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Relative volume & trading halts

RVOL as the crowd meter; how LULD halts work and why they matter.

9 min · Intermediate

What you'll learn

• Calculate and interpret relative volume, including how it changes during the day
• Explain how LULD price bands and five-minute trading pauses work
• Account for the risk that a halt carries your loss well past your stop

Key takeaways

• RVOL measures today's participation against normal; its trend matters as much as its level.
• LULD pauses trading for about five minutes when price hits a band and cannot trade back inside it.
• During a halt you cannot exit, and resumption can gap well past your stop.
• Size positions in halting stocks so a gap of several times your stop distance is survivable.

Glossary

• Relative volume (RVOL) — Today's volume compared with the stock's normal volume, ideally measured at the same time of day.
• LULD — Limit Up-Limit Down, the mechanism that sets price bands and pauses trading when a stock hits a band and cannot return inside it.
• Halt resumption — The reopening of trading after a halt, usually through an auction that can price far from the halt price.

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