5 Responses to “The Secret Science of Price and Volume: Techniques for Spotting Market Trends, Hot Sectors, and the Best Stocks”

• By Mic H. Davis on Jul 3, 2010

  I’m a new trader. I’ve been studying technical analysis for a little more than a year now. I’ve read about fifteen books in all, about all the moving averages and oscillators. What I like about Tim Ord’s book is that he explains how price and volume tells you a whole lot about the psychology and what is happening in the market, ETF, or individual stock at the time. As he mentions in his book, he uses price and volume as his #1 indicator. All the others are secondary which may be in vogue at the time or may not. He creates a picture that makes a lot of sense in a market that is very confusing. I just belong to Tim’s on line subscription service at this time. As far as the Ord Volume Software, you can use the methods presented in his book without the software, it just takes more time. I had a good year last year, account up 275%. Also, about these $3,500 and up seminars, I figured I could get the same thing out of a book and have the added benefit of being able to refer back to it.
  
  Mic Davis
  
  Rating: 5 / 5
• By Peter Davis on Jul 3, 2010

  Overall, I found this to be a very good book. As a trader, I’ve found Tim’s approach to using volume as a way to measure the strength of a trend and the probability of its reversal or continuation, to be both innovative and well-explained. This approach really breaks down many of the mysteries behind how and why volume is indicative of a market’s strength or weakness and offers objective and simple ways of applying this approach.

  Specifically, his creation of Ord-Volume, a measurement of the average volume of a swing, is something I’ve never seen before. And his methods of comparing volume on the retests of previous highs or lows is so clear and simple that, yes, a caveman can actually do it. But more importantly, it makes sense and has provided me with more insight into the market as well as a better structure for my trading.

  Contrary to what a reviewer posted previously, you don’t need to buy his software to use his methods. The techniques are very simple, and it’s not difficult to do it yourself with any basic charting program. You may need to crank out a couple of numbers by hand, but all the better, since it will give you a better feel for the markets you trade.

  Finally, I have to say that Tim, himself, couldn’t be more accommodating. I’ve peppered him with a few questions, and he’s always responded quickly and thoroughly. A trader’s trader…
  Rating: 5 / 5
• By Tuates on Jul 3, 2010

  The Secret Science of Price ad Volume. The title is deceiving. There is no SECRET and no SCIENCE. It is merely a
  
  re-phrasing of standard technical indicators and making a complicated issue out of it.
  
  “Spotting Market trends,hot sectors and best stocks” is no more than a simple momentum investing.
  
  Don’t waste your time and money.
  Rating: 1 / 5
• By S. Coffey on Jul 4, 2010

  I’ve read a number of books on technical analysis, including the classic “Technical Analysis of Stock Trends” by Edwards & Magee (which I highly recommend). I also read Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities magazine. Although it isn’t difficult to find basic explanations of volume, such as the principle that as price increases, so should volume, I’ve always found these standard explanations to be lacking.

  Then I read Tim Ord’s book, The Secret Science of Price and Volume. After reading this straight-to-the-point, easy-to-understand book, I now have a much better understanding of how to analyze the relationship between price and volume in a way that’s more meaningful, and gives me more confidence in my trades.

  Ord begins this book by explaining how he got involved in the financial markets, and why he adopted technical analysis as a primary means of analyzing the markets. From there, he explains his top-down approach to analyzing the market: determine where the market as a whole is going, find the strongest (weakest) sectors in a bull (bear) market, then find the strongest or weakest stocks in those sectors.

  After covering these basics comes the fun part: how to analyze volume patterns. Ord explains what he calls Ord Volume, which is simply the average daily (or whatever timeframe you’re analyzing) volume for each leg in the trend. He also explains how to analyze volume at various swing lows and highs.

  Next, Ord discusses how to analyze the breadth and sentiment of the market to determine intermediate and long-term highs and lows. He also briefly covers the basics of momentum oscillators, and how divergences work. This is really the only part of the book that is standard boiler plate technical analysis that one can find anywhere, although to a newcomer this is still very useful. What I appreciated is that this section doesn’t overpower the book’s more important topics, which are price and volume analysis, the top-down approach to trading, and breadth and sentiment analysis.

  After determining prime turning points in the market, Ord then goes on to the science of finding the best sectors to be in, and from there, the best stocks. He backs up his claims by examining, on the charts, recent market moves, and shows how the sectors that performed the best during a downturn generally perform the best when the market turns around and heads north.

  Then there’s the chapter on gold. Personally, I found this to be an odd addition to the book, as I didn’t really find it relevant (except for those who trade gold). But still, he uses this chapter to further demonstrate the techniques of this book to that particular market.

  Finally, Ord closes the book with a step-by-step explanation of how to apply the principles in the book, using the 2002-2007 bull market as an example. This is a great wrap-up that reinforces everything that was previously discussed.

  I’ve generally found that when it comes to educational materials, you get what you pay for, and this book is no exception. Although I finished reading this book only a week ago, and haven’t really given it the test of time, it does appear, as I examine charts of the market, sectors, and stocks, that the principles and techniques taught in this book are right on the money. I’m excited and looking forward to applying what I’ve learned in this book to my own trading. There’s plenty of information out there about RSI, MACD, momentum divergences, moving average crossovers, breakouts, etc. But those studies apply to price only. Volume is the other half of the equation. With plenty of charts, and his easy-to-understand writing style, Tim Ord does a great job of filling that void.
  Rating: 5 / 5
• By Robert F. Schwagerl on Jul 4, 2010

  Tim Ord’s book is an easy read and his trading methodologies are very easy to use. Own both the book and software. Software is $599. I have worked on Wall Street for the past 18 years and Tim’s methodologies get right down to the basics of looking at just price and volume (that is all you need). I know of a couple of big hedge funds who wrote all of these sophisticated quantitative formulas for beating the market and they ended up getting slaughtered like sheep. Most of these quant guys have Phd’s in mathematics and engineering. Tim’s software showed and most every mortgage company over the past year (example: Fannie Mae; FNM) to either sell the stock or short the stock right before these stocks collapsed. Great software, great book, highly recommend.
  Rating: 5 / 5

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