Student Wyckoff Tick Volume Proxy

## STUDENT WYCKOFF Tick Volume Proxy (v6) — “Activity Volume” When Real Volume Is Missing

Many instruments (especially **indices, synthetic composites, and custom baskets**) do **not** provide real exchange volume. This indicator solves that problem by building a **Tick Activity Proxy** — a simple, visual “how active was this bar” measure — using **lower timeframe price movements inside each bar**.

### What this indicator is (in plain words)

Think of one candle on your chart as a **big box** (for example, a 1-hour candle). Inside that box there are many smaller candles (for example, 1-minute or 1-second).
This script “looks inside the box” and measures **how much the price moved and how often it changed**, then plots the result as a histogram — similar to volume bars, but based on **price activity** instead of real traded volume.

> Important: This is **NOT real trade volume**.
> It is a **proxy** (an approximation) of market activity when volume is unavailable.

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## How it works

The proxy is computed from **lower timeframe (LTF)** data using intrabar changes:

1. The script requests lower timeframe values inside each current bar.
2. It sums the intrabar movement or counts intrabar price changes (depending on your mode).
3. The result is plotted as a column histogram.

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## Settings explained (step-by-step)

### 1) Source

* **Auto**
Uses real `volume` if the instrument has it. If volume is missing/zero (typical for indices), it automatically switches to the proxy.
* **Exchange Volume**
Always uses real volume (only useful on instruments where volume exists).
* **Proxy (Tick Activity)**
Always uses the proxy (best for indices and composites).

### 2) Proxy Method (How to calculate)

You can choose one of three proxy styles:

* **Ticks (count)**
Counts how many times the LTF close changed inside the bar.
Think: “How many small steps did price take?”

* **Movement (abs change)**
Sums the absolute intrabar price changes: `sum(|Δclose|)` on the LTF.
Think: “How much total distance did price walk, even if it went back and forth?”

* **Movement (in ticks)**
Same as “abs change”, but converted into **minimum price steps** using the instrument’s tick size (`mintick`).
Think: “How many minimal price steps (ticks) were walked in total?”

**Practical tip:**

* If you only care about “busy vs quiet” → try **Ticks (count)**.
* If you care about “how strong the internal movement was” → try **Movement (in ticks)**.

### 3) LTF for Proxy (Lower timeframe microscope)

This is your “zoom level” for looking inside each bar.

* Smaller LTF (e.g., **1S**) = more detail, more accurate intrabar picture, but heavier on performance.
* Larger LTF (e.g., **1m / 5m**) = smoother and lighter, but less detail.

**Rule:** LTF must be **lower** than your chart timeframe.
Example setups:

* Chart **H1** → LTF **1S / 5S / 15S / 1m**
* Chart **H4** → LTF **15S / 1m / 5m**
* Chart **D1** → LTF **15m / 1h** (avoid 1S on D1 unless you really know what you’re doing)

### 4) LTF Elements Limit (Performance protection)

If you use a very small LTF on a large chart timeframe, the intrabar array can become huge.
This limit prevents slowdowns by processing only the most recent N intrabar points per bar.

**Tip:** On H1 with 1S (3600 points) you are typically fine.
On D1 with 1S (86,400 points) this becomes heavy and may get truncated by the limit.

### 5) Non-repaint mode (Fix on bar close)

When enabled, the histogram value is **locked only when the bar closes**.
This prevents the “moving target” effect during the current forming candle.

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## How to read the histogram

* **Higher bar** = higher intrabar activity (price moved more / changed more often)
* **Lower bar** = calmer, quieter bar (less internal movement)

This is especially useful on:

* indices with missing volume
* synthetic composites/baskets
* custom-built market proxies

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## Limitations (honest and important)

* This is **not real traded volume** and cannot replicate actual exchange volume.
* Results depend heavily on your chosen **LTF** and the availability/quality of LTF data.
* Very small LTF (like 1S) on large chart timeframes can cause performance issues or truncation due to the safety limit.

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## Suggested starting presets

* **Composite index on H1:** Source=Auto, Proxy=Movement (in ticks), LTF=1S or 15S
* **Composite index on D1:** Source=Auto, Proxy=Movement (in ticks), LTF=15m or 1h
* **If you want maximum simplicity:** Proxy=Ticks (count), LTF=1m