Trading Volume And Open Interest - By: Ahmad Hassam

Trading volume of a security is a direct real time market sentiment indicator. A high trading volume is an indication that the current trend is likely to continue. Now, good volume analysis needs to be combined with other technical indicators in order to make a trading decision.

Now, volume figures are not available to currency traders in view of the over the counter unregulated nature of the currency market. However, volume figures are available to stocks and futures traders. The release of the volume figure in the futures market is delayed by one trading day.

Higher trading volume steadily moves towards the closest month to delivery in the futures market. Delivery month in the futures market is the month when the contract is settled and the physical delivery of the asset takes place. Higher trading volume is good for traders as it can mean a better price.

You should know the Limit Days in futures market. Limit days are those days when a futures contract makes a big move in a very short period of time with heavy volume. A Limit Up Day is a sign of strength however, a limit down day is usually followed by trading collars.

Now when using the volume information in your trading decisions you should check other indicators to confirm what volume is telling? You need to ask yourself whether the trend is going to change. You need to consider the key support and resistance. You also need to understand the way volume is reported in the stock market and in the futures market. Open interest is the number of active contracts of a security during a given trading period. Open interest is the most useful tool in analyzing potential trend reversals in the futures market.

Open interest only applies to futures and options contracts and not to stocks. Open interest is the number of contracts entered into during a specific period of time but have not been liquidated or settled.

Open interest is the total number of contracts of a particular security that is long or short. Open interest rises by one when a new buyer or a new seller enters the market and takes a position in a security. Charting open interest alongwith the price charts can be an important means of tracking a contract.

About the Author

Mr. Ahmad Hassam has done Masters from Harvard. Read the story of Richard Samuels, a post office mailman with a head injury and how he made a fortune with these Neutrino Forex Signals. Turn $200 into $100K in just 3 months with this Penny Stock Trading FREE Report!

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