in the price of successive ticks, or in our case, intrabars.
Our calculations model the situation where, in fully automated order handling, market orders are generally matched to limit orders sitting in the order book. Buy market orders are matched to quotes at the ask level and sell market orders are matched to quotes at the bid level. As explained earlier, we use the same logic when comparing intrabar prices. While using intrabar analysis does not produce results as precise as when individual transactions — or ticks — are analyzed, results are much more precise than those of methods using only chart prices.
Not only does the concept underlying volume delta make sense, it provides a window on an oft-overlooked variable which, with price and time, is the only basic information representing market activity. Furthermore, because the calculation of volume delta also uses price and time variations, one could conceivably surmise that it can provide a more complete model than ones using price and time only. Whether or not volume delta can be useful in your trading practice, as usual, is for you to decide, as each trader's methodology is different.
For Pine Script™ coders
As our latest Polarity Divergences publication, this script uses the recently released request.security_lower_tf() Pine Script™ function discussed in this blog post . It works differently from the usual request.security() in that it can only be used at LTFs, and it returns an array containing one value per intrabar. This makes it much easier for programmers to access intrabar information.
Look first. Then leap.
Delta Volume by SiddWolfDelta Volume is Difference between Buying Volume and Selling Volume. This indicator gives the Delta Volume based on Lower TimeFrame Candles. It utilizes security_lower_tf() function, a function that provides Lower TF candle data in Higher TF Chart.
security_lower_tf() is a new function provided by TradingView yesterday. If you are a PineScript Programmer, I suggest you to read about it, as it is a very powerful function that can extremely improve your trading strategy.
How this indicator works:
This indicator checks volume data on lower TimeFrame Candles and Shows it's delta in the current Chart Timeframe. For example: If you open 4 hours chart, this indicator checks volume of 1 minute chart and separates Buying-Selling volume. Then it subtracts Candle's Selling volume from Candle's Buying volume, finally calculating the Delta Volume.
This indicator also provides a Smooth Delta Volume, which is moving average of Delta Volume. As Delta Volume changes a lot, Smooth Delta Volume can be very helpful for identifying Trends . Goto settings and in "Show" section select "Smooth Delta Volume" to lay it on the chart.
Settings is the Key:
Settings are key to all of my indicators. Play around with it a bit. You can change what to show on the chart from settings. Smooth Delta Volume moving average length can be changed from the settings. You can also select "Show as Percentage", which shows Delta Volume as Percentage of Overall Candle's Volume. If you use Weekly or Monthly Timeframe, change increase lower timeframe from settings. Read the tooltips to understand what each settings mean. Tooltips are the (i) button in-front of each settings.
FAQs:
Q. Does the indicator Repaint ?
--- No. None of my indicators repaints. What you see now is what's drawn in real time.
Q. What TimeFrame is Best for this Indicator ?
--- It can be used on timeframes from 5 minutes to higher. But I would prefer to use it from timeframes higher than 30 minutes, as it gathers data from 1 minute TF.
Q. Indicator doesn't show anything ?
--- This indicator only works on security with Volume data. Also use it from higher timeframe than specified in Settings, because Volume Delta is calculated using Data from Lower TimeFrame.
Q. Delta volume is not provided by TradingView, So how exactly does this indicator work?
--- This indicator takes advantage of new pinescript function security_lower_tf(), and calculates volume for smaller timeframe data and calculates delta on higher timeframe.
Q. Does this indicator give financial advice?
--- No. Nope. Nein. Não. नहीं.
Conclusion:
This indicator is very basic but if used correctly it can be very powerful. If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to comment below. I'd love to connect with you. Thank you.
~ @SiddWolf
[2022]Volume Flow v3 with alertsIndicators are an essential part of technical analysis of cryptocurrency. Their main function is to predict market direction based on historic price, cryptocurrency volume and other information. There are several types of crypto indicators illustrating various parameters (trend, volatility, volume, momentum, etc.) but in this article we will look at volume indicators.
