This has been one slow week, and is probably going to be the weakest volume week of the year. The lack of market participants is probably due to summer vacations and this week being one of the last few weeks before school starts up again.
Volume on the stocks in the Dow Jones has hovered around 50% of the average this week. NASDAQ volume has been higher, but only one time was it higher than the average this week. Keep in mind that earnings from Cisco and Facebook’s third most active day still didn’t even get volumes above the average.
The question is, do you even care?
Most retail investors see more than enough liquidity in the market to get their trades done without ever really moving the market. So are you even concerned that the institutions are MIA right now?
It would be interesting to learn if you make any of your investment decisions based on the amount of volume in the market. I know that I like to see better volume when I and looking to sell, but not so much when I am looking to buy. If my purchase causes the stock to rise, well that is what I am trying to do anyway and theoretically the next buyer will do the same thing for me.
So does volume in the broader markets, or in a specific stock, alter your investing decisions?
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