The KVO was developed with two seemingly opposite goals in mind: to be sensitive enough to signal short-term tops and bottoms, yet accurate enough to reflect the long-term flow of money into and out of a security.The KVO is based on the following tenets:Price range (i.e. High - Low) is a measure of movement and volume is the force behind the movement. The sum of High + Low + Close defines a trend. Accumulation occurs when actual sum is greater than the previous. Conversely, distribution occurs when actual sum is less than the previous. When the sums are equal, the existing trend is maintained.Volume produces continuous changes in price reflecting buying and selling pressure.The KVO quantifies the difference between the number of shares being accumulated and distributed as "volume force". A strong, rising volume force should accompany an uptrend and then gradually contract over time during the latter stages of the uptrend and the early stages of the following downtrend. This should be followed by a rising volume force reflecting some accumulation before a bottom develops.
This indicator does have volume components in the calculations but is not a typical volume indicator. That being said, we’re classifying this as a confirmation indicator