In his book "Winning on Wall Street", the late Marty Zweig showed us the value of volume ratios. A ratio of 9:1 or greater of up/down volume is considered to be very bullish and 9:1 down/up volume is considered to be very bearish. We certainly met the bearish threshold today. In the short history shown on the chart, we can see that it is a mixed bag. Quite often the ratio spike actually pegs an important bottom, but other times it occurs earlier in a decline.
(To see a live version of this chart click here.)
Considering that prices are due for a correction back to the rising trend line drawn from the June low, I think I will interpret today's high down/up ratio as bearish.
Watching the windsock,
Carl