RVOL + Volume Z-Score (Textbook)

This indicator is a relative-volume and “volume anomaly” dashboard designed to help you quickly spot when a ticker is actually in-play versus simply drifting on normal activity. It plots standard volume bars (colored by up/down candles) and overlays multiple optional smoothers of volume (SMA, LSMA/linear-regression MA, HMA, ALMA) so you can see whether participation is expanding or fading across different smoothing styles. It also calculates RVOL (current bar volume divided by the average volume over a user-defined lookback) and displays RVOL (and Z) in a small table for quick reference.

The core feature is a textbook volume z-score: Z=(V−SMA(V,N))/StDev(V,N)

This measures how far the current bar’s volume is from its recent average in standard-deviation units, making it easy to filter for genuinely unusual volume. The script plots mean + 1σ and mean + 2σ threshold bands and can highlight “anomaly” volume bars when Z exceeds your chosen σ thresholds (default 1σ for broader detection, with alerts available for 1σ/2σ). Use it as a participation filter: combine high RVOL / high Z with your price structure (key levels, VWAP, trend) to validate breakouts or identify high-conviction reversal/flush events.