Advance Decline Volume Oscillator

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Patent #: US 7,831,984 B2
MarketVolume®'s technology of displaying and presenting intraday volume and volume based technical indicators is protected by copyright law and patent. Unauthorized distribution or reproduction of proprietary technologies will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law.

The A-D volume oscillator is widely used to assess market breadth and as an indicator for market strength. When advancing issues outpace declining issues, the advance-decline line moves higher. Conversely, the A-D line moves lower, when the number of declining issues outweighs the number of advancing issues. By studying the A-D oscillator, you can thus determine the overall health of the market.

We are the only source of advance decline indicators for U.S. indexes and exchanges on daily and intraday level which allows to use it in the S&P 500, Russell 2000 and other indexes technical analysis.

The formula for calculating the advance-decline volume oscillator is simple:

A-D Volume Oscillator = Advance Volume - Decline Volume

The formula for calculating the advance-decline momentum volume oscillator is:

A-D Momentum Volume Oscillator = Advance Momentum Volume - Decline Momentum Volume

In the bottom pane of the chart, you will see a green shaded area, where the advances volume exceeds the declines volume. Where the declines volume surpasses the advances volume, you will see a red shaded area. We have added a volume moving average (VMA) that outlines these areas. The VMA turns red or green depending on whether we have a positive or a negative A-D oscillator. Various settings for the VMA could be applied, giving an analyst the ability to determine the best fit for each particular timeframe. The VMA is one of the advantages of the A-D volume oscillator.

The A-D volume oscillator has a horizontal scale from which you can read the advances and declines volume (in billions of shares).

Chart 1. NASDAQ 100 30-day intraday (one bar = 30 min)
Advance-Decline Momentum Volume Oscillator

Chart 2. NASDAQ 100 60-day intraday (one bar = 1 hour)
Advance-Decline Momentum Volume Oscillator

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