Trading Volume And Open Interest
Written by Ahmad Hassam on March 16th, 2010 in Investment.
As a trader, you should know the trading volume. Trading volume of a security tells you how heavily that security is being traded. A high trading volume is an indication that there are many buyers and sellers of that security and the current trend will continue. However, you have to combine volume analysis with technical indicators to figure out the meaning of the price action.
Volume figures are very important for traders. Volume data is not possible for currency markets as the market is unregulated and over the counter due to which this data is unavailable. Stock and futures markets have volume data that helps the traders and investors in knowing how heavy a certain stock or futures contract is being traded. In case of futures market, volume figures are delayed by one trading day.
As the futures contracts near the delivery month, volume increases. This increase in trading volume is good for traders and hedgers as it means better price discovery.
Limit days are the days in which a particular futures contract makes a big move in a short span of time. This move is usually backed by high volume. A limit up day when the market rises to its limit in a short span of time is a sign of strength. Limit down days are 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 gives you information about the total number of short and long contracts. Open interest varies with the number of traders entering and leaving the market. It rises by one when a new buyer and a new seller enter the market. Similarly falls by one when a buyer and a seller leave the market. Charting open interest on a daily basis in conjunction with the price charts helps you keep track of the trend in the futures market and can be a very useful tool.
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