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Price Fields
Technical analysis is based almost entirely on the analysis of price and volume. The
fields which define a security's price and volume are explained below.
Open - This is the price of the first trade
for the period (e.g., the first trade of the day). When analyzing daily data, the Open is
especially important as it is the consensus price after all interested parties were able
to "sleep on it."
High - This is the highest price that the
security traded during the period. It is the point at which there were more sellers than
buyers (i.e., there are always sellers willing to sell at higher prices, but the High
represents the highest price buyers were willing to pay).
Low - This is the lowest price that the
security traded during the period. It is the point at which there were more buyers than
sellers (i.e., there are always buyers willing to buy at lower prices, but the Low
represents the lowest price sellers were willing to accept).
Close - This is the last price that the
security traded during the period. Due to its availability, the Close is the most often
used price for analysis. The relationship between the Open (the first price) and the Close
(the last price) are considered significant by most technicians. This relationship is
emphasized in candlestick charts.
Volume - This is the number of shares (or
contracts) that were traded during the period. The relationship between prices and volume
(e.g., increasing prices accompanied with increasing volume) is important.
Open Interest - This is the total number of
outstanding contracts (i.e., those that have not been exercised, closed, or expired) of a
future or option. Open interest is often used as an
indicator.
Bid - This is the price a market maker
is willing to pay for a security (i.e., the price you will receive if you sell).
Ask - This is the price a market maker
is willing to accept (i.e., the price you will pay to buy the security).
These simple fields are used to create literally hundreds of technical tools that study
price relationships, trends, patterns, etc.
Not all of these price fields are available for all security types, and many quote
providers publish only a subset of these. Table 1 shows the typical fields that are
reported for several security types.
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Table 1 |
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Futures |
Mutual Funds |
Stocks |
Options |
| Open |
Yes |
No |
Often |
Yes |
| High |
Yes |
Closed end |
Yes |
Yes |
| Low |
Yes |
Closed end |
Yes |
Yes |
| Close |
Yes |
Yes (*NAV) |
Yes |
Yes |
| Volume |
Yes |
Closed end |
Yes |
Yes |
| Open Interest |
Yes |
N/A |
N/A |
Often |
| Bid |
Intraday |
Closed end |
Intraday |
Intraday |
| Ask |
Intraday |
Closedn end |
Intraday |
Intraday |
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*Net Asset Value
TOP | 