back to work - price and volume on the indexes up first...

we've been tracking price and volume on the indexes since plunge tuesday 27 feb 2007, and just as i expected - the indexes have moved higher on lower volume - not a good sign. but anything's possible. at any rate, i've been very busy loading and installing drywall for my home renovation, but the frequency and ferocity is going to pick back up starting now... all the best!

volume valium?

pretty straight forward here >

excited about a couple things tonight!

• the indexes posted ugly candles today. for most of the day, up until about 3:19pm, in fact, everything looked pretty good. however, as you know, they all closed lower than they opened. keep this in mind too - volume again was relatively low, just like yesterday. that means that for like 99% of the day the markets were up on light volume. who was buying? did the volume pick up as the indexes dropped for the last 40 minutes? i am not sure.

• i am also excited because i got tim knight's new book in the mail today. i have learned a lot by frequenting his blog, so naturally i have high expectations for this new piece of literature.

• finally, i am going to see the band clinic tonight - should be a great show, and i just found out that it's sold out. hopefully the bar won't be too crowded...
  

so far, so... so not convincing?

the markets were strong today - it wasn't surprising - they were overdue for a bounce, and the previous day's failed attempt along with the asian markets rallying overnight triggered some buying or covering, or both. the absolute and % gains for the day on the indexes were impressive. but what about the volume? i compiled a graphic below showing the last 23 days or so on the three major indexes. today's gains (retracing) were accomplished on the lowest volume since last tuesday's plunge. is this buying with conviction or shorts protecting profits? or something else? who knows? who cares? i am believer in paying attention to price and volume. big gains with big volume tend to stick as so big losses with big volume. big gains or losses on little volume tend not to stick, or rather to be be less indicative of what lies ahead. the same goes for breakouts, breakdowns and any other big moves.

the real question then becomes: what does today's action say about the short term? well, anything can happen tomorrow - but for the moment i the prospects of more significant downside remain. and as for getting through tomorrow, i'll be looking at the stocks that were relatively weak today despite the observed market strength [see this post].