Unusual Volume Stocks

Unusual volume means a stock is changing hands far more than it usually does. Measuring that as a multiple of average volume flatters small, thinly traded names, so this scan measures it statistically: volume today more than three standard deviations above the stock's own 60-session average, restricted to names already turning over $10 million a day. A spike accompanies breakouts, breakdowns, earnings, index changes and share offerings alike, so the list asks what happened rather than answering it. It is direction-blind by design and never asks the price to have gone anywhere, which is the one thing separating it from the hot stocks screen: that one measures the same statistic on dollar volume and requires a move as well.