Volume indicators demonstrate changing of trading volume over time. This information is very useful as crypto trading volume displays how strong the current trend is. For example, if the price goes up and the volume is high then the trend is strong and will more likely last longer. There are various volume indicators, but we’ll talk about the most popular ones, such as:
On Balance Volume
Accumulation/Distribution Line
Money Flow Index
Chaikin Oscillator
Chaikin Money Flow
Ease of Movement
S2BU2 Volume Oscillator (Improved)Fair Use:
Please do not take my work and sell it under your own name. This was created to benefit everyone - not one person. Feel free however to use it as part of whatever work you wish to sell (of course i would applaud also giving ideas away for free - your choice though ;)
What it is:
The Basis for this Indicator was the original Volume Oscillator. I added Averages for Highs and Lows to make it easier to see relatively over- or undersupplied zones.
I also modified the oscillator to use a fast and a slow moving average à la MACD on itself to get a cleaner and earlier signal for when to expect a big move.
How it works:
A falling MA-line - especially if beneath the Signal-line indicates weakening Strength. Movements made during this time will barely move the needle.
A rising MA-line - especially if above the Signal-line, indicates increasing strength. Movements made during this time will be relatively considerable.
Crossovers above the average High/ below the average Low are especially relevant.
How to use:
Note this is only a recommendation and not advice. Feel free to experiment and adjust the indicator to fit your tradingstyle. This is only my personal setup. Feel free to share your findings.
Best used in combination with another Indicator that gives impulse direction, like for example my Stochastic Momentum Convergence Divergence (). You may also use any other indicator that works for you for this purpose - i am biased towards my own work though :D
What you want to see is a fresh direction-signal followed by a rising MA-line in the Volume Oscillator. For confirmation you can wait until the Volume Oscillator also has a crossover(up only, do not use the crossdown!) between MA- and Signal-line. Best results should be achieved if the MA-line was well below the averageLow-line. Trenddirection may change even while the Volume continuously goes up. Volume is direction agnostic. Always keep an eye on your direction indicator as changes can and will occur. These will be equally as violent and often longer lived than the previous direction you caught - you will lose a lot more than you gain if you do not keep track of that! This Indicator will help you to identify when not to waste your time on a trade, it will not be a magic pill that you can use to set and forget.
Effective Volume (Willain)This is the Effective Volume using the Average Separation Method
Excerpt:
The most obvious way to separate Large from Small Effective Volume is to calculate the per-minute average Effective Volume exchanged for all the
minutes of the day where a price inflection was found. The volume above that average is called Large Effective Volume (pg. 67)
Looks at the Close(n) to Close(n-1)/h-c*vol and registers it if its above 30% of total volume.
Buy/Sell Aggregated Delta Pressure - InFinitoModified & Updated script from MARKET VOLUME by Ricardo M Arjona @XeL_Arjona that Includes Aggregated Volume , Delta Buy/Sell Pressure
Aggregation code originally from Crypt0rus
***The indicator can be used for any coin/symbol to aggregate volume , but it has to be set up manually***
***The indicator can be used with specific symbol data only by disabling the aggregation option, which allows for it to be used on any symbol***
- Calculated based on Aggregated Volume instead of by symbol volume . Using aggregated data makes it more accurate and allows to compare volume flow between different kinds of markets (Spot, Futures , Perpetuals, Futures+Perpetuals and All Volume ).
- As well, in order to make the data as accurate as possible, the data from each exchange aggregated is normalized to report always in terms of 1 BTC . In case this indicator is used for another symbol, the calculations can be adjusted manually to make it always report data in terms of 1 contract/coin.
- Buy/Sell Pressure: Smoothens the buy and sell volume into a signal for each. Which makes it easier to identify Buy and Sell Volume Flow.
- Buy/Sell Delta Pressure: Calculates the difference between Buy & Sell Pressure and plots a Delta signal that shows who is in control currently.
