Volume Climax Detector
- Indicators
- Version: 1.0
- Activations: 5
# Volume Climax Detector - The signature of absorption
*Category: Volume | Difficulty: intermediate | Window: chart window (overlaid on price) | Markets: Universal (Forex, indices, commodities, crypto, stocks) | Suggested timeframes: M15, M30, H1, H4, D1*
## Short description
> Recognises climax bars: exceptional volume, wide range but small body, that is price pushing far and coming back. It marks the bars with arrows on the chart.
### Overview
A volume spike alone means nothing: it can accompany the start of a move or its end, and on the chart the two look identical. What distinguishes them is how price reacted to that volume. This indicator recognises the climax, the exceptional volume bar where price, despite enormous participation, fails to close in direction: it pushes far and comes back, leaving a small body inside a wide range. This is the signature of absorption, the moment when the last enthusiastic buyer finds someone willing to sell them everything they want, at the price they want. The three conditions are checked together and only bars satisfying all of them are marked with an arrow.
### How the calculation works
1. First condition: the bar volume must exceed InpVolSpike times the recent average.
2. The volume average deliberately excludes the current bar, otherwise a huge spike would raise its own recognition threshold.
3. Second condition: the bar range must be at least InpMinRangeAtr times the ATR. A small high volume bar is accumulation, not climax.
4. Third condition: the body must be smaller than InpMaxBodyRatio times the range, that is price must have come back.
5. The climax direction comes from the close position: in the upper part it indicates absorbed selling, in the lower part absorbed buying.
6. The arrow is placed at a constant ATR distance from the high or low, so it stays readable at any zoom level.
### How to use it
- Treat the arrow as a warning of possible exhaustion, not as an immediate entry signal.
- Wait for confirmation from the next bar: a valid climax is followed by movement opposite to the absorbed thrust.
- The low or high of the climax bar is a natural stop reference, because it marks the point where absorption gave way.
- A climax after an extended move is worth far more than an isolated one in the middle of a sideways phase.
- Raise InpVolSpike to reduce the number of signals and select only genuinely exceptional events.
### Who it is for and on which timeframes
It suits traders looking for exhaustion points and those studying the relationship between volume and price action in the volumetric analysis tradition. It works from M15 to D1. It is particularly effective on futures, indices and equities, where volume is real data; on forex tick volume makes recognition less precise but still usable. No advanced knowledge is required, but the discipline to wait for confirmation instead of entering on the arrow is essential.
### Practical example of reading a signal
On XAUUSD H1 price has been falling for five sessions. A bar appears with three times the average volume, a range of one and a half ATR, but a tiny body: price pushed lower and then returned almost to the open, closing in the upper part of the bar. The green arrow appears below the low. The next bar closes higher and exceeds the climax bar high: that is the confirmation. The trader goes long with a stop below the climax low, the point at which absorption would be proven failed. Price rises for three consecutive sessions.
## Input parameters
| Parameter | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `InpVolPeriod` | 50 | Volume average window defining what counts as normal volume. |
| `InpAtrPeriod` | 30 | ATR period used to measure bar size and to place the arrows. |
| `InpVolSpike` | 2.20 | Minimum volume required, in multiples of the average. Low values produce many signals, high ones only extreme events. |
| `InpMaxBodyRatio` | 0.35 | Maximum body allowed relative to the range. Lowering it demands bars with an increasingly clear rejection. |
| `InpMinRangeAtr` | 0.90 | Minimum bar range in ATR. It excludes small high volume bars, which are accumulation rather than climax. |
| `InpArrowShift` | 0.70 | Distance of the arrows from price, in ATR. Purely cosmetic. |
| `InpUseRealVolume` | false | With true, real volume is used when available; with false, or in its absence, tick volume. |
## Advantages / strengths
- It requires three simultaneous conditions, drastically reducing false recognitions compared with a simple volume filter.
- The volume average excludes the current bar, a detail many similar indicators overlook, distorting the comparison.
- The arrows are placed in ATR units, so they stay readable at any zoom level.
- No repaint: the arrow appears on bar close and is never removed.
## Limitations and warnings
- A climax can be followed by another climax in the same direction: absorption can give way and reform further along.
- On forex tick volume makes the first condition less reliable, and it is also the most selective one.
- The three thresholds interact: changing one often requires revising the others as well.
- On low timeframes climaxes are frequent and many are simply microstructure noise.
**No repaint:** values printed on a closed bar are never modified afterwards.
**Disclaimer.** This product is a technical analysis tool, not an automated trading system, and it offers no profit guarantee whatsoever. Financial markets carry the risk of total loss of the invested capital. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Every signal must be confirmed with your own analysis, a money management plan and prior testing on a demo account. The author is not responsible for trading decisions taken on the basis of this indicator.
## Suggested tags / keywords for MQL5
`climax`, `volume`, `absorption`, `exhaustion`, `arrows`, `reversal`, `no repaint`, `price action`
