Importance of Volume for Trading Binary Options

Price is an essential point in trading, which is why weve mainly focused on its mechanics up until this point. However, trading binary options has other important aspects and volume is one of them.

What is Volume?

The concept of volume is a rather simple one. Volume is the amount of shares or contracts traded within a set time perimeter (a day, in most cases). The higher the amount, the higher the volume, and hence of activity of the security. Changes in volume can easily determined or viewed as in most there are volume bars located around the chart. By observing shifts in a securitys volume, we can spot emerging trends, just like we can use prices for the same purpose.

How Important is Volume?

It is possible to use volume as a confirmation mechanism for trends and chart patterns, automatically making it one of the most important aspects of technical analysis. If we observe a price alteration with a high volume level, it would be considered more relevant than the same price alteration but with low volume. In the first case its much more probable that we are talking about a trend reversal, while in the second case it might be a simple temporary fluctuation which is irrelevant to long-term trading.

Lets set an example in order to visualize this more easily. Imagine that a companys stocks rise in value with 5% in one trading day after a long-term drop. We have the price aspect, but it cannot tell us if were looking a trend reversal or a random fluctuation at the given time. For a more relevant conclusion, we should look at the volume of the asset for the same day. If the volume is higher than average, then this might very well mean that we are looking at a trend reversal (remember that technical analysis isnt an exact science, which means that this is not conclusive; its telling us what we might be looking at but we are still working with possibilities). However, if the volume is lower, then its probably not a trend reversal at all.

Volume should generally go the same direction as the trend. If prices are rising, then so should the volume, and vice versa. Volume can also be used to determine a trends stability. In the cases where the two values correspond and have the same direction, then we are talking about a stable trend. However, if the price and volume start moving in different direction, this may be a sign that we are talking about a weakening in the trend.

In the cases when price and volume tell different stories, we are talking about a divergence. This is a phenomenon described as a discrepancy between two different indices (in this case price and volume).

Volume and Chart Patterns

Volume can also be used to confirm chart patterns. We will describe the confirmation process in more detail once we talk about the different patterns, such as head and shoulders, triangles and flags. Volume is the aspect that helps us determine the accuracy and strength of a pattern.

Volume Precedes Price

Volume can also give us a basic idea about the future price movements of an asset. If the volume is decreasing, then the price will probably decrease, as well, even if there is an uptrend at the current moment. This is a very important point for various reasons, the most important one being that it can actually help us with price predictions and can give us the idea of when its the right time to buy and the right time to sell.

This is an overall important aspect of technical analysis and will help us in our further studies of the this splendid activity called trading. The better your understanding of the basic concepts is, the better you will be able to grasp the overall concept, the ideas that tie the whole venture together, the immense opportunities related to trading. In the end, all of this is crucial for your understanding of the market and the modern economic mechanics. Now that weve covered some of the basics, its time to move on to something a bit more complicated – charts.