Advance-Decline Line: Daily Net Advances & Cumulative A-D vs SPY
The classic participation gauge across 4,872 eligible US common stocks today: how many rose versus fell, whether that pressure is improving, and where a divergence lives. The liquidity ladder separates weakness in the less-traded tail from deterioration in the 2,000 names that carry most market activity.
Today's reading
As of market close on July 21, 2026, 2,888 US stocks advanced and 1,837 declined (59% advancers) — net advances of +1,051, a positive-breadth session. The 63-session advance share is 49.5% across 4,872 eligible common stocks. The structural breadth regime is tail contained.
Sources, methodology & freshnessLast updated 2026-07-21 · Open ↓Close ↑
59% of eligible issues advanced today.
SPY closed at $748.28. One session is noisy. Use the liquidity ladder and rolling participation below to locate whether weakness is broad or confined to the tail.
The liquid 2,000 remain net positive over 252 sessions; the less-liquid tail contains the headline weakness.
Range controls apply to the cumulative, rolling-pressure and daily charts. The liquidity ladder stays anchored to the A-D peak.
Cumulative A-D line
Cumulative Advance-Decline Line
Running total of net advances since 2010. Direction and divergences vs SPY are the signal; the absolute level is arbitrary.
Liquidity ladder
Where the Divergence Lives
Common stocks re-ranked after every close by trailing 63-session average dollar volume. Each panel has its own scale and starts at zero on 2021-06-11; add the three endpoints to reconcile the headline A-D change.
The liquid 2,000 reached a post-2021 high of +15,249 on 2026-07-16; today they stand at +14,331, or -918 below that high.
Rolling breadth pressure
Rolling Share of Advancing Issues
Normalized participation across changing universe sizes. Above 50% means more directional stock-days advanced than declined over the window. Latest: 21D 50.2% · 63D 49.5% · 252D 49.8%.
Daily advancers vs decliners
Advancing vs Declining Stocks
Advancers above the zero line (green), decliners mirrored below (red), SPY overlaid. A session with at least 90% of directional issues on one side is a genuine washout or thrust regardless of universe size.
Do unconfirmed highs predict a crash?
Confirmed vs Unconfirmed 252-Session Highs
Every SPY 252-session closing high since 2011, split by whether the cumulative A-D line was also at its own trailing high. Only complete 252-session forward windows are graded.
310 complete days
184 complete days
| One-year outcome | A-D unconfirmed 310 complete days | A-D confirmed 184 complete days |
|---|---|---|
| Average SPY return one year later | +9.0% | +11.3% |
| Positive one year later | 77.1% | 89.1% |
| Fell ≥10% below signal-day close | 38.7% | 28.3% |
| Fell ≥20% below signal-day close | 14.2% | 11.4% |
The observations overlap—adjacent record days share most of the same forward path—so these are regime-day base rates, not independent episodes.
Reading the current tape
On 2026-07-21, 2,888 stocks advanced and 1,837 declined (147 unchanged) — net advances of +1,051. The cumulative A-D line stands at 124,693 with SPY at $748.28. The 252-session breadth split is +5,139 net advances in the liquid 2,000 versus -10,972 in the tail, a tail-contained regime.
Cross-check the long-term trend on MA Breadth, leadership on New Highs–New Lows, and equal-weight performance on the Hidden Bear Index.
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How Advance-Decline Line Works
- 1Classify every stock, every dayAfter each close we compare every eligible common stock's close with its prior trading day: higher = advancing, lower = declining, equal = unchanged. The live page reports the current denominator because eligibility changes over time.
- 2Net advances = advancing − decliningThe day's breadth pulse. A +2,000 day means broad buying; a −3,000 day means broad selling, regardless of what the cap-weighted index did.
- 3Accumulate into the A-D lineThe cumulative A-D line adds each day's net advances to a running total. Its absolute value is meaningless; its direction and its divergences from the index are the signal.
- 4Locate the divergence before interpreting itWhen SPY makes a new high but the full A-D line does not, participation is narrower—but the divergence can persist for years. Daily liquidity tiers show whether weakness remains in the less-traded tail or has migrated into the liquid 2,000-stock core.