Many traders make a point of watching volume on the mini S&P 500 futures. (ES). I submit this is pretty much worthless as a indicator. The reason is there there is no volume on the Large contract. You can prove this by running a matrix on the Large Pit Traded Contract. Tradestation symbol SPU07.P Large institutions dont trade the emini. So if volume is being watched on the emini you have no idea of what the volume is in the large contract because there is no such thing. Consequently the impact of institutional trading of the large contract is not taken in to account when you look at volume on the ES. A far better indicator is the premium. PREM
My view is that PREM isn't worth that much, unless you're an arb. Sure, sometimes PREM gets high, but if there's a continuation your short gets smashed. Another thing to consider is how often does your PREM update? With each tick it might be worth something, but if it's every few seconds you're not going to get much value out of it.
You think large institutions don't trade the minis? You must be kidding. Sorry man, but you don't have a clue.
"Large traders dont trade the emini". Are you kidding me? The dollar volume of the emini is over 10 times the pit contract. The pit contract is a relic of the past.