Volume indicators

OBV: On Balance Volume

Adds the volume on up days and subtracts it on down days, to see whether volume is backing the trend.

2 Min. Lesezeit · Auf einem Live-Chart ausprobieren ↗

Die Idee in einfachen Worten

The idea is that volume moves before price: big players buying quietly push volume up on up days before the price takes off. OBV keeps a running score.

So wird gerechnet

If the close is higher than yesterday's, add today's volume; if lower, subtract it.

OBV = previous OBV + volume   (close up)
OBV = previous OBV − volume   (close down)
OBV unchanged when the close is unchanged

Anwendung

OBV rising with the price: the trend is supported.
OBV breaking out before the price: a possible early sign of a price breakout.

Schlüsse ziehen

Look at OBV's trend and divergences, not its value.

Beispiel

An index is flat for a month while OBV keeps rising; the index then breaks out to the upside.

Kurse in Beispielen dienen der Veranschaulichung.

Worauf man achten sollte

On currencies, metals and CFDs there is no central exchange volume. The chart uses "tick volume", the number of price changes in each candle, which follows real activity closely but is not the number of contracts traded.

Ein wenig Geschichte

Joe Granville popularised OBV in his 1963 book "Granville's New Key to Stock Market Profits".

Nur Bildungsinhalte. Kein Indikator und kein Muster sagt die Zukunft voraus, und nichts hier ist eine Anlageberatung.