# Volume-adjusted MA

Volume-adjusted MA is an indicator on [Vela](https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart), our next-generation charting platform, written in Pine Script®.

Implements Richard Arms' volume-adjusted moving average: price is weighted in fixed increments of typical volume, so the window stretches over thin tape and compresses when activity surges. Runs a 20-increment budget with Arms' 0.67 factor by default, plus slope coloring, an optional comparison SMA, and a dashboard reporting the elastic lookback and budget fill.

- Indicator in the LuxAlgo Library, by LuxAlgo, published Jun 7, 2026.
- Access: free.
- Concepts: [Volume-adjusted MA](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/volume-adjusted-ma/) (primary)
- Open on Vela: https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart?pineScriptCodeId=q6wkvnrszdlt6va8x86g7vj4
- Page: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/volume-adjusted-ma/

**Volume-adjusted MA** is the exacting rebuild of Richard Arms' elastic average: instead of averaging the last N bars, it averages the last N increments of business. One increment equals average bar volume times Arms' 0.67 factor, each bar's weight is its volume divided by that increment, and the [volume-adjusted moving average](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/volume-adjusted-ma/) stretches across as many bars as spending the budget requires: a handful when tape is busy, far more in drift. The line colors by slope, an optional SMA overlays the time-weight benchmark, and a dashboard reports the increment size, effective lookback, budget fill, and gap versus the SMA.

## How to Trade the Volume-adjusted MA?

- **Rising / falling slope**: a participation-weighted trend read. Quiet bars barely move the line.
- **Price crossing the line**: the classic moving-average cross, weighted by activity; both directions carry alerts and optional markers.
- **Gap versus the Comparison SMA**: the lines separate where heavy trade disagrees with the calendar; pair crossings have their own alerts.

It slots into the [trend toolkit](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/family/trend/) anywhere a time-based average would sit.

## Volume-adjusted MA Settings

- **Source** (default close): the price each bar contributes.
- **Length (Volume Increments)** (default 20): the volume budget N, measured in increments rather than bars.
- **Increment Factor** (default 0.67): Arms' published scaling; raise for longer reach, lower for a faster window.
- **Average Volume Sample** (default All Bars (Arms)): the whole-history mean, or Fixed Window via **Sample Length** (default 100).
- **Max Lookback (Bars)** (default 500): caps the elastic reach; the dashboard's budget fill shows when it binds.
- **Comparison SMA** (default disabled), **SMA Length** (default 20): the time-weight benchmark.
- Dashboard and style toggles cover slope coloring, line width, the gradient fill, and crossing markers.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How is this different from the elastic volume-weighted MA?

The [Elastic Volume-weighted MA](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/elastic-volume-weighted-ma/) folds volume into a recursive update of a single running value, while Arms' construction spends a fixed volume budget over a variable window. Both measure business done rather than clock time; the stretching lookback is the Arms signature.

### What happens on symbols with no volume feed?

Every bar counts as exactly one increment and the line degrades to a time-weighted window. It just loses the elastic behavior.

### Which SMA length is the fair comparison?

Matching the budget (20) compares like for like in increment terms; with the 0.67 factor that budget spans roughly 13 bars on steady volume, so a 13-bar SMA is the speed-matched choice.

## Related indicators

- [Trend Regularity Adaptive Moving Average](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/trend-regularity-adaptive-moving-average/) (TRAMA): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/trend-regularity-adaptive-moving-average.md
- [Machine Learning Moving Average](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/machine-learning-moving-average/) (Adaptive-lookback MA): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/machine-learning-moving-average.md
- [ZLEMA](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/zlema/) (Trend): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/zlema.md
- [Moving Average Converging](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/moving-average-converging/) (EMA): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/moving-average-converging.md
- [MLMA](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/mlma/) (Trend): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/mlma.md
- [JMA](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/jma/) (Trend): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/jma.md
- [T3](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/t3/) (Trend): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/t3.md
- [Hull Butterfly Oscillator](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/hull-butterfly-oscillator/) (HMA): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/hull-butterfly-oscillator.md

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Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/volume-adjusted-ma/ (LuxAlgo Library). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/