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6 Anchors, One Chart: Find Where the Big Money Got In with Anchored VWAP

Writer: Panagiotis Diamantopoulos
Panagiotis Diamantopoulos
2 days ago
3 min read
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Every move on your chart has a price where the big money got in. A moving average can't tell you where that is. A session VWAP resets every morning and forgets it. Anchored VWAP remembers. Anchor it to the bar where the move started and it shows you, live, the volume-weighted average price everyone who traded since then is holding.


That one line answers the question that matters most when price comes back to a level: are the buyers (or sellers) who started this move still in profit, or are they under water and about to defend or bail?


Why one anchor is never enough


Markets are made of overlapping moves. The swing that started this morning, the breakout from Tuesday, the climax low from last month — each has its own crowd with its own average entry. When several of those averages stack in the same zone, you have a level that many participants care about at once.


That's why the Trade The Volume Waves Anchored VWAP for MetaTrader gives you six independent AVWAP lines (v1–v6) on one chart, each in its own colour, each anchored wherever you choose.


Anchored VWAP lines plotted on a chart with volume
Anchored VWAP from key turning points — each line is a crowd's average entry

Six anchors worth placing


Here is how I'd use the six lines. Swap them for your own rules — the point is to anchor to events that changed who is in control.


  1. v1 – The last major swing low/high. The cost basis of the current trend. As long as price holds above it in an uptrend, the trend crowd is in profit.

  2. v2 – The breakout bar. Where breakout traders entered. A clean retest that holds is one of the best continuation entries you'll find.

  3. v3 – The selling or buying climax. Pair it with Wyckoff: anchor to the SC or BC and watch how price behaves as it comes back.

  4. v4 – The Spring / Upthrust or Fake Break. The trapped side's average. When price pulls back to it and holds, the trap is confirmed.

  5. v5 – The news / high-volume event bar. NFP, CPI, a central bank decision — a big-volume bar resets positioning. Anchor it and let the market show you who won.

  6. v6 – The weekly or monthly open. The higher-timeframe reference that keeps your intraday read honest.


Built for speed on the chart


I trade intraday, so the tool had to be fast to use, not just accurate:


  • One click to start: click the "No Vertical Lines" label and six dashed vertical anchors appear at the start of your chart, three bars apart, with v1–v6 drawn instantly.

  • Drag to re-anchor: move any vertical line and its VWAP recalculates automatically.

  • Keyboard shortcuts: press 1–6 on the top row of your keyboard to create a specific line (it won't duplicate one that already exists).

  • Clean up in a click: "Delete" removes all lines; clicking v1…v6 removes just that one. Need only two lines? Delete the other four.

  • Alerts: four alert types every time price crosses an AVWAP line — so you don't have to stare at the level waiting for the retest.


How to read price at an Anchored VWAP


The line itself is simple. What matters is how price behaves when it gets there:


  • Holding above a rising AVWAP: the crowd that started the move is in profit and defending its average. Pullbacks into the line are where continuation entries live.

  • Losing the AVWAP and failing to reclaim it: that crowd is now under water. Their average turns from support into resistance as they look to get out at breakeven.

  • Slicing back and forth through a flat AVWAP: nobody is in control. Fair value, not a trade location. Step aside.

  • Several AVWAPs stacked in one zone: multiple crowds share the same average price. These confluence zones produce the strongest reactions — and the most meaningful breaks.


Because the line represents a real average entry price, it also gives you a logical place for risk: a stop just beyond the AVWAP means you're out as soon as the crowd you're trading with is no longer in control.


EURUSD H1 chart with several Anchored VWAP lines from key turning points
EURUSD H1: multiple anchors from key turning points marking where price reacts


Get the Anchored VWAP for MT4 & MT5


Six anchors, drag-to-update, keyboard shortcuts and cross alerts — available for MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5.




Questions about where to anchor or how to manage trades around the line? Join the Trade The Volume Waves Discord and ask.



Risk warning: Trade The Volume Waves offers general trading education that does not take into account your experience, objectives, financial situation or risk tolerance. Trading forex, crypto and CFDs carries a high level of risk. Past performance is no indication of future results.

 
 
 

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