The volume spikes are only a "heads-up". The important clues are the tests for no supply & no demand on low volume. See Richard Wyckoff's theory. I'm impressed with Bill Duryea of ioamt.com, has the nuances of volume well documented.
I trade on very fast time frames and find volume critical. But that's just my approach and what it needs.
Yes, volume figures heavily into my trading. I get so much pressure from my sub LLC to trade volume so I only trade thick stocks with big size for tiny moves.
You definitely have to turn the volume way up when you're trading. Keeps you in the zone. None of that weak, soft music either. You can't trade when you're happy, you must be angry. High volume helps attain this mindset.
You also need to make sure you use a high volume hairspray to make it look like you have more hair than you do. Can't be trading and worrying about a bald spot showing.
Exactly. Adding this to your above recommendation should also help create a synergy with your trading strat. http://www.brands2liveby.com/product.aspx?id=468
Can't pass this one up, Mister Ross. Not sure what timeframe you're referring to. You use the word contracts, but contracts have underlying elements. In a capitulation move, yes high volume would suggest strong hands. NYSE specialist and how he acquires dirt cheap inventory quickly comes to mind, but in general: High volume = public Public = weak hands. As you know or should know , an NYSE specialist, since 1949, can and do establish (and unwind) tax-segregated omnibus accounts, exempt from Regs T and U aside from their day in day out perpetual trading accounts toward their "duty" of maintaining fair and orderly markets. Any sharp fast intra-day moves south is the specialist racing to cover his short with minimal public participation. Conversely, IF he wants volume, he induces it. Opening gap with a pithy little news alibi is ideal. And............where (or should I say who), do headfakes come from? In contrast, an omnibus can take years (of volume) to establish and a lesser number of years to distribute. KO and DIS come to mind. Might even be the case for AAPL (no specialist but a MM). Volume does indeed keep a spread tighter than it otherwise probably would and volume satisfies the primal instinct of safety in numbers/being WITH the crowd, but other than that, the only volume that truly counts is YOURS. You transact in PRICE.
"Only" ...........strong word. Can you say narrow mind? I've got a cat that, when sitting in front of an aquarium, will lunge at anything that moves. Seems to stay entertained. Ahhh, but does he ever catch anything? I guess I shouldn't talk, rather than money, I come here for entertainment too.