- Buy/Sell + Delta Pressure: Displays both Buy & Sell Pressure and Delta pressure. This can help to visualize who is in control but also how much pressure there is on each side.
- A Moving Average can be plotted to the Delta pressure. This, with confluence, can give great entries/exits
Things to look for:
- Divergences: If price keeps moving in one direction but the pressure to that side decreases it can be inferred that the move might slow down soon or revert. As well if pressure to one side increases but price does not react to it, it signals that the other side is stronger.
- MA/Zero Crossovers: Delta Pressure Crossover of its moving average or the 0 Line can indicate direction changes prematurely
Aggr. CDV / Delta Volume - InFinitoModified & Updated script from MARKET VOLUME by Ricardo M Arjona @XeL_Arjona that Includes Aggregated Volume, Delta Volume, Volume by Side
Aggregation code originally from Crypt0rus
Candle Plotting code from LonesomeTheBlue
***The indicator can be used for any coin/symbol to aggregate volume , but it has to be set up manually***
***The indicator can be used with specific symbol data only by disabling the aggregation option, which allows for it to be used on any symbol***
- Calculated based on Aggregated Volume instead of by symbol volume . Using aggregated data makes it more accurate and allows to compare volume flow between different kinds of markets (Spot, Futures , Perpetuals, Futures+Perpetuals and All Volume ).
- As well, in order to make the data as accurate as possible, the data from each exchange aggregated is normalized to report always in terms of 1 BTC . In case this indicator is used for another symbol, the calculations can be adjusted manually to make it always report data in terms of 1 contract/coin.
All Aggregated Volume By Side: Based of Xel_Arjona's calculation, buy and sell volume is estimated each period. This indicators can display both Buy Volume and Sell Volume for each period.
Aggregated Delta Volume By Side: Displays the difference between Buy & Sell Volume as Delta (Down if Sell Vol - Up if Buy Vol)
Aggregated Cumulative Delta Volume: Displays the sum of Delta Volume as a line, candles or Heiken Aishi Candles. Great for observing Volume Flow and spotting divergences
- It is Possible to add an MA to the CVD and to color fill in between the indicator and the MA
- It is possible to reset the indicators basis to 0 periodically
[Mad] Volume DeltaThis is a volume indicator that splits purchases and sales into 2 separate columns.
In addition, I added some POW factors to scale the volume to a more compact or expanded picture.
The SMA draws the red line indicating the volume of purchases and sales, also with POW factor customizable, so it is possible to scale it within the volume bars
what to do with this information: it is very easy to find rotation points when the selling volume and the buying volume are equal, this is where possible rotation phases occur
have fun
Delta Volume Candles [LucF]█ OVERVIEW
This indicator plots on-chart volume delta information using candles that can replace your normal candles, tops and bottoms appended to normal candles, optional MAs of those tops and bottoms levels, a divergence channel and a chart background. The indicator calculates volume delta using intrabar analysis, meaning that it uses the lower timeframe bars constituting each chart bar.
█ CONCEPTS
Volume Delta
The volume delta concept divides a bar's volume in "up" and "down" volumes. The delta is calculated by subtracting down volume from up volume. Many calculation techniques exist to isolate up and down volume within a bar. The simplest use the polarity of interbar price changes to assign their volume to up or down slots, e.g., On Balance Volume or the Klinger Oscillator . Others such as Chaikin Money Flow use assumptions based on a bar's OHLC values. The most precise calculation method uses tick data and assigns the volume of each tick to the up or down slot depending on whether the transaction occurs at the bid or ask price. While this technique is ideal, it requires huge amounts of data on historical bars, which considerably limits the historical depth of charts and the number of symbols for which tick data is available. Furthermore, historical tick data is not yet available on TradingView.
