When it comes to making decisions in the stock market, you have three options:

1. You can either let a financial expert manage your portfolio.
2. You can take a more hands-on approach to making the decisions.
3. You can employ a combination of the two strategies, conducting your own research and getting advice from an expert to make the decision.

The information contained in this article will particularly be helpful only if the second or the third case applies to you. However, even if you let an expert manage your financial decisions, you will not go empty handed, as you will gain a better understanding of how the expert makes the decisions for you.

An Effective Approach to Investment

Generally, people use bar and candlestick charts to determine the historical prices of stocks. The charts show recent highs, lows, and the last traded prices that are perfect to get an overview of the market. However, sometimes there are cases when a more detailed analysis is required to understand the market trend relating to a particular ratio.

In this context, the time & sales can prove to be an invaluable resource to the investors.  Times & Sales Analysis: What Does it Entail

Time & Sales is one of the most effective approaches to evaluating the profitability of the stock market. The trading information displayed by a time & sales table can help traders make informed decisions regarding the stocks.

Using the time & sales tables, you can view the exact time, the trend, and the volume of stocks that were traded during a particular period. In other words, it offers a real time display of the market price and sales movements that prove invaluable in making informed trading decisions.

Looking at the Time & Sales table, you will know about the following.

• Date and Time – The exact time and date in which the trade occurred
• Volume – The volume of the trade that occurred during a period
• Price – The price at which the trade occurred

The above are the basic pieces of information included in the time and sales table. Each piece of information can help the trader in making an informed trading decision. From the above information, you can find out the direction of the market. If the price and volume moves upwards during a particular period, the stock is trending high. The opposite is the case if the price and volume moves downward.

A trade is classified as a buying trade when the stock is trending high. On the contrary, the stock is classified as a selling trade when it is trending low. When the stock is classified as a buying trade, you can profit by buying the stock and then selling it at a later date when the price has reached a specific high point. The opposite is the case with selling trade.

Conclusion

The time & sales can be used by traders for a different time frame. But generally, it is useful for scalpers and other short term traders. The traders can use the technical analysis tool on its own, or use it in combination with carts to gain in-depth information about the market. Using the tool can help in either confirming or disproving the results of another technical indicator, thereby serving as an invaluable tool for the investors.