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Volume: Color Coding and Instant Assessment by kensey

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	Each bar in the volume graph (second from the top) is drawn in one of two colors. Blue is used if a stock's price went up that day, and red is used if the price went down. This allows quick recognition of whether buyers or sellers are controlling a stock.
	Metromedia Fiber Network Inc A (MFNX)	The dominant group moving the stock of MFNX is definitively buyers. The blue volume bars predominate, and stack much higher than the red. This says that when the stock rises, it is being propelled by a much larger crowd of investors. An important observation to make here is that once the frenetic buying slowed between the run-up in January and mid-March, sellers did not unload stock in a serious way. Most of those who got in during the doubling of the stock apparently have held onto it. Yes, the stock underwent a fairly stiff retracement, but the volume under which it occurred was relatively low and unconvincing. This is made clear by the fact that there are no significant bars drawn in red in the March and April period.
	Which brings us to May. Now that the basing period is over, MFNX is entering a very nice uptrend that suggests it may pierce its previously set 52-week high. Volume has picked up considerably as evidenced by the blue bars, and the price bars are nice and tight. Tight price bars indicate a gradual uptrend in which all participants are thinking along similar lines, and it's a conversation that is proceeding with apparent ease. Avoid volatility. Look for tight price bars accompanied by big volume. Uptrends that persist usually start out on low volatility. If you look back at the January period, it was not volatile. The pickup in volatility that happened in March hinted that a retracement was just around the corner. Next: Got the Blues?

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