This indicator uses intrabar analysis to achieve a compromise between the simplest and most precise methods of calculating volume delta. It is currently the most precise method usable on TradingView charts. TradingView's Volume Profile built-in indicators use it, as do the CVD - Cumulative Volume Delta Candles and CVD - Cumulative Volume Delta (Chart) indicators published from the TradingView account . My Delta Volume Channels and Volume Delta Columns Pro indicators also use intrabar analysis. Other volume delta indicators such as my Realtime 5D Profile use realtime chart updates to calculate volume delta without intrabar analysis, but that type of indicator only works in real time; they cannot calculate on historical bars.
This is the logic I use to determine the polarity of intrabars, which determines the up or down slot where its volume is added:
• If the intrabar's open and close values are different, their relative position is used.
• If the intrabar's open and close values are the same, the difference between the intrabar's close and the previous intrabar's close is used.
• As a last resort, when there is no movement during an intrabar, and it closes at the same price as the previous intrabar, the last known polarity is used.
Once all intrabars making up a chart bar have been analyzed and the up or down property of each intrabar's volume determined, the up volumes are added, and the down volumes subtracted. The resulting value is volume delta for that chart bar, which can be used as an estimate of the buying/selling pressure on an instrument. Not all markets have volume information. Without it, this indicator is useless.
Intrabar analysis
Intrabars are chart bars at a lower timeframe than the chart's. The timeframe used to access intrabars determines the number of intrabars accessible for each chart bar. On a 1H chart, each chart bar of an active market will, for example, usually contain 60 bars at the lower timeframe of 1min, provided there was market activity during each minute of the hour.
This indicator automatically calculates an appropriate lower timeframe using the chart's timeframe and the settings you use in the script's "Intrabars" section of the inputs. As it can access lower timeframes as small as seconds when available, the indicator can be used on charts at relatively small timeframes such as 1min, provided the market is active enough to produce bars at second timeframes.
The quantity of intrabars analyzed in each chart bar determines:
• The precision of calculations (more intrabars yield more precise results).
• The chart coverage of calculations (there is a 100K limit to the quantity of intrabars that can be analyzed on any chart,
so the more intrabars you analyze per chart bar, the less chart bars can be calculated by the indicator).
The information box displayed at the bottom right of the chart shows the lower timeframe used for intrabars, as well as the average number of intrabars detected for chart bars and statistics on chart coverage.
Balances
This indicator calculates five balances from volume delta values. The balances are oscillators with a zero centerline; positive values are bullish, and negative values are bearish. It is important to understand the balances as they can be used to:
• Color candle bodies.
• Calculate body and top and bottom divergences.
• Color an EMA channel.
• Color the chart's background.
• Configure markers and alerts.
The five balances are:
1 — Bar Balance : This is the only balance using instant values; it is simply the subtraction of the down volume from the up volume on the bar, so the instant volume delta for that bar.
2 — Average Balance : Calculates a distinct EMA for both the up and down volumes, and subtracts the down EMA from the up EMA.
The result is akin to MACD's histogram because it is the subtraction of two moving averages.
3 — Momentum Balance : Starts by calculating, separately for both up and down volumes, the difference between the same EMAs used in "Average Balance" and
an SMA of twice the period used for the "Average Balance" EMAs. The difference for the up side is subtracted from the difference for the down side,
and an RSI of that value is calculated and brought over the −50/+50 scale.
4 — Relative Balance : The reference values used in the calculation are the up and down EMAs used in the "Average Balance".
From those, we calculate two intermediate values using how much the instant up and down volumes on the bar exceed their respective EMA — but with a twist.
If the bar's up volume does not exceed the EMA of up volume, a zero value is used. The same goes for the down volume with the EMA of down volume.
Once we have our two intermediate values for the up and down volumes exceeding their respective MA, we subtract them. The final value is an ALMA of that subtraction.
The rationale behind using zero values when the bar's up/down volume does not exceed its EMA is to only take into account the more significant volume.
If both instant volume values exceed their MA, then the difference between the two is the signal's value.
