Klinger Oscillator: long-term flow against short-term flow

What it measures

The Klinger computes a volume force for each bar — signed by whether the bar typical price rose or fell, and scaled by how the current range compares to recent ranges — then takes the difference of two exponential averages of it.

The design goal was an indicator sensitive enough to catch short-term flow reversals while still reflecting long-term money movement.

It is more elaborate than most volume indicators and the extra machinery mainly serves to reduce the noise that a raw signed-volume sum produces.

How it is calculated

These are the steps Basis performs, verified against the published definition.

1. 1

   Determine trend direction from whether the sum of high, low and close rose from the previous bar.

2. 2

   Compute a volume force from the volume, the trend direction, and the ratio of the current range to a running average of it.

3. 3

   Take a short exponential average of the volume force, conventionally thirty-four periods.

4. 4

   Subtract a long exponential average, conventionally fifty-five, and plot a thirteen-period signal line.

Settings

Thirty-four, fifty-five and thirteen are the originals and are Fibonacci numbers rather than optimised values. The signal line period is the one worth adjusting if the crossings are too frequent.

How to read it

• Signal-line crossings are the primary event, as with any MACD-shaped indicator.
• Zero crossings separate periods where short-term flow leads long-term from those where it lags.
• Divergence against price is the use Klinger emphasised, and it is more informative than the crossings.
• The scale is volume-dependent and cannot be compared between instruments.
• The complexity is only worth it if you are going to use the divergences, which is what the extra machinery buys. For zero and signal crossings alone, a simpler volume oscillator or OBV gives a comparable reading with far fewer implementation differences to worry about.

Where it misleads

Related indicators