The problem

On-balance volume is one of the oldest ideas in technical analysis and one of the least used well. The raw line is noisy, a single outlier bar can distort it for weeks, and spotting divergence by eye means staring at two charts and hoping.

Which is why most traders glance at OBV, see a squiggle, and go back to price.

What it shows

Plutus Flow puts four layers over on-balance volume so the disagreement between price and volume becomes visible rather than inferred.

Divergence	Pattern	Reading
Bullish	Price lower low, OBV higher low	Selling pressure fading beneath a falling price
Bearish	Price higher high, OBV lower high	Buying pressure fading beneath a rising price
Hidden bullish	Price higher low, OBV lower low	Continuation within an uptrend
Hidden bearish	Price lower high, OBV higher high	Continuation within a downtrend

Four layers over the raw line

OBV line

Cumulative volume, with adaptive filtering that caps outlier bars so one print does not skew the series.

Flow ribbon

Trend direction: green above the basis for accumulation, red below for distribution.

Statistical bands

±2σ extreme zones, so 'unusual' is defined statistically rather than by eye.

Divergence detection

The four divergence types marked automatically as they form.

Extreme zone entries and exits are marked with dots, which makes the reversion visible without watching the panel continuously.

Non-repainting, and what that means here

Every marker is confirmed at bar close and stays where it printed. What you see in history is exactly what you would have seen live, and that is the only way a backtest of your own eyes means anything.

What it isn’t

Divergence is not a timing tool and Plutus Flow does not treat it as one. Price and volume can disagree for a long time before anything happens, and sometimes nothing does.

Who it’s for

Traders who want volume analysis with a defined statistical basis rather than a line they eyeball and interpret generously.

On a real chart

Plutus Flow in a pane below price, with the OBV line, its basis, the standard deviation bands and divergence labels. — The line against its own basis, with the bands drawn from the spread rather than from price.

Plutus Flow showing cross signals where the OBV line crossed its basis, marked as dots on the line. — Crosses are marked on the line itself, on the bar that produced them.

Every setting, every output and every panel is documented in the reference for this indicator.

What we tested

Measurements and worked examples that use this indicator, published in full.

Try Plutus Flow

7-day free trial, no credit card. 7-day money-back guarantee. All future updates included, plus 100 free lessons in the education hub.

Start free trial Read the docs View on TradingView

Part of The Elite Seven. More on cycle structure in Insights and the Chronicle.