Accumulation/Distribution

Accumulation/Distribution keeps a running tally of volume-weighted pressure, crediting each bar's volume in proportion to where the close lands within the bar's high-low range. A close near the high pushes the line up, a close near the low pulls it down, and a midrange close adds little either way — so the total tracks whether volume keeps arriving on strong closes or weak ones. This is the standard raw implementation of Marc Chaikin's Accumulation/Distribution Line: cumulative from the start of the loaded history, with no length parameter and no smoothing.

How to Trade the Accumulation/Distribution?

• A/D rising with price: volume is flowing in behind the advance, giving the trend confirmation.
• A/D falling with price: weak closes on volume accompany the decline, confirming the downtrend.
• Price at a new high, A/D at a lower high: bearish divergence — the push is happening on closes that sit lower in their ranges.
• Price at a new low, A/D at a higher low: bullish divergence — selling pressure is drying up even as price probes lower.
• Slope changes during a trend: a flattening A/D line is the earliest and least reliable warning — wait for price structure to confirm.

Only the line's direction and how its swings compare with price swings carry information — the absolute number merely reflects where the loaded history begins.

Accumulation/Distribution Settings

The classic A/D Line takes no parameters — a cumulative sum with no lookback window, nothing to tune, no way to misconfigure. The build's only input is the A/D Line color used for the plot; everything else is defined by the formula itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Accumulation/Distribution different from On-Balance Volume?

OBV pushes each bar's entire volume up or down based purely on the close-to-close direction. A/D instead grades every bar by where its close finishes inside its own range, so a down day that closes near its high can still register accumulation — more granular within each bar, where OBV is more sensitive to what happens between bars.

Why does the A/D value differ between charts?

The line is cumulative, so its level depends entirely on the first bar of loaded data: two feeds with different history depth produce different running totals for the same symbol, and both are correct. Compare slopes, turning points, and divergences — never absolute values.

What is the indicator's main limitation?

The multiplier is computed inside each bar's own range and never references the prior close, so gaps never enter the calculation: a session that opens sharply lower yet closes near its high still registers positive money flow. It also depends on trustworthy volume, so it is most reliable on liquid instruments.