does volume head price or price lead volume?

Quote from trader56:

bighog,

Let me "whip this on you"...(sheesh)

I was a futures floor trader for a number of years. One of the favorite trick of the locals was to trade ONE contract back and forth between us to get higher (or lower) prints on the board. Why do you think we did this and why was it generally profitable?

Because some guy(s) sitting out there watching price only thinks, "Oh my god - the price is going up, I'd better buy now before the market gets way for me!"

So, in comes the paper, and who do yuo think sells to that fool? We do. And where do yuo think the price goes after that buy order has been filled? Back down.

Ocassionally, some wiseguy thinks he'll outsmart the floor and sell into that price rise. No problem, since there was never any real buying in the first place (i.e. NO VOLUME), the order not only doesn't get filled, but price gets offered down in front of it. Then, if the guy still needs to sell, we get a bargain price. And where do you think price goes after that sell order is filled? Why, back up, of course.

The moral of the story is that if these fools watching only price had called down to the floor to see what was going on (in other words, found out what the VOLUME was), they never would've been sucked into these dumb trades. But, like you, almost none of them bothered to consider the volume driving price, and we got to do this over and over and over and...

When the brokers for the commercials came out and bid/offered, weren't filled, and then hung out, if price came back to that level we would always ask, "Are you still there?" We want to know HOW MUCH (oh, there's the VOLUME again) is still bid for or offered.

THe great thing about ET now, as opposed to when I joined, is that it demonstrates daily that it's now filled with newbies, kids, and people who have little if any understanding of markets. THat used to bug me, but now I like to have them on the other side of my trades. So please, continue to pay no attention to volume and watch Elliot Wave and price-based TA indicators!
[/QUOTE

Trader56-Thank you for taking the time to post that info, very good indeed. I was speaking to a friend whom, has been trading for about 20 years and has purchased around $100k in seminars and software.

He told me as a relative newbie, 18 months of day trading under my belt, that I should focus on learn how to trade with price and volume, that's it. He doesn't use any of the software he purchased or the knowledge from the $3-5k seminars he went, just price and volume. That's say alot to me.

I do believe one can find alternative methods that work fine, but I absolutely realize that I must learn how to trade with volume.
 
Quote from NihabaAshi:

Volatility analysis resolves this problem and indicators not needed.

There are price action only traders (no traditional indicators) that use volume and are profitable at it.

I've seen some of these guys with my own two eyes doing their thing via volume analysis which was more like supply/demand analysis when I started asking questions.

Those price action only traders that were not profitable via using volume are usually the ones saying its not needed or they are very experience traders that have traversed into other things that's more useful than volume.

Someone saying its not needed is different than someone saying its not useful.

Therefore, as more trading experience is gained (years later)...

Price action only traders eventually understand the real causes of the price action and no longer need volume because more often than not...

They are now profitable via something else (most likely more reliable) that has replaced volume analysis.

Thus, if your profitable via using volume, don't waste your time debating with someone that's profitable without the need for volume.

Also, from what I've learn about the backgrounds of some of these guys that eventually traversed from volume into a substitute for volume as a price action only trader...

These are traders that have some association as/with floor traders, institutional traders et cetera in their backgrounds.

Look at it this way, on a 1 to 10 scale about the importance of volume and volatility for price action only traders from my own personal experience...

(I don't care if someone agrees or not)

Volume = 6

Volatility = 9

I'm one of those price action only traders that started with volume and it was very useful (profitable).

However, after the years, I traversed into volatility analysis, market seasonal cycles, intraday tendencies et cetera...

I no longer need volume to make profitable trade decisions nor is there any merits in me debating with someone that uses volume as a profitable trader.

Yet, if your not profitable and your using volume as a price action only trader...

Your doing something wrong in your volume analysis.

Don't spend time debating. Instead, ask those traders for help that are currently using volume profitably.

Last of all, the question by the thread starter is this...

Does volume lead price or price lead volume???.

My answer...best to spend your time determining what really moves prices and when it tends to occur.

Mark

Mark, this is yet another really good post. It brings to mind the seasonal tendency you mentioned in the DOW, I believe it was, several months back and it responded as you projected. Thanks for continuing to post on ET. :)

I did a search on google for volatility analysis and I found info on ATR. Is that the direction you were referring to?
 
