Some investors, who use so-called technical analysis, see trading volume as a sign of conviction about a stock's future direction. If a stock rises sharply on heavy trading volume, technical analysts might take that as evidence there's quite a bit of bullishness in the trade.
Conversely, if a stock jumps on light trading volume, technical analysts might think that the move higher was fleeting and unlikely to continue.
Investors, though, must remember that trading volume is a measure of the number of shares trading hands. Volume is a total tally of trades and investors, including the buys and sells. By definition, every trade requires a buyer and a seller.
Traders also know volume is an aggregate count, so investors don't see the names of the buyers or sellers in each trade. There are required regulatory filings available to the public at a much later date that give that level of detail for some large market players.
There's another complication. The options market allows investors to make bullish or bearish bets on a stock -- without actually buying or selling the shares. If there are investors piling into a large number of puts, which allow the investor to sell the shares below the current price, that's a bearish trade.
That's why it's often more useful to look at options trades to see whether investors are bullish or bearish.
The SEC's Edgar database allows free public access to all filings related to insider buying and selling of stock shares. A number of financial information websites offer easier-to-use databases of insider buying. Canadian transactions are available on a government website and on financial websites.
Stock exchange portals have a list of buy orders and sell orders which are organized according to price levels. Market depth is often displayed to the public through these lists on trading platforms. One can also purchase the data in exchange for a fee.
All stock market exchanges track volumes of stocks. Therefore, information on the volume in the stock market of any particular share is easily accessible. One can look at the exchanges, news websites, third party websites that have stock market information.
What Is a Stock Trader? A stock trader is a person who attempts to profit from the purchase and sale of securities such as stock shares. Stock traders can be professionals trading on behalf of a financial company or individuals trading on behalf of themselves.
Owner, shareholder and employee information for a business entity is not made of record with the California Secretary of State. Requests for information should be directed to the business entity itself.
For a publicly traded stock, the market clearinghouse lets you sell your stocks without having to find a specific buyer. Basically, you give the order to sell shares while someone else gives the order to buy shares of that same stock.
The Raw buying and selling indication is provided in terms of a Columns. Green bars above zero show the buying pressure and the red bars below the zero line show the selling pressure. This presents a good visual representation of the dominating pressure.
How to profit from bid-ask spread? Traders buy stocks at the bid price and proceed to make those stocks available for the next set of investors. They offer the bid price (price to buy) and ask price (price for sale) for the stocks. The difference between the bid and ask prices becomes the profit for them.
The average investor contends with the bid and ask spread as an implied cost of trading. Most investors and retail traders are "market takers," meaning that they usually will have to sell on the bid (where someone else is willing to buy) and buy at the offer (where someone else is willing to sell).
Every brokerage has a stock record department that is charged with maintaining accurate records of all of its transactions on behalf of clients. For each transaction, the stock record department must identify the owner, the quantity of stock, and the location where the security is held or deposited.
Transfer agents keep records of who owns a company's stocks and bonds and how those stocks and bonds are held—whether by the owner in certificate form, by the company in book-entry form, or by the investor's brokerage firm in street name. They also keep records of how many shares or bonds each investor owns.
This information can be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) EDGAR database. To find such information, navigate to EDGAR and search a public company name or share symbol. Once the company profile is found, follow the link to filings.
In addition to the SEC's EDGAR database, there also are many third-party websites that offer insider ownership and transaction information. If you enter the words “insider reports” into most Internet search engines, you'll quickly find websites that can provide this information.
Companies may disclose the identities of their shareholders on such corporate registries. And in some cases, investors may disclose their shareholdings in companies.
The IBD Accumulation/Distribution Rating is a quick way to see if institutions are buying or selling a stock. This is found on MarketSmith's weekly chart or in IBD's Stock Checkup tool. Stocks are rated from A+ to E, with A+ being the best and E being the worst.
Introduction: My name is Aracelis Kilback, I am a nice, gentle, agreeable, joyous, attractive, combative, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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