
What is a good volume for a stock?
Thin, Low-Priced Stocks = Higher Investment Risk To reduce such risk, it's best to stick with stocks that have a minimum dollar volume of $20 million to $25 million. In fact, the more, the better. Institutions tend to get more involved in a stock with daily dollar volume in the hundreds of millions or more.
How do you read volume on a stock chart?
The vertical lines displayed at the bottom of the chart represent the number of shares traded during the specific time period of the chart. The length of the volume bar indicates a value that corresponds to the scale at its right.
What does volume chart indicate?
Price by volume charts are used to illustrate high buying and selling interest at specific price levels. They are indicative of price levels over a certain period of time. They are generally used in conjunction with other forms of technical analysis. They are also known as "volume by price charts."
Is it good when the volume of a stock is high?
If you see a stock that's appreciating on high volume, it's more likely to be a sustainable move. If you see a stock that's appreciating on low volume, it could be a dead cat bounce. Logically, when more money is moving a stock price, it means there is more demand for that stock.
Is low volume bullish or bearish?
Down volume indicates bearish trading, while up volume indicates bullish trading. If the price of a security falls, but only on low volume, there may be other factors at work aside from a true bear turn.
What does high volume mean?
Meaning of high volume in English. high volume. noun [ C or U ] a large quantity: a high volume of sth The intersections near Grand Avenue have a high volume of traffic.
What is the best volume indicator?
The 6+ Best Volume Indicators in Day TradingVWAP.Volume-Weighted Moving Average (VWMA)Money Flow Index (MFI)Accumulation and distribution indicator.Klinger Oscillator.On Balance Volume (OBV)Other volume indicators.
How is volume important?
Key Takeaways Volume measures the number of shares traded in a stock or contracts traded in futures or options. Volume can indicate market strength, as rising markets on increasing volume are typically viewed as strong and healthy. When prices fall on increasing volume, the trend is gathering strength to the downside.
How do you know if buying or selling volume?
Key Takeaways You can distinguish buying volume from selling volume based on whether a transaction occurs at the bid price or the ask price. Changes in volume can give traders short-term indications of where the price might go next.
Is low volume good for stocks?
The reality is that low-volume stocks are usually not trading for a very good reason—few people want them. Their lack of liquidity makes them hard to sell even if the stock appreciates. They are also susceptible to price manipulation and attractive to scammers.
Does high volume mean stock will go up?
If there's a higher volume of trading in a particular stock, that naturally means that investors are interested in buying or selling it. If volume and price are on the rise, it means investors are betting the company will do well. If volume is up but price is down, it means more investors are looking to sell.
How do you know when a stock price will go up?
If more people want to buy a stock (demand) than sell it (supply), then the price moves up. Conversely, if more people wanted to sell a stock than buy it, there would be greater supply than demand, and the price would fall. Understanding supply and demand is easy.
What is volume in stocks?
Volume in stocks refers to the total number of shares traded for a particular period. If 2 million shares are traded in a day, the day’s trading volume is 2 million. Importantly this means that 2 million stocks change hands from buyer to seller.
What is stock volume?
Stock volume is the count of the number of shares traded in a given time period, usually daily for a typical chart. For any given transaction, there is a buyer and a seller; the stock volume is a count of the number of shares exchanged between a buyer and a seller.
What is volume bar chart?
The Volume Bar Chart enables you to visualize supply and demand for a given stock at a specific minute, hour, day, week, or month. This is the most commonly used volume indicator in the technical analysis of stocks and commodities.
What does it mean when a stock has high volume?
High volume in stocks can mean two things. High volume when the price is decreasing means there are more sellers than buyers; a sell-off. High volume when the stock price is going up means there is a rally in the stock price, meaning more buyers than sellers, which increases demand, which pushes stock price up.
How much volume does a penny stock have?
Penny stocks often do not have enough volume. For example, if the stock price is $1 and the volume is 5,000, that means only $5000 of stocks is traded in a single day; that is not for a fair and equitable market.
What does 20,000 mean in stock bar?