The signal is called "relative" because the intermediate values are the difference between the instant up/down volumes and their respective MA.
This balance flatlines when the bar's up/down volumes do not exceed their EMAs, which makes it useful to spot areas where trader interest dwindles, such as consolidations.
The smaller the period of the final value's ALMA, the more easily it will flatline. These flat zones should be considered no-trade zones.
5 — Percent Balance : This balance is the ALMA of the ratio of the "Bar Balance" over the total volume for that bar.
From the balances and marker conditions, two more values are calculated:
1 — Marker Bias : This sums the up/down (+1/‒1) occurrences of the markers 1 to 4 over a period you define, so it ranges from −4 to +4, times the period.
Its calculation will depend on the modes used to calculate markers 3 and 4.
2 — Combined Balances : This is the sum of the bull/bear (+1/−1) states of each of the five balances, so it ranges from −5 to +5.
The periods for all of these balances can be configured in the "Periods" section at the bottom of the script's inputs. As you cannot see the balances on the chart, you can use my Volume Delta Columns Pro indicator in a pane; it can plot the same balances, so you will be able to analyze them.
Divergences
In the context of this indicator, a divergence is any bar where the bear/bull state of a balance (above/below its zero centerline) diverges from the polarity of a chart bar. No directional bias is assigned to divergences when they occur. Candle bodies and tops/bottoms can each be colored differently on divergences detected from distinct balances.
Divergence Channel
The divergence channel is the space between two levels (by default, the bar's open and close ) saved when divergences occur. When price (by default the close ) has breached a channel and a new divergence occurs, a new channel is created. Until that new channel is breached, bars where additional divergences occur will expand the channel's levels if the bar's price points are outside the channel.
Prices breaches of the divergence channel will change its state. Divergence channels can be in one of three different states:
• Bull (green): Price has breached the channel to the upside.
• Bear (red): Price has breached the channel to the downside.
• Neutral (gray): The channel has not yet been breached.
█ HOW TO USE THE INDICATOR
I do not make videos to explain how to use my indicators. I do, however, try hard to include in their description everything one needs to understand what they do. From there, it's up to you to explore and figure out if they can be useful in your trading practice. Communicating in videos what this description and the script's tooltips contain would make for very long videos that would likely exceed the attention span of most people who find this description too long. There is no quick way to understand an indicator such as this one because it uses many different concepts and has quite a bit of settings one can use to modify its visuals and behavior — thus how one uses it. I will happily answer questions on the inner workings of the indicator, but I do not answer questions like "How do I trade using this indicator?" A useful answer to that question would require an in-depth analysis of who you are, your trading methodology and objectives, which I do not have time for. I do not teach trading.
Start by loading the indicator on an active chart containing volume information. See here if you need help.
The default configuration displays:
• Normal candles where the bodies are only colored if the bar's volume has increased since the last bar.
If you want to use this indicator's candles, you may want to disable your chart's candles by clicking the eye icon to the right of the symbol's name in the top left of the chart.
• A top or bottom appended to the normal candles. It represents the difference between up and down volume for that bar
and is positioned at the top or bottom, depending on its polarity. If up volume is greater than down volume, a top is displayed. If down volume is greater, a bottom is plotted.
The size of tops and bottoms is determined by calculating a factor which is the proportion of volume delta over the bar's total volume.
That factor is then used to calculate the top or bottom size relative to a baseline of the average candle body size of the last 100 bars.
• An information box in the bottom right displaying intrabar and chart coverage information.
• A light red background when the intrabar volume differs from the chart's volume by more than 1%.
The script's inputs contain tooltips explaining most of the fields. I will not repeat them here. Following is a brief description of each section of the indicator's inputs which will give you an idea of what the indicator can do:
Normal Candles is where you configure the replacement candles plotted by the script. You can choose from different coloring schemes for their bodies and specify a unique color for bodies where a divergence calculated using the method you choose occurs.
