What Is RVOL? Relative Volume Explained
The single most-watched signal for spotting a stock that's actually moving today — not just cheap or in the news.
What is RVOL?
RVOL (Relative Volume) compares a stock's trading volume right now to its typical volume at this same point in the trading day, averaged over the past 3 months. It answers a simple question: is more or less is happening in this stock today than usual?
Example: A stock typically trades 500,000 shares by 10:00 AM. Today it's already traded 2,500,000 shares by 10:00 AM. RVOL = 2,500,000 / 500,000 = 5.0x. Something unusual is driving five times the normal interest.
Why RVOL matters more than raw volume
Raw share volume alone is misleading — a mega-cap like Apple trades tens of millions of shares on a completely ordinary day, while a thinly-traded micro-cap might see its whole daily volume in the first ten minutes on a real catalyst. RVOL normalizes for this by comparing each stock only to its own history, so a micro-cap and a mega-cap can be compared on the same scale.
This is also why RVOL must be time-adjusted, not just compared to a full prior day's total. A stock trading at 30% of its average daily volume by 10:00 AM isn't quiet — if it normally does that much volume in the first 30 minutes, it may already be running hot. Comparing partial-day volume to a full-day average understates true RVOL early in the session.
RVOL thresholds — what the numbers mean
| RVOL | What it signals |
|---|---|
| Below 0.5x | Quiet — below-average interest, low conviction for a fresh setup |
| 0.5x – 1.5x | Normal — ordinary trading day, no unusual activity |
| 1.5x – 2x | Elevated — worth watching, something may be developing |
| 2x – 5x | High — a real, tradeable signal; institutional or news-driven interest likely |
| 5x+ | Extreme — major catalyst almost certainly in play (earnings, FDA news, a viral social post, a squeeze) |
These bands are general guidelines, not fixed rules — a 2x RVOL day for a normally-illiquid micro-cap can be just as significant as a 5x day for a heavily-traded large-cap.
RVOL vs. other volume metrics
| Metric | What it measures | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Raw volume | Total shares traded | Meaningless without context — no sense of "normal" for that stock |
| RVOL | Today's volume vs. this stock's own average at the same time of day | Needs at least ~3 months of history to compute reliably |
| