Stock Meadow · Metric glossary · Price trend
Chaikin Money Flow: formula and how to read it
Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), developed by Marc Chaikin, asks where each day's close landed inside that day's range. A close near the high, on heavy volume, counts as buying pressure; a close near the low counts as selling pressure. CMF totals this over 20 days.
What is Chaikin Money Flow?
Whether days tend to close near their highs or their lows, weighted by volume. For each day, where the close sits between the day's low and high (+1 at the high, -1 at the low) times that day's volume. Chaikin money flow adds this up over 20 days and divides by the total volume, giving a value from -1 to +1. Above zero means closes landed in the upper half of the daily range more often.
Stock Meadow groups it under Price trend, and shows it in tables as CMF 20.
Formula and a worked example
Money flow multiplier = ((close − low) − (high − close)) ÷ (high − low); CMF = sum of (multiplier × volume) over 20 days ÷ sum of volume over 20 days
On a day the stock ranges from $10 to $12 and closes at $11.50, the multiplier is ((1.50) − (0.50)) ÷ 2 = +0.5. Weighted by volume and averaged over 20 days, a typical result is between −0.2 and +0.2. The numbers are made up for illustration.
How to read it
Above zero means closes have tended to land in the upper half of the daily range; below zero, the lower half. It runs from −1 to +1. A higher figure scores better.
When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a higher figure scores better.
Common pitfalls
- Gaps between days are ignored: a stock can gap up and close at the bottom of a high-range day yet look weak.
- It reads where the close landed, not who traded, so large institutional orders are not visible.
- Blank if volume or high/low data is missing; it needs 20 trading days of prices.
How Stock Meadow handles gaps. Usually blank when volume figures are missing, or there are fewer than 20 days of prices.
Treat any single metric as one clue, and read the company's financial statements before drawing a conclusion. Stock Meadow's figures are research tools based on reported data, not investment advice.
Stock Meadow models that use it
In Weighted ranking, Z-score composite and Balanced (no weak link), you choose the metrics and weights yourself, so you can include it in a custom score.
No fixed-recipe model scores it.
Read about every scoring model in How scores work.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good Chaikin Money Flow?
- Values above zero show buying pressure and below zero selling pressure. Readings beyond about +0.25 or −0.25 are strong for a 20-day window, but there is no universal good number.
- Is a higher or lower CMF 20 better?
- When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a higher figure scores better. That is a ranking convention, so read CMF 20 alongside other measures and compare similar companies.
- Why is CMF 20 blank for some stocks?
- It is usually blank when volume figures are missing, or there are fewer than 20 days of prices. Stock Meadow leaves the figure blank rather than guessing it.
Use CMF 20 in Stock Meadow
Filter on Chaikin money flow (20 days), score it in the stock scoring model, and see how every stock compares. Sign up free, no card needed.
Open the stock scoring model