What does on-balance volume tell you?

It shows whether trading volume has tended to come on rising days or falling days. A rising total suggests buying interest is outweighing selling, though it cannot tell who is buying.

Is a higher or lower OBV trend 50d better?

When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a higher figure scores better. That is a ranking convention, so read OBV trend 50d alongside other measures and compare similar companies.

Why is OBV trend 50d blank for some stocks?

It is usually blank when volume figures are missing, or there are fewer than 51 days of prices. Stock Meadow leaves the figure blank rather than guessing it.

Stock Meadow · Metric glossary · Price trend

On-Balance Volume Trend: formula and how to read it

On-balance volume (OBV), introduced by Joseph Granville in 1963, keeps a running total of volume: it adds a day's volume when the stock closes higher and subtracts it when it closes lower. The idea is that volume shows whether money is flowing into a stock or out of it. Stock Meadow measures how strongly that total has been trending over 50 days.

What is On-Balance Volume Trend?

Whether volume has flowed in on up days or out on down days. On-balance volume adds a day's volume when the stock closes higher and subtracts it when it closes lower. This is the change in that running total over the last 50 trading days divided by the total volume of those days, from -1 (every day closed lower) to +1 (every day closed higher).

Stock Meadow groups it under Price trend, and shows it in tables as OBV trend 50d.

Formula and a worked example

OBV trend = (OBV today − OBV 50 days ago) ÷ total volume of those 50 days, between −1 and +1

If, over 50 days, the stock closes higher on days with 30 million shares in total, closes lower on days with 20 million, and 50 million shares trade overall, the OBV rose 10 million and the trend is 10 ÷ 50 = +0.20. The numbers are made up for illustration.

How to read it

Positive means more volume traded on up days than down days; +1 would mean every day closed higher. Negative means the reverse. A higher figure scores better.

When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a higher figure scores better.

Common pitfalls

It counts a day's whole volume as up or down by the close alone, however small the move.
Volume from index funds and big block trades can swamp the signal for large companies.
Blank if volume data is missing, and it needs 51 trading days of prices.

How Stock Meadow handles gaps. Usually blank when volume figures are missing, or there are fewer than 51 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 does on-balance volume tell you?: It shows whether trading volume has tended to come on rising days or falling days. A rising total suggests buying interest is outweighing selling, though it cannot tell who is buying.
Is a higher or lower OBV trend 50d better?: When Stock Meadow ranks stocks, a higher figure scores better. That is a ranking convention, so read OBV trend 50d alongside other measures and compare similar companies.
Why is OBV trend 50d blank for some stocks?: It is usually blank when volume figures are missing, or there are fewer than 51 days of prices. Stock Meadow leaves the figure blank rather than guessing it.

Use OBV trend 50d in Stock Meadow

Filter on On-balance volume trend (50 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