Markets & trading
Trading volume is the quantity of shares, contracts or units exchanged during a defined period. It measures activity, not whether buying or selling pressure was correct.
Make it click
At a busy market stall, count how many items change hands. Every transaction has both a buyer and seller, so the count alone cannot say which side won the argument.
Now put that into markets
Markets aggregate completed trades into daily, intraday or venue-level volume. Analysts compare it with the asset's own history and available float.
Definitions may count shares, contracts or monetary value and can double-count across fragmented feeds if combined poorly. Corporate actions alter comparability.
Name instrument, venue coverage, unit and period. Relate unusual volume to events, price movement and liquidity without treating association as cause.
High volume can accompany accumulation, distribution, rebalancing or disagreement. Low volume does not automatically make a move false.
Takeaway
