The Tycoon Report

Understanding Volume - the Key to Unlocking Profits

Volume in the market is as important as fuel to your car. Prices do not move without buyers and/or sellers. This series is aimed at giving you fundamental understanding volume behaviors. Each week we will add to the information from the previous week.

To help in understanding typical volume and price behavior, post these notes beside your computer and learn to identify the different volume behaviors as they occur on your charts.

Normal Volume Behavior:

• Volume is highest before congestion

• Volume is lowest as it moves deeper into congestion

• Volume increases with a valid breakout of congestion and then subsides as the trend begins. (Look for the last Hawkeye Pivot being taken out.)

• Volume increases with major reversals, approximately for the next 5-7 timeframes

• Volume should move with trend strength, ie if trend dots are up and on an angle greater that 45%.

• Volume should be lower on the second double top/bottom formations showing lack of selling. Then volume will pick up and a trend will be established.

Abnormal Volume Behavior:

Congestion Areas:

• If heavier volume appears at the low end of congestion area, buying is being supported and prices tend to go up after breaking out of the upper price resistance level.

• If heavier volume appears at the higher price level in the congestion area, then there are more sellers than buyers. Prices will eventually decline from the higher support area of the congestion zone.

• Volume should increase during the breakout then subside as the trend begins to form. However, if volume stays high after the breakout and prices move too strongly, then the breakout will not be valid and prices will move back into congestion until fair value has been established then continue in trend (in other words price has got ahead of its self and it requires attendant volume to confirm trend direction.)

• If price retraces after a breakout from congestion on high volume, and bounces off the outside edge of congestion, and then volume picks up again, this is a valid breakout.

Volume should be in the direction of the breakout. However, if volume does not confirm the direction of the breakout, then prices will likely go in the opposite direction. Remember, normal volume breakout increases with the breakout. Therefore, if you see a breakout with low volume, anticipate entering in the opposite direction as price cannot continue in this direction on low volume.