VMA

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Patent #: US 7,831,984 B2
MarketVolume®'s technology of displaying and presenting intraday volume and volume based technical indicators is protected by copyright law and patent. Unauthorized distribution or reproduction of proprietary technologies will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law.

A volume moving average (VMA) represents the average volume generated over a given period of time. For example, a 9-period VMA represents the average volume produced over the past 9 periods, including the present bar.

The two types of moving averages are:

1. The Volume Moving Average Simple (VMAs) - the average volume over a specified number of periods;
2. The Volume Moving Average Exponential (VMAe) - applies to weighing factors to reduce the lag in simple moving averages.

VMAs are used to observe volume changes over time and have a smoothing effect on short-term volume spikes. A rising VMA indicates that a larger than usual number of shares have changed hands - for whatever reason (greedy buyers, panic sellers, etc.). Significant volume surges often precede trend reversals on the indexes. The higher a VMA's period, the more it will tend to smooth out volume spikes. In this way, the use of a high-period VMA will ensure that only the larger volume surges are reflected.

Longer-term VMAs - also called slow VMAs - are used to highlight long-term surges in volume production. If significant enough, such volume surges often precede long-term trend reversals on an index. Shorter-period VMAs - also called fast VMAs - are used to highlight shorter-term volume surges; these often precede short-term trend reversals.

Below, we have listed the recommended VMA settings for different charting periods. We recommend you use these particular VMA settings - they have proven to be effective in signaling coming market trend reversals.

Table #1: Recommended VMA settings