If 20,000 shares were traded, then the bar will show 20,000. The changes in volume from day to day indicate that a stock is more in demand if the volume bar rises and the stock price increases or less in demand if volume drops on price decreases.
What is a VAP chart?
The Price at Volume (VAP) chart displays a horizontal bar overlayed on the price chart to provide insight into the number of stocks traded at a specific price point. This shows you the potential supply and demand variance or potential pivot point at a price level regardless of time.
What does volume mean in stock?
Volume is the lifeblood of any stock. It represents the interest in the trading activity of said shares. Heavier volume indicates heavier interest and vice versa or lighter volume. A rise in volume tends to kick off significant price moves in many cases, however it is not a requirement. Despite conventional thinking, ...
What is volume in stock trading?
Volume is counted as the total number of shares that are actually traded (bought and sold) during the trading day or specified set period of time. It is a measure of the total turnover of shares. Each ticket represents a trade and counted towards the total trading volume.
Why do money managers use dollar volume?
Money managers use dollar volume metrics to determine whether a stock has enough liquidity to support a position. Dollar volume can also be used to get an idea of money flow when scanning for stocks breaking out or breaking down that are generating the highest dollar volume during the day.
What color is a volume bar?
Volume bars are usually colored green or red. Green represents net buying volume while red represents net selling volume. Some traders prefer to measure the volume with a moving average to spot when volume is relatively heavy or thin.
How to tell if a stock is trading heavier or lighter than normal?
To determine if the volume is trading heavier or lighter than normal, traders can refer to the relative volume figure. Higher Relative Volume can bring volatility to a stock and make it easier to move.
What is volume in stock?
Volume refers to the number of shares traded in a given time period. A stock's volume refers to the number of shares that are sold, or traded, over a certain period of time (usually daily).
What is volume in investing?
Broadly speaking, volume in investing means the total amount of a security that changes hands over a given period of time. This can refer to shares of an individual stock, the number of options contracts traded, or the total number of shares exchanged within an index or an entire stock market.
Why does volume increase when the stock price changes?
Certain events, such as the company's earnings report or a major news release, can cause volume to spike and can lead to a large move in either the positive or negative direction.
What is a high daily volume?
A high daily volume is common when stock-specific news items are released or when the market moves significantly, while a low daily volume can occur on light-news days and calm days for the stock market.
Why do technical analysts use volume?
In addition, technical analysts use a stock's volume in order to determine the best entry and exit points for a trade.
How often is a buy/sell counted?
It's important to note that when counting volume, each buy/sell transaction is counted only once. In other words, if one investor sells 1,000 shares and another investor buys those 1,000 shares, ...
What does volume mean in stock chart?
First a definition: Stock chart volume is the number of shares traded during a given time period. Usually plotted as a histogram under a chart, volume represents the interest level in a stock. If a stock is trading on low volume, then there is not much interest in the stock. But, on the other hand, if a stock is trading on high volume, ...
What does it mean when a stock is up on high volume?
Mistakenly, some traders think that stocks that are "up on high volume" means that there were more buyers than sellers, or stocks that are "down on high volume" means that there are more sellers than buyers. Wrong! Regardless if it is a high volume day or a low volume day there is still a buyer for every seller.
What is a reversal in stock chart?
A reversal takes place. Then, on the right side of the chart, volume begins to increase again (second arrow) and another reversal takes place. This chart is a good example of how the trend of a stock can reverse on high volume or low volume.
What is volume chart?
Price by volume charts are used to illustrate high buying and selling interest at specific price levels. They are indicative of price levels over a certain period of time. They are generally used in conjunction with other forms of technical analysis. Also known as "volume by price charts.".
Why use price by volume chart?
Often times, price by volume charts are used in conjunction with other forms of technical analysis to maximize the odds of success, including both chart patterns and technical indicators.
Where can I find stock charts?
Stock charts are freely available on websites such as Google Finance and Yahoo Finance , and stock brokerages always make stock charts available for their clients. In short, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding stock charts to examine.
What is it called when you own stock?
