Volume shows how many shares changed hands that day, in other words how many people piled into the move. Learn to spot “busier than usual” days with volume bars and the volume moving average.
Volume bars
Volume is drawn as one bar per candle. The longer the bar, the more shares were traded that day. The game and the chart in this lesson draw volume bars in a single gray, whether the day rose or fell, in a panel separate from the candle chart.
Volume moving average
The volume moving average (volume MA) is a line joining the average volume of the last 20 candles. It shows what normal volume looks like, so a bar that shoots well past the line marks a day when trading was much busier than usual.
Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
40 candles with volume bars and a volume moving average (20 candles). On candle 35, volume shoots far past the moving average. Keyboard: ←/→ to move, +/− to zoom, 0 to see the whole chart.
On the candle marked with a yellow vertical line, volume jumped to several times its usual level. The orange line in the volume panel is the volume moving average. Drag the chart sideways with a finger or the mouse to move it, and pinch with two fingers to zoom in. With a keyboard, click the chart, then use ←/→ to move and +/− to zoom.
How it is commonly read
- When volume rises along with a price move, the move is seen as having strength behind it.
- A price that rises without volume is seen as weak and easy to push back.
- When the price crosses the ceiling of a box on rising volume, the breakout is seen as more likely to be real (lesson 2).
- A sudden volume spike after a long rise or fall is sometimes read as a hint that the move is running out.
Volume does not tell you the direction. For every buyer there is a seller, so high volume alone does not say whether the price will rise or fall. Always read it together with the price.
How it looks in the game
- “Volume” and “Volume MA” are both “Included” weapons. The setup you start with includes “Volume”.
- “Volume” takes one “Sub-charts” panel.
- “Volume MA” does not take a panel of its own; it is drawn in the volume panel. So you need to equip “Volume” first, and one panel can hold up to 2 of them (for example a 5-candle and a 20-candle line).
