Accumulation Area

What Is the Accumulation Area?

The accumulation area on a price and volume chart is characterized by generally sideways stock price movement, which is seen by investors or technical analysts as indicative of large institutional investors buying, or accumulating, a large number of shares over the long haul.

This can be contrasted with the distribution zone, where institutional investors start selling their shares. Having the option to perceive whether a stock is in the accumulation zone or the distribution zone is useful to investing achievement. The goal is to buy in the accumulation area and sell in the distribution area.

Understanding the Accumulation Area

The accumulation area is important for investors to perceive while deciding to buy or sell. Experienced investors search for patterns indicating a stock is at a high point, low point, or some in the middle between. The goal is to determine in the event that a stock price has momentum, and in which direction. A stock in the accumulation area may be about to break out. At the point when a stock price doesn't fall below a certain price level, and moves in a sideways range for an extended period, this can be an indication to investors that the stock is being accumulated by investors and subsequently, will be moving up soon.

The accumulation area is just one form of charting. Charting is also used to identify what is known as the distribution zone, which may indicate that a stock is nearing a selloff. Investors search for divergences between stock price fluctuations and trading volumes as key to their charting analysis.

The widespread availability of online charting devices through online trading firms is allowing more investors access to procedures once confined to professionals. These apparatuses permit investors to think back over years to see when stocks moved and to understand what was happening at the time.

Traders hope to identify ranges of price and volume movement; a prolonged sideways chart range with no large ups or downs indicates the stock is in the accumulation area and may be about to climb.

The Accumulation/Distribution Indicator (A/D)

Accumulation/distribution (A/D) is a cumulative indicator that utilizes volume and price to assess whether a stock is being accumulated or distributed. The accumulation/distribution measure tries to identify divergences between the stock price and volume flow. This provides understanding into how strong a trend is. Assuming that the price is rising however the indicator is falling this recommends that buying or accumulation volume may not be sufficient to support the price gain and a decline may come.

The A/D indicator is cumulative, meaning one period's value is added or subtracted from the last. A rising A/D line affirms a rising price trend, while a falling A/D line affirms a price downtrend. In the event that the price is rising however A/D is falling, it signals underlying weakness and a potential decline in price, as well as the other way around.

Utilizing the Accumulation Area: Pros and Cons

Understanding chart movements, for example, those found in the accumulation area can function admirably during times of relative stability. In any case, prudent investors know to pay attention to larger economic occasions that can rapidly reconfigure charts.

Two seismic economic occasions were the Great Depression and the Great Recession. Leading up to the former, the market had already lost 10% over the five weeks before Oct. 28, 1929, when it fell 13% in a single day. In that one day, more than $14 billion of value was wiped under the table.

All the more as of late, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) peaked at 14,164.43 on Oct. 9, 2007, just to lose half of its value in just 18 months, closing at 6,594.44 on March 5, 2009.

Highlights

• On a price chart, the accumulation area is characterized by sideways price movement on above-average volume.
• Identifying this area could assist investors with spotting good entry points into an investment before its price starts to rise.
• The accumulation area addresses a period of implicit buying of shares, typically by institutional buyers, while the price remains fairly stable.
• Accumulation zones can be contrasted with distribution zones, where assets start to be sold.