# Strength/weakness Background Strength/weakness Background is an indicator on [Vela](https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart), our next-generation charting platform, written in Pine Script®. Shades the chart background by the balance of volume-spread evidence: stopping volume, shakeouts and successful tests build the strength side, while upthrusts, no-demand rallies and effort without result build weakness. Events decay over a 30-bar window, the verdict flips only past a threshold, structure breaks confirm it, and eight alerts cover flips, confirmations and signs. - Indicator in the LuxAlgo Library, by LuxAlgo, published Jun 15, 2026. - Access: free. - Concepts: [Strength/weakness Background](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/strength-weakness-background/) (primary), [Volume Spread Analysis](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/volume-spread-analysis/) - Open on Vela: https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart?pineScriptCodeId=t8dop9w6p4fb532tahndhlxx - Page: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/strength-weakness-background/ **Strength/weakness Background** turns bar-by-bar volume-spread reads into one persistent visual verdict, the first faithful implementation of the [strength/weakness background](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/strength-weakness-background/). Six classic events are graded each bar against rolling volume and spread averages and the recent range: stopping volume, shakeouts and successful tests build strength; upthrusts, no-demand rallies and effort without result build weakness. Each event adds weighted evidence that decays exponentially, and the background shades once the net tally crosses a threshold and keeps that verdict until the opposite threshold is reached, darkening as evidence stacks and fading as it ages. ## How to Trade the Strength/weakness Background? - **Background as bias**: a strength background says recent evidence favors accumulation, weakness distribution. Context for setups, not entries. - **Structure confirmation**: a fresh verdict stays Awaiting Break until price closes beyond the prior swing in its direction, both stages alerted. - **Aligned signs**: an event printing while the background already leans its way, timing in agreement with the bias, with its own alerts. It reads naturally beside other [Wyckoff-method tools](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/family/wyckoff/) built on the same effort-versus-result logic. ## Strength/weakness Background Settings - **Average Length** (default 20): the volume and spread baselines. - **High Volume Multiplier** (default 1.5): the climactic-effort bar. - **Range Lookback** (default 20) and **Swing Length** (default 10): the range events interact with, and the confirmation pivot. - Event toggles: **Stopping Volume**, **Shakeout**, **Successful Test**, **Upthrust**, **No Demand**, **Effort Without Result** (all on). - **Evidence Window** (default 30), **Climactic Event Weight** (default 2), **Response Event Weight** (default 1), **Verdict Threshold** (default 1): decay, weights, flip bar. - **Event Markers** (default off), **Dashboard** (on), **Full Intensity Evidence** (default 4). ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does this differ from the standalone Upthrust build? The dedicated [Upthrust](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/upthrust/) isolates one failed-markup event as a tradable occurrence. Here an upthrust is one of six evidence streams feeding a persistent regime verdict. The background answers which side has been winning, not what just happened. ### Why didn't a strong contrary bar flip the background? By design: evidence must cross the opposite threshold before the verdict changes, so one event rarely outweighs an accumulated lean. Raising the Verdict Threshold makes flips rarer; lowering it makes it more reactive. ### Does it work without volume data? No. Four of the six events are judged on volume, and none is graded until volume data is present. Symbols reporting no volume get a warning instead of a shaded background. ## Related indicators - [No-demand / No-supply Bars](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/no-demand-no-supply-bars/) (Volume Spread Analysis): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/no-demand-no-supply-bars.md - [VSA Test Bar](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/vsa-test-bar/) (Volume Spread Analysis): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/vsa-test-bar.md - [Stopping Volume](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/stopping-volume/) (Volume & Order Flow): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/stopping-volume.md - [Climactic Action](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/climactic-action/) (Volume & Order Flow): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/climactic-action.md - [Value Area Reversion Signals](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/value-area-reversion-signals/) (Volume & Order Flow): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/value-area-reversion-signals.md - [Structure Volume Profile Setups](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/structure-volume-profile/) (Volume & Order Flow): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/structure-volume-profile.md - [AMD POC Trade Setup](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/amd-poc-trade-setup/) (Volume & Order Flow): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/amd-poc-trade-setup.md - [Volume Footprint](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/volume-footprint/) (Volume & Order Flow): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/volume-footprint.md --- Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/strength-weakness-background/ (LuxAlgo Library). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/