I second that. Anyone out there with a take on this from a seasoned FX trader's perspective? If "supply and demand... manifests itself in price action", then are the procedures for learning how to interpret their current 'state' in a live Forex price chart the same as those used by observers of an emini price chart? Accumulation, distribution, mark up, mark down...
Use Fx futures if Volume is a key element in determining entry/exit strategy in trading currency. EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDCHF and USDJPY are liquid enough to watch volume action in the futures market.
...but surely tick change per bar IS volume, isn't it? More tick activity = more participation = more orders = more money flow? It's a proxy form of Volume compared to contracts, but volume nevertheless, surely? And something that might be factored in in the same manner to a PV relationship? If I see a wide spread bar with high 'volume' on a Forex chart, doesn't that signify a similar phenomenon to the same sight on a futures chart?
No. Its neither volume nor (really) ticks worth a damn. It reflects the number of transactions at YOUR exchange/bucketshop/whatever. If you want forex volume you'd be better off translating the futures volume for the equivalent contracts ... at least there you can get an honest view of "all" futures contracts. Don't be surprised is what you detect is mainly gaming and not s&d valid volume though.
The only authentic volume stats available for FX are those pertaining to the various futures contracts. However, unlike e.g. stock indices, the big players execute through the OTC markets, and therefore the information content in those stats is of marginal value for devising a similar trading strategy. The various news feeds, e.g. those available through the Oanda platform, post timely commentary on sizeable bids/offers in the institutional market, which provides some colour to the way the market is leaning. From an execution standpoint, providing you're trading in the main activity period (European open to NYC midday), then it hardly matters.
Wow. I'm SO glad I asked this question... thank you one and all for taking the time to clarify this. Not least because it exposes (hopefully to more individuals than just me) that the 'volume'-based strategies, indicators and signals that DO currently exist in platforms like MT4 are just toys and distractions â yet there are people trading off them! I was nearly one of them. So the next logical question begs to be asked: Can one deduce, the same actionable evidence of supply and demand from a Forex price chart that one might from a stock chart? As there isn't a float variable or a close of day per se, or indeed many of the tangible components that prevail in a stock trading cycle, can we work the same supply/demand approach to Forex at all?
fwiw, MultiCharts have responded to my question about the absence of Volume data in their chart platform with an honest answer that exactly matches the wisdom I've found in this thread: "As it is, there is no volume associated with forex. In future, we are going to have volume synthetically created - based on tick count. " Now I love 'em even more.
My disclaimer- I don't trade forex, but ES and some currency futures. You can get tick volume, from E signal on their GTIS feed. It's what Tradeguider and Leverage FX aka Top Gun Software. If it's good enough for both of them, and the only recommended feed for trading with volume and multi bank/dealer feeds, it would be good enough for me ( if I traded forex ). Hopefully this helps someone.