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.
- Weapon tier
- Standard
- Slots used
- Sub-charts 1/2
Concept
One line is drawn in a lower panel. It compares the average volume of the last 5 candles with that of the last 10 candles.
Above 0, trading has been picking up compared with usual; below 0, it has been thinning out. It does not use the price, so it does not say whether the price will rise or fall.
- Volume Oscillator
Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
80 candles with volume, and the Volume Oscillator line in a lower panel. While the price slowly falls, trading dries up and the line stays below 0. At candle 60 (↑) the line moves above 0, and a few candles later the price jumps on heavy volume while the line shoots up. Keyboard: ←/→ to move, +/− to zoom, 0 to see the whole chart.
Moving above 0 only means trading has started to pick up again. This chart was picked because the price rose afterwards; volume rising while the price falls is just as common. 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
Take the 5-candle simple average of volume (short average) and the 10-candle simple average (long average). This is the same calculation as the volume MA in lesson 4.
Volume Oscillator = (short average − long average) ÷ long average × 100. If the short average is twice the long one, it reads 100.
Parameters
| What it sets | Name in the game | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Candles in the short volume average | fastPeriod | 5 | 1 – 100 |
| Candles in the long volume average | slowPeriod | 10 | 2 – 200 |
Trading ideas
Confirming a breakout: if the line is well above 0 when the price breaks out of a box or past resistance, it is seen as “a breakout backed by trading”. A breakout on shrinking volume is treated with suspicion.
Interest returning: when the line has been below 0 for a long time and moves above it, it is read as “people have started trading this stock again”. The chart on this page shows that scene.
Common traps
- It does not tell you the direction. Panic selling also raises volume — do not buy just because the line rose.
- A single day with a burst of volume lifts the line for 5 candles.
- None of these are sure signals. Read them together with the price trend (lesson 2).
In the game
- “Volume Oscillator” 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 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.
- Force Index — An indicator that multiplies how far the price moved by volume, showing whether the “force” was behind the rising side or the falling side.
- 4. Volume and volume MA