Positive Volume Index

Positive Volume Index isolates what price does on the crowd's days: the line compounds by the bar's percentage change only when volume rises above the previous session's, and holds flat on every other bar. The definitive clean build of the Positive Volume Index seeds the line at 1000, pairs it with the long signal EMA that anchors the classic regime read, and colors everything by that regime — bullish while PVI holds above its average, bearish below it, neutral before the average has formed.

How to Trade the Positive Volume Index?

• PVI above its signal EMA: high-participation sessions are trending above their own long-run norm — the classic bullish environment read, with an alert on the cross above.
• PVI below its signal EMA: the bearish environment, alerted on the cross below.
• Slope turns: PVI only moves on rising-volume sessions, so a turn in the line marks the latest high-participation day changing sides; turned-rising and turned-falling each alert.

The line's absolute level carries no information — it depends on the seed and where data begins — so the reads are slope and position against the average. PVI is slow by construction and suits regime filtering over trade timing.

Positive Volume Index Settings

• Source (default close): series whose one-bar percentage change moves the line on active sessions.
• Starting Value (default 1000): seed of the cumulative line; it shifts the level without changing any read.
• Signal EMA (default enabled, length 255): the long average behind the regime read — roughly a trading year on daily charts; hiding it keeps the coloring, fill, and alerts, all measured against it.
• Gradient Fill (default enabled): shading between PVI and its average, strongest at the PVI value; remaining Style inputs set colors.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does PVI relate to the Negative Volume Index?

They are mirror constructions: the Negative Volume Index updates only on falling-volume sessions — the quiet days — while PVI updates on the expanding-volume ones. Run together, they show whether the loud days and the quiet days tell the same story.

Why does the line go flat for long stretches?

Any session whose volume fails to exceed the prior session's leaves PVI unchanged, so flat stretches mean participation is not expanding. Missing volume counts as inactive, and a symbol with no volume at all stops the study with an error.

Does the starting value change the signals?

No. The seed only sets where the cumulative line begins; crosses of the signal EMA and slope turns are identical at any seed because both compare the line against itself.