ThinkorSwim Bid Ask Volume (BAVOL) Indicator

[mashume]

I've been hacking together thinkscript studies for a while and have come across the idea of trying to see the buy/sell pressure with the difference in bid and ask volumes.

declare lower;
def askVol = Volume(priceType = PriceType.ASK);
def bidVol = Volume(priceType = PriceType.BID);
plot pressure = askVol - bidVol;

but while it is legal code according to thinkorswim, it doesn't seem to produce any results. At all.

I'm trying to run this against tick charts, not time aggregated.

I found a study that uses this (mobius' perhaps):

def TradeCountASK = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.ASK);
def TradeCountBID = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.BID);

And does something on time-based charts, but doesn't do anything (seemingly) on tick-based charts. Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

 

[traderintheroom]

I've seen a few folks have this on their time based chart. Can someone perhaps share a script for it to populate on the volume bars (red bid, green ask)?

 

[zeek]

I am very interested in this too, I found this thread where @mashume tried something for tick charts but i havn`t seen anything working for time based charts. If anyone has a working BAVOL script for time charts, please share.

 

[cesarword]

I think you have to declare a period of time other wise doesn't work try this:

You can change the agregation period to any time frame just do it in this format AggregationPeriod.MIN, AggregationPeriod.TWO_MIN, AggregationPeriod.THREE_MIN.

def ASK = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.ASK , period =AggregationPeriod.FIFTEEN_MIN);
def BID = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.BID , period =AggregationPeriod.FIFTEEN_MIN);
plot ba= ASK-BID;

 

[YungTraderFromMontana]

Nope. I would be very interested in this if you could find the solution, I've been trading M and NIO on tick charts and want any edge I can get.
Also @mashume is there a way to get a plot of ticks per minute as a lower indicator? I feel like I could find that useful also as a way to gauge increased activity. A formula for that could be something along the lines of (last 10 min/ total ticks in last 10 min) or any choice of time. Hopefully it is possible.

 

[cesarword]

Yes it doesn't work on tick chart because it has a time input. but it work on time chart. @YungTraderFromMontana It works with futures I don't know why not with equities probably not enough data.

 

[YungTraderFromMontana]

yep you're right, maybe it can't keep up with equity volumes.

 

[mashume]

Does this come close to what you're interested in? You can remove the first label if you want as it's really there as a sanity check for me.

####################
#
# Ticks Per Minute for Time Charts
#
# Mashume via UseThinkScript
# 2020-08-17
#
####################
declare lower;
declare zerobase;

def timeframe = getAggregationPeriod() / 60000;

addLabel(yes, concat("Min / Bar: ", timeframe));

def T = Tick_count;

plot TicksPerMinute =  T / Timeframe;

addLabel(yes, concat("Ticks / Min: ", TicksPerMinute), color.gray);

-mashume

Also, potentially of interest is this one, which plots a histogram of the average size of trades in a candle. It can be interesting to see when large orders come in...

####################
#
# Volume By Tick
#
# Mashume via UseThinkScript
# 2020-08-17
#
####################
declare lower;

def V = volume;
def T = Tick_count;

def tvb = (close - low) + (close - open) - (high - close);

def sign = if HL2 + tvb > HL2 then 1 else -1;

plot VolumePerTick = sign * V / T;
VolumePerTick.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.HISTOGRAM);
VolumePerTick.AssignValueColor(if VolumePerTick > 0 then Color.DARK_GREEN else Color.DARK_RED);

 

[YungTraderFromMontana]

@mashume Very great stuff, looks good. Thanks as usual. I didn't check them yet but I'll report back to see if they work or are useful.

The ticks per minute one doesn't work, I think it could be a great combo indicator though if you find out how. (Ticks per minute * Trade size per tick) = Idea of when the big boys are buying.

Correction, first one doesn't work on tick charts

 

[evanevans]

We just created this, it's been awesome for me (in day trading NIO, etc):
https://usethinkscript.com/threads/accessing-seconds-from-1min-chart.3516/page-2#post-33263

It helps predict if at the current moment, the volume represents what would be more or less volume than the previous minute by the end of the minute (before the end of the minute is up). I find it super helpful in seeing momentum order flow.

 

[Tony Stark]

@mashume this worked for me but I have an issue, how could the bars have a greater width? the bars with this code are tiny.

Good evening, why is the Level 2 Delay for 8 hours when programmed to be access with a Live Realtime data account.

Here is the code:

def ASK = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.ASK , period = AggregationPeriod.FIFTEEN_MIN);
def BID = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.BID , period = AggregationPeriod.FIFTEEN_MIN);
#plot ba= ASK-BID;
plot a = ASK;
a.SetLineWeight(1);
plot b = BID;
b.SetLineWeight(1);

 

[mashume]

@mashume this worked for me but I have an issue, how could the bars have a greater width? the bars with this code are tiny.

