Volume

Volume is the total number of shares traded in a stock during a specific time period, usually a single trading day. You'll see it listed on every stock chart and news article, because it tells you how much buying and selling activity is actually happening. High volume means lots of investors are trading; low volume means few are. Why care? Volume helps confirm whether a price move is real or just a fluke. If a stock jumps 10% but barely anyone traded it, that jump might reverse quickly. But if it jumps 10% on massive volume, that suggests genuine investor interest. For example, if TechCorp stock rises 5% on 50 million shares traded versus 500,000 shares, the first move carries more weight.