Volume Tops & Botttoms is where you configure the display of tops and bottoms, and their EMAs. The EMAs are calculated from the high point of tops and the low point of bottoms. They can act as a channel to evaluate price, and you can choose to color the channel using a gradient reflecting the advances/declines in the balance of your choice.
Divergence Channel is where you set up the appearance and behavior of the divergence channel. These areas represent levels where price and volume delta information do not converge. They can be interpreted as regions with no clear direction from where one will look for breaches. You can configure the channel to take into account one or both types of divergences you have configured for candle bodies and tops/bottoms.
Background allows you to configure a gradient background color that reflects the advances/declines in the balance of your choice. You can use this to provide context to the volume delta values from bars. You can also control the background color displayed on volume discrepancies between the intrabar and the chart's timeframe.
Intrabars is where you choose the calculation mode determining the lower timeframe used to access intrabars. The indicator uses the chart's timeframe and the type of market you are on to calculate the lower timeframe. Your setting there should reflect which compromise you prefer between the precision of calculations and chart coverage. This is also where you control the display of the information box in the lower right corner of the chart.
Markers allows you to control the plotting of chart markers on different conditions. Their configuration determines when alerts generated from the indicator will fire. Note that in order to generate alerts from this script, they must be created from your chart. See this Help Center page to learn how. Only the last 500 markers will be visible on the chart, but this will not affect the generation of alerts.
Periods is where you configure the periods for the balances and the EMAs used in the indicator.
The raw values calculated by this script can be inspected using the Data Window.
█ INTERPRETATION
Rightly or wrongly, volume delta is considered by many a useful complement to the interpretation of price action. I use it extensively in an attempt to find convergence between my read of volume delta and price movement — not so much as a predictor of future price movement. No system or person can predict the future. Accordingly, I consider people who speak or act as if they know the future with certainty to be dangerous to themselves and others; they are charlatans, imprudent or blissfully ignorant.
I try to avoid elaborate volume delta interpretation schemes involving too many variables and prefer to keep things simple:
• Trends that have more chances of continuing should be accompanied by VD of the same polarity.
In trends, I am looking for "slow and steady". I work from the assumption that traders and systems often overreact, which translates into unproductive volatility.
Wild trends are more susceptible to overreactions.
• I prefer steady VD values over wildly increasing ones, as large VD increases often come with increased price volatility, which can backfire.
Large VD values caused by stopping volume will also often occur on trend reversals with abnormally high candles.
• Prices escaping divergence channels may be leading a trend in that direction, although there is no telling how long that trend will last; could be just a few bars or hundreds.
When price is in a channel, shifts in VD balances can sometimes give us an idea of the direction where price has the most chance of breaking.
• Dwindling VD will often indicate trend exhaustion and predate reversals by many bars, but the problem is that mere pauses in a trend will often produce the same behavior in VD.
I think it is too perilous to infer rigidly from VD decreases.
Divergence Channel
Here I have configured the divergence channels to be visible. First, I set the bodies to display divergences on the default Bar Balance. They are indicated by yellow bodies. Then I activated the divergence channels by choosing to draw levels on body divergences and checked the "Fill" checkbox to fill the channel with the same color as the levels. The divergence channel is best understood as a direction-less area from where a breach can be acted on if other variables converge with the breach's direction:
Tops and Bottoms EMAs
I find these EMAs rather interesting. They have no equivalent elsewhere, as they are calculated from the top and bottom values this indicator plots. The only similarity they have with volume-weighted MAs, including VWAP, is that they use price and volume. This indicator's Tops and Bottoms EMAs, however, use the price and volume delta. While the channel differs from other channels in how it is calculated, it can be used like others, as a baseline from which to evaluate price movement or, alternatively, as stop levels. Remember that you can change the period used for the EMAs in the "Periods" section of the inputs.
