STOP PRESS!!
I think we are massively confusing volume in equities and futures to volume in FX. FXCM didn’t show volume for some time so it is a new thing based on request I am sure.
No need to search for expensive volume feeds (Error 101 in volume analysis). FX has no central exchange with liquidity coming from dark pools created by liquidity providers that claim orders are coming from anonymous origins. In a market like this it is impossible to present volume.
However the substitute has been tick volume, let me explain…
First off this measures activity, e.g. if bidding and asking is taking place in a market (like a pit) You expect to hear a lot of buying and selling at different prices. This causes ticks back and forth as bidders and askers start to put money in. As this happens the ticks are recorded in the form of tick volume.
Second, if we think of market liquidity, we think what would it take in financial terms to move price one ten thousandth of the price (our 1 pip). There has been much debate since the market maker is the only person who knows, it is here the dodgy business starts. E.g. Assuming each tick represents £1m of financial value in the market, then 2000 ticks would mean £2b has been placed on both the buy and sell side of the market, in effect if price has moved 30 pips from top to bottom and 20 pips open to close this will be supporting the activity you see of 2000 ticks. Of course each broker has a different tick count but the ending price is always the same so the relative activity will be brought on an even keel by determine the high and low ranges like any statistical distribution. In effect high volume 1800 on a range of 100-2000 will be considered high as would be 7000 in a range of 1000-10000. Note this is an example.
So to conclude tick volume can hardly vary from broker to broker. See examples below. 1H chart GBP/USD 4/09/14 13.00 from both XM and FXPro. See the volume is exactly the same even though both have different tick counts. The discrepancy is how the broker receives the feed and how quick the lag is but I am only interested in activity. A large price move long must be brought about by several parties taking long positions which will mean the move is genuine and not false. The more you see the open and close prices the more you see the anomalies and no when to act and not. This is an art not a science as Coulling would say.
Futures and equities sure real volume so it is much easier to see but despite this specialist manipulators are still able to disguise their activity by buying in carefully planned manners and selling in even more craftier ways. Read Jesse Livermore’s account of a stock manipulator, last few chapters of the book. In equities exchange feeds are more important as there is a central exchange and you can get better quotes with a better feed. Ninja Trader does the job anyway.
XM
FXPro