A complete visual VSA course in simple English. Learn how volume, candle spread, closing position and background work together - then apply that logic through 10 practical BTL VSA models.
Educational material only. VSA is contextual chart reading: one candle is not enough, and no signal guarantees a market outcome.
The core idea is to read the relationship between volume, the candle’s spread (high-to-low range), the close, and what happened in the background. A signal becomes useful when those pieces tell the same story.
Volume tells you how much activity is present. High activity is not automatically bullish or bearish; the price result decides what that effort achieved.
The spread is the full high-to-low range of the candle. Compare it with recent bars: narrow, average or wide.
Where the bar closes inside its range matters. A close near the high, middle or low changes the meaning of the same volume.
Strength signals carry more weight after strength has appeared; weakness signals carry more weight after weakness has appeared. Read the sequence, not just the last bar.
These tabs use simple BTL wording. The goal is to make VSA readable at a glance before moving into individual signal models.
The signal name is less important than the story behind it. Every signal below now includes a mini candle + volume example. The gold outline marks the signal candle; the final outlined candle shows the expected confirmation.
Each model separates the background, signal bar, volume condition, confirmation and failure condition. The chart includes a volume histogram so the signal is read in context.
A low-volume bar is not automatically bullish or bearish. Background decides whether it represents no supply, no demand, a simple pause, or a failed signal.
| Signal | Best background | Bar / spread | Volume | What confirms it | BTL action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Supply | Strength already visible | Down bar, narrow spread | Low / lower than recent bars | Higher price / successful test | Bullish branch |
| No Demand | Weakness already visible | Up bar, narrow spread | Low / lower than recent bars | Next bar down | Bearish branch |
| Stopping Volume | Prior down move | Down bar closing well off low | High relative volume | Up bar, then test | Wait for proof |
| Buying Climax | Prior up move / fresh highs | Up bar, often closes off high | High to ultra-high | Next bar down + more SOW | Do not short blindly |
| Shakeout | Strength / accumulation context | Wide down move, closes well off low | Low or high; meaning differs | Test or immediate strength | Read the follow-through |
| Upthrust | Weakness / distribution context | Marked up, closes near low | Context-dependent | Lower price / no demand | Bearish branch |
The order matters. Starting from a signal name and then trying to justify the background is backwards. Start with context and let the signal confirm the story.
For exchange-traded stocks and futures, volume can represent actual traded quantity. For many forex and CFD feeds, the platform provides tick volume - the number of price updates - rather than centralised traded volume. That means you should compare volume relative to the same feed, not treat the number as universal market volume.
Use relative comparisons: current bar versus recent bars on the same broker/data feed. The count is activity, not a centralised total of all market transactions.
Gold futures such as COMEX GC have exchange-reported volume and open interest. This can be useful when you want a centralised volume reference for gold activity.
A signal based on one feed should be judged against that feed’s own recent volume behaviour. VSA is relative analysis, not a fixed-volume threshold system.
A signal is a clue. A trade setup needs the clue, the background and follow-through to agree.
The wording and diagrams are original BTL educational material. The VSA concepts and terminology were researched against public educational resources from TradeGuider and official market-data documentation.
Used for the core relationship between volume, spread and close, the importance of background and signal definitions such as No Demand, No Supply, Stopping Volume, Buying Climax and Upthrust.
Open sourceUsed to cross-check commonly taught signs of strength and weakness and the emphasis on chart-reading sequences rather than single isolated bars.
Open sourceUsed to distinguish tick volume on many forex/CFD feeds from exchange-reported futures volume and to explain why volume comparisons should be feed-relative.
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