Stock prices advance when buyers are more enthusiastic than sellers. On the other hand, stock prices decline when sellers are more enthusiastic than buyers. Finally, if a stock stays in a narrow trading range for a while, it means buyers and sellers are about equal, when it comes to enthusiasm. It is interesting to note, there always has to be an equal number of shares sold when shares are bought, and vice versa. It is the enthusiasm of one side or the other that causes prices to advance or decline.
You are probably wondering why I choose the title I did for this article. Elephants are really big and they represent big institutions, such as hedgefunds, mutual funds, pension funds, and other large investment firms. These big institutions account for about 75% of all trading activity in the stock market. It takes huge demand for stock prices to make a significant advance. The biggest source of this demand is the institutions or elephants.
You can tell if institutions such as a mutual fund are accumulating shares of a company by price and volume analysis. Looking at a weekly chart, if the price went up for the week, and the volume was significantly higher than normal for the week, it means that big players in the market are accumulating shares. This is important because once a big fund establishes a new position, it usually will continue to add to that position for many weeks or more. This will really give the stock a boost when it comes to price advancement.
Following institutional sponsorship is an important factor in your overall stock market analysis. These elephants are the sustained force behind almost all major price moves. Knowing when these major stock market players are buying a certain stock, can do wonders for your overall trading results. I recommend reading, "How to Make Money in Stocks", by William J. O'Neil. This is a superb book covering all the important aspects of trading in the stock market. Knowledge is the key to trading greatness and making a fortune.
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