This chart shows the EMAs in action, filled with a gradient representing the advances/decline from the Momentum balance. Notice the anomaly in the chart's latest bars where the Momentum balance gradient has been indicating a bullish bias for some time, during which price was mostly below the EMAs. Price has just broken above the channel on positive VD. My interpretation of this situation would be that it is a risky opportunity for a long trade in the larger context where the market has been in a downtrend since the 5th. Intrepid traders choosing to enter here could do so with a "make or break" tight stop that will minimize their losses should the market continue its downtrend while hopefully preserving the potential upside of price continuing on the longer-term uptrend prevalent since the 28th:
█ NOTES
Volume
If you use indicators such as this one which depends on volume information, it is important to realize that the volume data they consume comes from data feeds, and that all data feeds are NOT created equally. Those who create the data feeds we use must make decisions concerning the nature of the transactions they tally and the way they are tallied in each feed, and these decisions affect the nature of our volume data. My Volume X-ray publication discusses some of the reasons why volume information from different timeframes, brokers/exchanges or sectors may vary considerably. I encourage you to read it. This indicator's display of a warning through a background color on volume discrepancies between the timeframe used to access intrabars and the chart's timeframe is an attempt to help you realize these variations in feeds. Don't take things for granted, and understand that the quality of a given feed's volume information affects the quality of the results this indicator calculates.
Markets as ecosystems
I believe it is perilous to think that behavioral patterns you discover in one market through the lens of this or any other indicator will necessarily port to other markets. While this may sometimes be the case, it will often not. Why is that? Because each market is its own ecosystem. As cities do, all markets share some common characteristics, but they also all have their idiosyncrasies. A proportion of a city's inhabitants is always composed of outsiders who come and go, but a core population of regulars and systems is usually the force that actually defines most of the city's observable characteristics. I believe markets work somewhat the same way; they may look the same, but if you live there for a while and pay attention, you will notice the idiosyncrasies. Some things that work in some markets will, accordingly, not work in others. Please keep that in mind when you draw conclusions.
On Up/Down or Buy/Sell Volume
Buying or selling volume are misnomers, as every unit of volume transacted is both bought and sold by two different traders. While this does not keep me from using the terms, there is no such thing as “buy only” or “sell only” volume. Trader lingo is riddled with peculiarities. Without access to order book information, traders work with the assumption that when price moves up during a bar, there was more buying pressure than selling pressure, just as when buy market orders take out limit ask orders in the order book at successively higher levels. The built-in volume indicator available on TradingView uses this logic to color the volume columns green or red. While this script’s calculations are more precise because it analyses intrabars to calculate its information, it uses pretty much the same imperfect logic. Until Pine scripts can have access to how much volume was transacted at the bid/ask prices, our volume delta calculations will remain a mere proxy.
Repainting
• The values calculated on the realtime bar will update as new information comes from the feed.
• Historical values may recalculate if the historical feed is updated or when calculations start from a new point in history.
• Markers and alerts will not repaint as they only occur on a bar's close. Keep this in mind when viewing markers on historical bars,
where one could understandably and incorrectly assume they appear at the bar's open.
To learn more about repainting, see the Pine Script™ User Manual's page on the subject .
Superfluity
In "The Bed of Procrustes", Nassim Nicholas Taleb writes: To bankrupt a fool, give him information . This indicator can display a lot of information. The inevitable adaptation period you will need to figure out how to use it should help you eliminate all the visuals you do not need. The more you eliminate, the easier it will be to focus on those that are the most useful to your trading practice. Don't be a fool.
█ THANKS
Thanks to alexgrover for his Dekidaka-Ashi indicator. His volume plots on candles were the inspiration for my top/bottom plots.
Kudos to PineCoders for their libraries. I use two of them in this script: Time and lower_tf .
The first versions of this script used functionality that I would not have known about were it not for these two guys:
— A guy called Kuan who commented on a Backtest Rookies presentation of their Volume Profile indicator.
— theheirophant , my partner in the exploration of the sometimes weird abysses of request.security() ’s behavior at lower timeframes.