Good evening, why is the Level 2 Delay for 8 hours when programmed to be access with a Live Realtime data account.

Here is the code:

def ASK = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.ASK , period = AggregationPeriod.FIFTEEN_MIN);
def BID = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.BID , period = AggregationPeriod.FIFTEEN_MIN);
#plot ba= ASK-BID;
plot a = ASK;
a.SetLineWeight(1);
plot b = BID;
b.SetLineWeight(1);

If you haven't figured this out yet, you can try setting the LineWeight to 5. It takes an integer in the range of 1 to 5 with 5 being the widest.

-mashume

 

[adamsj1267]

declare lower;
declare zerobase;

def A = A[1] + close;
def B = B[1] + close;


input length = 50;
plot Vol = volume;
plot VolAvg = Average(volume, length);

Vol.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.HISTOGRAM);
Vol.SetLineWeight(3);
Vol.DefineColor("Up", Color.UPTICK);
Vol.DefineColor("Down", Color.DOWNTICK);

Vol.AssignValueColor(if close > close[1] then Vol.color("Up") else if close < close[1] then Vol.color("Down") else GetColor(1));
VolAvg.SetDefaultColor(GetColor(8));

############
def countUP = if !IsNaN(A)
then 1
else if CLOSE > CLOSE[1]
then countUP[1] + 1
else if !IsNaN(B)
then 0
else countUP[1];

#TRYING TO ADD UP THE VOLUME FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS USING UPTICK OR DOWNTICK NEED HELP THANKS !!!
###############################

ADDLABEL(YES,"BUYERS "+ COUNTUP);

#ADDLABEL(YES,"BUYERS "+ COUNTUP,COLOR.GREEN);
#ADDLABEL(YES,"SELLERS "+ COUNTDN,COLOR.RED);
AddLabel(yes, "SELLERS:" + Vol[1]);
AddLabel(yes, "BUYERS:" + Vol);

 

[cos251]

declare lower;
declare zerobase;

def A = A[1] + close;
def B = B[1] + close;


input length = 50;
plot Vol = volume;
plot VolAvg = Average(volume, length);

Vol.SetPaintingStrategy(PaintingStrategy.HISTOGRAM);
Vol.SetLineWeight(3);
Vol.DefineColor("Up", Color.UPTICK);
Vol.DefineColor("Down", Color.DOWNTICK);

Vol.AssignValueColor(if close > close[1] then Vol.color("Up") else if close < close[1] then Vol.color("Down") else GetColor(1));
VolAvg.SetDefaultColor(GetColor(8));

############
def countUP = if !IsNaN(A)
then 1
else if CLOSE > CLOSE[1]
then countUP[1] + 1
else if !IsNaN(B)
then 0
else countUP[1];

#TRYING TO ADD UP THE VOLUME FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS USING UPTICK OR DOWNTICK NEED HELP THANKS !!!
###############################

ADDLABEL(YES,"BUYERS "+ COUNTUP);

#ADDLABEL(YES,"BUYERS "+ COUNTUP,COLOR.GREEN);
#ADDLABEL(YES,"SELLERS "+ COUNTDN,COLOR.RED);
AddLabel(yes, "SELLERS:" + Vol[1]);
AddLabel(yes, "BUYERS:" + Vol);

This thread should have what you are looking for. Should be tick_count.

https://usethinkscript.com/threads/thinkorswim-bid-ask-volume-bavol-indicator.1542/

Another example of tick_count against alternate symbol.
https://tosindicators.com/indicators/cumulative-tick

 

[nrghound]

I've been hacking together thinkscript studies for a while and have come across the idea of trying to see the buy/sell pressure with the difference in bid and ask volumes.

declare lower;
def askVol = Volume(priceType = PriceType.ASK);
def bidVol = Volume(priceType = PriceType.BID);
plot pressure = askVol - bidVol;

but while it is legal code according to thinkorswim, it doesn't seem to produce any results. At all.

I'm trying to run this against tick charts, not time aggregated.

I found a study that uses this (mobius' perhaps):

def TradeCountASK = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.ASK);
def TradeCountBID = tick_count(priceType = PriceType.BID);

And does something on time-based charts, but doesn't do anything (seemingly) on tick-based charts. Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

I've been messing around with tick_count for a while. This produces meaningful results. Check it out. Maybe you can improve.
https://usethinkscript.com/threads/bid-ask-volume-bavol-indicator-for-thinkorswim.10515/