Quote from bone:
I kinda maybe do the same thing by using and overlaying several timeframes, and of course I look for confirmation between timeframes. The timeframes are filtered according to the volatility metrics for the instrument of interest - in other words, I don't need all the planets to be in perfect alignment, just the ones that truly matter for the specific target instrument.
I am a Nuclear Engineer by degree with several international patents regarding robotics and radiation shielding - point being, I can digest technical concepts. I have looked at volume from many different aspects, and I cannot find a lasting edge with it. I know Pete Steidelmeyer personally. I know the Market Delta guys here in Chicago.
My conclusion is that the volume analyzers do not understand, nor do they appreciate, the infidelity inherent in their source material. In terms of liquidity takers leaving a tangible footprint in the marketplace, Market Delta is superior because they are taking their source material directly from a trading platform and they are segregating liquidity makers from liquidity takers via execution platform order servers.
I don't look at timeframes but I do look at time and what I know is that if I know how long a specific price move takes, I can tell if it is significant or not. The amount of volume that occurs during that time may be significant as well, but I can get around 60% accuracy just using time, so adding volume, assuming it makes a difference, would just be gilding the lily.
The reason I started with time and not volume is that volume is too variable. One day there's a lot, the next day there's hardly any. Time is just there. Each day. Every day. The exact same. Seconds. Minutes. Hours. 24 hours in every day and 7 days in every week. Never different from the day before. Never different tomorrow. That's the kind of objectivity that serves a trader well.