Definition
Volume
The number of shares that changed hands during an interval. Volume is the weight behind a price move: the same price change means different things on heavy versus thin participation, and averages computed without it treat both alike.
Volume = shares traded during the interval (sum of trade sizes)
- Participation
- more traders active in the interval — earnings days and index rebalances concentrate it.
- Liquidity structure
- float size and where the ticker trades set the baseline level; compare a ticker to its own history, not to other tickers.
- Event flow
- news, filings, and index events cluster volume — a spike usually has a cause worth finding in the filings.
Market data construct (not a filing concept). Reported per trade by venues and aggregated by the data source per interval. Share COUNTS in filings (outstanding, float) are different concepts — those are XBRL-tagged.
- Volume across venues is consolidated differently by different sources — cross-source comparisons need the same consolidation basis.
Educational use only — not investment advice. Figures come from public SEC filings; Echelon teaches you to analyze data, it never recommends buying or selling any security.