IMHO I think volume leads price i.e. when volume comes in bidding up or down, the supply is taken out and has to move to adjust to demand

sorry to make it sound so basic, but that is how I see it. So if you see capitulation volume, know that price is gonna start moving and fast
 
Quote from duard:

This morning's rally failed on lack of volume. After a few pops up it wasn't selling as much as lack of volume. Without volume price began skidding on its own weight as price skidded selling momentum picked up until price eventually fell back to ground zero with the assistance of a few helpful traders.
Volume is nice but who has the "control" within that volume......I like to watch the "conviction" of the volume to base my trades from (using intra-bar market delta)..........

http://www.charthub.com/images/2007/01/21/ES_317_VB.png
 
Mark
Thks for your inputs. I think you understand a debate is not supposed to be about who is right or wrong but more as an informational exchange that both sides might gain knowledge. Many that post feel better to lean to argumentive side because someone like myself is able to rattle their feathers with some hard and true facts. I understand some are not able to grasp factual methods and or tactics because they are driven by their beliefs and not from actual experiences in the mkt. I myself would rather like to think i am helping them through the darkness. (that will ruffle even more feathers), HA

OK, to the reason i decided to respond to your post. You stated: ...........My answer...best to spend your time determining what really moves prices and when it tends to occur.

I ask you WHY worry about reasons? Who cares what causes prices to move? When it tends to occur is mox-nix also, correct? Myself as a breakout trader, and all the other breakout traders ...we all know in advance WHERE it will happen. We all know it will happen, it will happen when prices move off the dime.

Knowing why and when is not even a possibility until after the fact. Again, i emphatically state, price is the answer, price moving off the dime wins above all else. Anyone that wants the truth need simply reread posts about price leads, volume follows. I.. rest my case.

Bears WIN, sloppy but a win.:p :)
 
Quote from bighog:

.....We all know it will happen, it will happen when prices move off the dime......Again, i emphatically state, price is the answer, price moving off the dime wins above all else......

Hog---

What do you mean when you keep saying: when price moves off the dime?
 
Quote from EdgeHunter:

Mark's post sent me off searching too...

found this...

http://www.traderslog.com/volatility-analysis.htm

i hope Mark can post a few URL's for reading and searching this subject he brought up...

cj...

:)

HAVE STOP <img src="http://www.enflow.com/p.gif"> WILL TRADE

I googled that one too but I am intersted in intraday analysis and cant find much on that. Im pretty sure Mark is an intraday trader so am curious what type of stuff he is using.
 
Quote from Bearbelly:

I googled that one too but I am intersted in intraday analysis and cant find much on that. Im pretty sure Mark is an intraday trader so am curious what type of stuff he is using.

ATR and BBands can be used intraday too... on any time period...

but if Mark is in the building... more info would be great...

cj...

:confused:

HAVE STOP <img src="http://www.enflow.com/p.gif"> WILL TRADE
 
Markets work on supply and demand. Volume is the key. It is true that it is usually misunderstood, however, that does not diminish its value.

Just a couple of thing to see in the chart below.

1. First, on the 30 min. Most people see this wide spread bar on heavy volume and assume that there was selling. However, VSA tells us a different, more correct, story. If this bar had been selling, then why is the next bar up? The reason it is up is because the Professional money was BUYING into the herd selling on that bar. Professional money trades with large size and thus needs to Buy into down bars , or Sell into up bars, so as not to effect the price adversely against themselves. Therefore, weakness will appear on up bars and strength will appear on up bars.

2. On the 10, take a look inside the grey circle. First we see a red circle on the first bar with the double arrow. The volume here is high and price closes near the high. Again, what happens on the next bar? Price falls. If there had been buying, then why did price fall on the next bar?

This is where it gets interesting. Yes, price did fall the next bar, but look at the range. The range is narrow. Something is supporting the price. A trader can tell the bullishness/bearishness of the Market Makers by the range of the bar. They See buy orders on the books, and thus expect higher prices. Hence they are willing to keep the spread narrow as the herd sells on that bar. The next bar is the key. The bar opens at the high, trades lower, than close on the high. This is a test bar. The professionals are testing for sellers. Now look at the volume. It is very low. It is lower than the previous two bars and less than the average. There are no sellers underneath. So while, some supply did enter on the bar with the red dot, it is quickly swamped by demand on the next bar, and then they test for more supply and find none. Price now rises.

If you're not looking at Volume, Spread, and price, you are not looking at the whole picture. Volatility, like all technical analysis, may tell you when price will move. Fundamentals may tell you why price will move. Volume Spread Analysis tells you both when and why price moves.
 
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