Force Index — Indicator dictionary

An indicator that multiplies how far the price moved by volume, showing whether the “force” was behind the rising side or the falling side.

Weapon tier: Standard
Slots used: Sub-charts 1/2
Created by: Alexander Elder

Concept

One line is drawn in a lower panel. For each candle it takes “how much the price rose (or fell) from the previous candle × volume”, then smooths that with a 13-candle exponential average.

Above 0, the force has recently been on the rising side; below 0, on the falling side. The bigger the move and the heavier the trading, the further it gets from 0.

Force Index

Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™

The big spike comes from a single heavy-volume day. Afterwards the price moved sideways, a little higher. This chart was picked because the price rose after the line crossed 0; it does not always happen. Drag the chart sideways with a finger or the mouse to move it, and pinch with two fingers to zoom in. With a keyboard, click the chart, then use ←/→ to move and +/− to zoom.

How it is calculated

For each candle, take (close − previous close) × volume. Down candles give a negative value.

The 13-candle exponential average of that value is the Force Index. Recent candles weigh more.

Parameters

What it sets	Name in the game	Default	Range
Candles for smoothing (exponential)	period	13	2 – 100

Trading ideas

Crossing 0: when the line has been below 0 for a long time and moves above it, it is commonly read as “the selling force has run out and buying force has taken over”. The chart on this page shows that scene.

Dips in a trend: some traders buy where, during a rise, the line dips briefly below 0 and comes back up, reading it as a pause.

Common traps

A single day with a burst of volume makes the line spike. Watch whether it is above or below 0 rather than how high it spikes.
The higher a stock’s price, the bigger the numbers, so you cannot compare heights between stocks.
None of these are sure signals. Read them together with the trend (lesson 2).

In the game

“Force Index” is a “Standard” weapon and uses 1 of the “Sub-charts” panels (limit 2). Volume in the starting setup already uses 1, so adding it brings it to 2 (0 left).
When the line goes below 0 somewhere on screen, a dotted zero line is drawn in the panel.

Related indicators and lessons

Volume Profile — An indicator that shows with horizontal bars which price levels saw the most trading, to find “the prices where many people bought and sold”.
OBV — An indicator that keeps a running total, adding the volume of up days and subtracting the volume of down days, to show whether trading leaned toward buyers or sellers.
MFI — An indicator that multiplies price moves by volume to show, from 0 to 100, whether more money has recently flowed in on the buying side or the selling side.
Volume Oscillator — An indicator that shows how many % the short-term average volume is above (or below) the long-term average, telling you whether trading is heating up or cooling down.
Volume Ratio — An indicator that shows the volume of recent up days as a % of the volume of down days, telling you whether trading leaned toward buyers or sellers.
AD Line — An indicator that keeps a running total of each candle’s volume, weighted by where the close ended between the day’s high and low, to show buying pressure (accumulation) and selling pressure (distribution).
EOM — An indicator of “how easily the price moves”, showing whether the price rises (or falls) easily even on light volume.
PVT — An indicator that keeps a running total of “% move × volume” for each candle, showing whether volume pushed more on the rising side or the falling side.
CMF — An indicator that weighs, by volume, whether closes over the last 20 candles mostly ended near the top or the bottom of each day, shown between −1 and +1.
VWAP — An average-price line that gives more weight to prices from high-volume candles, showing roughly what people paid on average recently.
4. Volume and volume MA
2. Trends and sideways moves