Lookalike money flow is not on-balance volume

Start with construction, not resemblance

Volume-flow models are easy to misread when two traces share a shape. The construction question is narrower. Does the series use the same disclosed calculation as on-balance volume or the accumulation-distribution line, or does it only look like one of those plots?

On-balance volume is a cumulative volume construction that adds volume on an up close and subtracts volume on a down close, so the running total can be positive or negative. The accumulation-distribution line is a volume-weighted pressure series that tracks whether closes sit toward the high or low of the bar, used to read persistent accumulation or distribution. A later money-flow line that only resembles either series does not inherit that model's formula, sign convention, or decision thresholds.

What the published reply stated

The published reply states that the study under discussion did not use on-balance volume. The same reply states that a finite-volume-elements indicator was also not used in that study. Finite-volume elements is a volume-element oscillator that readers may confuse with other short-horizon money-flow plots because the traces can look alike.

The reply describes one substitute series as a long-term accumulation-distribution indicator. That accumulation-distribution series is described as graphically similar to on-balance volume while its readings are not the same. A second substitute series is described as graphically similar to a finite-volume-elements plot while its values are not the same. The reply states that the formulas for both substitute money-flow series were not revealed.

Named constructions that can look alike

Money-stream accumulation is a longer-horizon accumulation-distribution construction that can plot like on-balance volume without sharing its readings. Time-segmented volume is a shorter-horizon money-flow series that can plot like a finite-volume oscillator without sharing that oscillator's values. Those names describe construction types. They do not turn an undisclosed substitute into the named model it resembles.

Sign convention is part of the identity test

A reader question notes that on-balance volume is not always positive when asking whether another volume series can be treated as equal to it. That is a sign-convention check. Because on-balance volume can sit above or below zero, treating another volume series as the same object requires more than a similar path on the chart. The sign convention belongs to the construction.

Editorial construction audit

Editorial interpretation: the substitutes belong in a lookalike class until their formulas are disclosed. The long-term accumulation-distribution substitute can be discussed as money-stream accumulation, meaning a longer-horizon construction that may plot like on-balance volume without sharing its readings. The shorter substitute can be discussed as time-segmented volume, meaning a series that may plot like finite-volume elements without sharing that oscillator's values. Neither discussion licenses copied decision thresholds. A construction audit stops when formula identity is missing.