Momentum

Momentum is the speed and strength at which a stock's price is moving in one direction. Think of it like a rolling boulder—once it gets going, it tends to keep going until something stops it. You'll hear momentum discussed a lot in technical analysis (studying price charts and patterns) because traders believe stocks that are rising fast tend to keep rising, at least in the short term. It matters because spotting momentum early can help you catch a move before it peaks. For example, if TechCorp stock has been climbing steadily for weeks with increasing trading volume, it has strong upward momentum—though that doesn't guarantee it'll keep climbing forever.