Volume

Hi,

I have noticed in MetaTrader that I can view Volume on my charts, does this give any valuable information for trading currency? can it give any signals when to buy or sell ? what is it for ? how can it be used?

Thanks

I used to use a volume indicator. Some times I would place a trade and the volume would drop. I could not find an indicator that could tell me how much longer volume would last. I no longer use the indicator.

The MetaTrader volume you see is probably tick volume rather than actual traded volume. That makes it somewhat less valuable. The only real source of traded volume that is publicly available comes from the futures exchanges.

Volume information can absolutely be put to good use. It’s not something you would use by itself, but it can be very handing as a confirmation (or non-confirmation) of price action. For example, a market rallying on stronger than usual volume is a positive. So to is a low volume decline, which generally indicates a lack of selling conviction.

In the book “Forex Made Easy”, James D i c k s recommends using volume to confirm the strength behind a trend. If I understood him right. It won’t signal a buy or sell, but it may confirm the validity (or lack of validity) of other signals.