Rising with price confirms it · a divergence between them is a warning.
The short answer
- What is the Accumulation/Distribution line (A/D)?
- Accumulation/Distribution line: volume weighted by where the close sits inside the candle's range, added up over time.
- When does A/D get it wrong?
- It ignores gaps between sessions. Its current reading on platform symbols, at the latest daily close, is in the “Reading now” table on this page. Reading now →
Reading now
| Ticker | Value | Five sessions ago | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPY | 1.47B | 1.44B | Higher than five sessions ago |
| QQQ | 1.33B | 1.31B | Higher than five sessions ago |
| IWM | 190.41M | 185.22M | Higher than five sessions ago |
| DIA | 36.25M | 29.84M | Higher than five sessions ago |
A description of where the number sits against its thresholds. It is not an entry or exit signal.
Indicator limit
It ignores gaps between sessions.
Read it with
Moving Average Convergence Divergence: its divergence from price is more believable when MACD loses momentum along with it.
Answers: does volume back it?
What it actually does
The Accumulation/Distribution line builds a running total that weights each session's volume by where it closed inside its range. A close near the high adds most of the volume as a positive amount, a close near the low subtracts it, and a close in the middle adds close to zero. That makes it more precise than On-Balance Volume, which counts all the volume based only on the direction of the close.
The idea behind it
Where the close sits inside the range shows who won the session. A close near the high means buyers kept control until the bell, which is accumulation, even on a red day. The reverse is distribution, even on a green day. The line reads intent from where the close falls, not from its color.
How it is read in practice
What matters is the direction of the line, not its value: a steady rise is accumulation and a steady fall is distribution. The core is the difference from price: price rising while the line falls means a rally where highs are being sold inside the sessions · distribution behind a green front.
Hypothetical example
A stock hovers near its highs for two weeks while the line falls steadily. Every touch of the high meets selling that pushes the close to mid-range or below. A large seller is distributing into strength, and the line showed it before price broke.
Where it errs and why
It ignores gaps: a stock that opens down 7% and closes near the top of its daily range counts as accumulation despite the heavy loss. Like other volume indicators, it is distorted on mechanical event days.
Read it with
It is not read alone. First classify the environment with the trend strength indicator. Then confirm with volume, which separates a backed move from an empty one. Then place it on the structural levels from the gamma map, since a signal at a dense wall carries more weight than one in open space.
Where to see it on the platform
The technical chart in the members area shows it on any ticker and timeframe, within its full family in the indicator list.