An individual who owns stock in a company is called a shareholder and is eligible to claim part of the company’s residual assets and earnings (should the company ever be dissolved). The terms "stock", "shares", and "equity" are used interchangeably. price movement from any stock chart.
What does YY mean in financial analysis?
YoY (Year over Year) YoY stands for Year over Year and is a type of financial analysis used for comparing time series data.
What is a death cross in stocks?
You can probably figure out on your own that a “death cross” isn’t considered to bode well for a stock’s future price movement.
What does it mean when a stock crosses above the 200 day moving average?
When the 50-day moving average crosses from below to above the 200-day moving average, this event is referred to by technical analysts as a “golden cross”. A golden cross is basically an indication that the stock is “gold”, set for substantially higher prices.
What is technical analysis in stock market?
Technical Analysis - A Beginner's Guide Technical analysis is a form of investment valuation that analyses past prices to predict future price action. Technical analysts believe that the collective actions of all the participants in the market accurately reflect all ...
Is stock chart analysis infallible?
Stock chart analysis is not infallible, not even in the hands of the most expert technical analyst. If it were, every stock investor would be a multi-millionaire. However, learning to read a stock chart will definitely help turn the odds of being a successful stock market investor in your favor.
Why is it important to understand stock charts?
Understanding how to read stock charts is an important part of technical analysis and has become virtually essential for any risk-taker looking to achieve long-term success in the financial markets. For traders, knowing how to interpret stock charts opens up various intraday and swing trading opportunities.
What is the yield of a stock?
Yield: A stock’s yield is the percentage of its price that is paid out as a dividend. For example, if a stock is priced at $100 per share and pays a quarterly dividend of $1 per share, then the annual yield on that stock would be $4, which represents a dividend yield of 4% of the $100 share price.
What is reverse stock split?
A reverse stock split is the reverse of a stock split. For example, a stock trading at $1 per share has a reverse 10 to 1 stock split. For every 10 shares owned, the stockholder would subsequently have 1 share at $10 per share.
Why do stocks split?
Stock splits generally occur when a stock has risen significantly enough to make the stock price too high for average investors to buy in round lots of 100 shares. The stock split makes the stock available to more investors and generally fuels more demand, often causing the stock price to gain after the split.
Do you have to take splits into account when reading stock charts?
Stock splits and reverse stock splits are generally adjusted for on a stock’s price chart on the day the split occurs. You do not have to take splits into account when reading stock charts produced by professional charting services or trading platforms.

Appearance
Purpose
- The trading volume is a measure of the total shares that have changed hands for a specific time period. The dollar volume is the total value of the shares traded. Dollar volume is calculated by trading volume multiplied by price. For example, if XYZ has a total trading volume of 100,000 shares at $5, then the dollar volume is $500,000. Money managers use dollar volume metrics to …
Significance
- Volume is the lifeblood of any stock. It represents the interest in the trading activity of said shares. Heavier volume indicates heavier interest and vice versa or lighter volume.
Effects
- A rise in volume tends to kick off significant price moves in many cases, however it is not a requirement. Despite conventional thinking, breakouts or breakdowns dont always require heavy volume especially in this age of algorithms that know precisely what price levels will efficiently trigger significant movement. Many traders have gone bust shorting light volume breakouts tha…
Use
- The cliché Never short a dull market. plays right into this. Often times, the heaviest volume bar forms at the peak of the move. It indicates the last of the chasers. This is why heavy volume hammer and shooting star candlesticks can form highly effective reversal signals. Volume analysis should be used in the context of the trading market environment with other supporting t…
Definition
- Liquidity refers to how much the market can absorb either buying or selling without making a market impact. How many shares can you buy or sell without moving the price of the stock? Liquidity overrides price. This is especially true for large stock traders and fund managers. High frequency trading programs and smart algorithms detects large orders and can possibly front ru…
Example
- For example, If you own 100,000 shares of a stock currently trading at $8 with an average daily volume 1 million shares, you may cause the stock to fall to $7 when selling the shares in a single session, resulting in an average selling price of $7.50. So while the value of the position is worth $8 million, the actual value of the position is $7.5 million. There was a $500,000 market impact o…