Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) — Volume Drop
# Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) — Volume Drop
Volume tells you *how much* changed hands, but Cumulative Volume Delta tells you *who was leaning on the tape*. This drop builds a session-anchored running total of approximated buying minus selling pressure so you can see when a move is backed by real participation — and when it isn't.
## What it does
- Splits each bar's volume into "buy" and "sell" shares using close-location within the high/low range
- Accumulates the net delta into a running total that resets at the start of every day, week, or month (your choice)
- Plots an EMA signal line over the CVD so you can read momentum at a glance
- Colors the histogram green above zero, red below — and drops flip arrows when CVD crosses the zero line
- Built-in alerts for zero crosses and signal-line crosses, ready to wire into thinkorswim notifications
## Recommended settings
- Reset period: **DAY** (intraday) or **WEEK** (swing)
- Signal EMA length: **20**
- Show zero line: **on**
- Show flip arrows: **on**
## Ideal timeframe
1-minute through 1-hour intraday, or daily for swing context. Avoid sub-minute charts on thin tickers — the buy/sell split gets noisy when range collapses.
## How to use
Trade in the direction of CVD vs. its signal line and respect the zero line as a regime gate — bullish flow above zero, bearish below. The highest-quality setups happen when price makes a higher high (or lower low) but CVD does not — that's a participation divergence and tends to mark exhaustion. Use it confluently with your structure framework; treat zero-cross arrows as a heads-up, not a standalone entry trigger.
## thinkScript code
```
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# │ MarketFragments.com | DNA & Market │
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# │ www.marketfragments.com │
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# T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6
#
# Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) — MarketFragments free drop
# Approximates per-bar buy vs sell pressure from bar-close location
# within the range, then accumulates the net delta into a session-anchored
# running total with an EMA signal line, zero-line, flip arrows, and alerts.
# Free for non-commercial use. Attribution appreciated.
declare lower;
input resetPeriod = {default "DAY", "WEEK", "MONTH", "NONE"};
input signalLength = 20;
input showZeroLine = yes;
input showFlipArrows = yes;
# Proportional buy/sell split based on close location within the bar range
def rng = high - low;
def buyShare = if rng > 0 then (close - low) / rng else 0.5;
def sellShare = if rng > 0 then (high - close) / rng else 0.5;
def buyVol = volume * buyShare;
def sellVol = volume * sellShare;
def delta = buyVol - sellVol;
# Session / period reset
def newPeriod;
switch (resetPeriod) {
case "DAY":
newPeriod = GetDay() != GetDay()[1];
case "WEEK":
newPeriod = GetWeek() != GetWeek()[1];
case "MONTH":
newPeriod = GetMonth() != GetMonth()[1];
default:
newPeriod = no;
}
# Anchored cumulative delta
def cvd = if !IsNaN(cvd[1]) and !newPeriod then cvd[1] + delta else delta;
# CVD histogram, colored by sign
plot CVD = cvd;
CVD.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.HISTOGRAM);
CVD.SetLineWeight(3);
CVD.AssignValueColor(if cvd >= 0 then Color.GREEN else Color.RED);
# Signal line (EMA of CVD)
plot Signal = ExpAverage(cvd, signalLength);
Signal.SetDefaultColor(Color.YELLOW);
Signal.SetLineWeight(2);
# Zero line
plot Zero = if showZeroLine then 0 else Double.NaN;
Zero.SetDefaultColor(Color.GRAY);
Zero.SetStyle(Curve.SHORT_DASH);
# Flip arrows on zero crosses
plot BullFlip = if showFlipArrows and cvd crosses above 0 then 0 else Double.NaN;
BullFlip.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.ARROW_UP);
BullFlip.SetDefaultColor(Color.GREEN);
BullFlip.SetLineWeight(3);
plot BearFlip = if showFlipArrows and cvd crosses below 0 then 0 else Double.NaN;
BearFlip.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.ARROW_DOWN);
BearFlip.SetDefaultColor(Color.RED);
BearFlip.SetLineWeight(3);
# Alerts
Alert(cvd crosses above 0, "MF CVD crossed ABOVE zero", Alert.BAR, Sound.Bell);
Alert(cvd crosses below 0, "MF CVD crossed BELOW zero", Alert.BAR, Sound.Bell);
Alert(cvd crosses above Signal, "MF CVD crossed ABOVE signal", Alert.BAR, Sound.Chimes);
Alert(cvd crosses below Signal, "MF CVD crossed BELOW signal", Alert.BAR, Sound.Chimes);
```
Drop your tweaks, screenshots, and questions below — that's how the library gets better.