MEET THE INDICATOR
The meaning behind the numbers.
Student Wyckoff VSA 2.2.2 helps you examine price alongside volume: how wide the movement was, where the bar closed and whether activity received follow-through. VSA means Volume Spread Analysis, where spread is the full range of the bar. It brings together different situations: lack of demand or supply, tests, shakeouts, upthrusts, climaxes and range breakouts. The indicator highlights and explains fulfilled conditions; the final interpretation depends on the surrounding market context.
- 54 strength and weakness models
- Pale and confirmed arrows
- Tooltips and a learning card
- Levels from the latest record-volume bar
What VSA examines
The indicator compares raw volume, the full High–Low range and the closing position within the bar. An up or down bar is defined relative to the previous close, not by candle colour. A small candle body therefore does not necessarily mean a narrow range, and high volume alone does not prove buying.
The result of the effort matters: did price continue, hold the area it reached or move back? Some models use the preceding movement and related areas of earlier strength or weakness. The indicator works with chart data; it cannot identify individual participants or measure the actual positions of large traders.
54 models: from tests to climaxes
Strength models include forms of no supply, supply tests, shakeouts, stopping volume, selling climax, bottom reversals and absorption of supply at resistance. These describe different situations: reduced selling, recovery after a downward move or a reaction following intense decline.
Weakness models include no demand, several upthrust variants, supply coming in, buying climax, top reversals and failed tests. Upward and downward range breakouts are also included. Each bar displays a single model selected by priority and a single side; 54 models does not mean 54 arrows drawn simultaneously.
Reading pale and solid arrows
SOS means a sign of strength: by default, a green arrow sits below the bar. SOW means a sign of weakness: a red arrow sits above it. A pale arrow indicates a model that has not received confirmation; a solid arrow indicates that its confirmation condition has been met. Appearance and the two groups can be adjusted separately.
Many models check the next completed bar; others use a specified reaction window. For the two-bar shakeout, confirmation is already part of the pair. If no reaction follows, the arrow may remain pale. Confirmation updates the marker on its original bar later: a solid historical arrow must not be treated as a signal already known when that bar first formed.
Volume is assessed against its own history
Auto mode uses the 20, 85 and 97 percent boundaries of the distribution of past relative volumes. In practical terms, current activity is compared with ordinary and unusual activity on the same chart. The default average uses 30 preceding bars and the comparison window uses 500 bars. The current bar does not set its own thresholds.
Manual mode lets you change these three boundaries; it does not switch back to the former average multipliers. At least 100 valid past observations are required to define the categories. Missing or zero volume is not evidence of no demand or no supply. Models using the relevant filter wait for sufficient data.
Signal explanations directly on the chart
Hover over an arrow to see the model name, source-bar facts, prior context and confirmation rule. The learning card offers three modes: the last displayed signal, a selected historical bar and a reference for any model. Its sections cover an overview, the bar and prior context, confirmation, and an example and source.
Long explanations are divided into pages. You can change the card position, text size, width and line count. Historical selection uses the specified time; it does not substitute the nearest arrow when no signal exists. Reference mode lets you study a model even when it is absent from the current chart.
Record-volume levels as an additional reference
The Yao Ming module finds the latest completed bar whose volume strictly exceeds the volume of every bar in the specified preceding window. The default comparison uses 100 bars. You can display its high, low and close using the current or a selected higher timeframe. These levels do not change the core VSA calculation.
The module is off by default. Line length, style and label placement are adjustable separately. The selected bar remains until the next qualifying event; it does not expire simply because the comparison window has elapsed. Future extension is time-based, so weekends and trading gaps may change the visible number of bars.
Setting up your view and getting started
Start with a standard chart with volume available, leaving Auto and all models enabled. Study several pale and confirmed arrows with the learning card first. You can then select particular models, hide a side or state, and change colours, sizes and spacing. By default, the last 350 arrows are retained; the setting allows up to 450.
The arrow limit controls drawing, not the calculation length across available history. Synthetic charts are not accepted as ordinary market bars for the main models. Settings in the supplied indicator version are labelled in Russian; shop translations apply to the product page. Access is granted manually to the specified TradingView username; the subscription does not include source code.
What you receive
Access to the indicator in your TradingView account for your chosen subscription period, calculation and display settings, and email support. Source code is not included in the subscription. You need your own TradingView account; any TradingView features or paid plan required for your chosen way of working are paid for separately.
An independent Student Wyckoff implementation of published qualitative VSA descriptions by Tom Williams and Gavin Holmes. Numerical thresholds and priorities are explicit settings of this implementation. This is not TradeGuider source code or a claim of full equivalence with its proprietary algorithms.
