Quote from steve46:
This is a chart using 15 min candles.
What I have done is to notate how much volume occurred at each bar. For "Up" candles the number of contracts is notated at the top of the candle. For "Down" candles, the volume is notated near the bottom. These figures are rounded up and down.
Compare that with these figures showing the average volume over the previous 90 days as follows
6:00 - 6:30 89,300
6:30 - 6:45 65,400
6:45 - 7:00 83,000
7:00 - 7:15 56,000
7:15 - 7:30 53,000
7:30 - 7:45 53,300
7:45 - 8:00 51,400
8:00 - 8:15 38,700
8:15 - 8:30 36,600
8:30 - 8:45 37,400
8:45 - 9:00 36,100
9:00 - 9:15 35,800
9:15 - 9:30 32,400
9:30 - 9:45 28,600
9:45 - 10:00 22,800
10:00-10:15 26,400
10:15-10:30 25,000
10:30-10:45 33,800
10:45-11:00 27,100
11:00-11:15 37,800
11:15-11:30 40,100
11:30-11:45 38,500
11:45-12:00 32,300
12:00-12:15 35,500
12:15-12:30 34,800
12:30-12:45 37,500
12:45-01:00 60,000
01:00-01:15 62,500
Credit for this idea (researching average ES contract volume) goes to Dr. Brett Steenbarger, who published the original data for a similar lookback period in his blog. I thank Dr. Steenbarger for publishing his research and his many other contributions to trader education.
The way I have used this data, is to look at how actual volume compares to historic. I look at the size of each bar and how effectively price is moved up or down on specific volume. I take particular note of tails (up or down) as well as wide range bars. Take a look. I am glad to answer any questions as best I can.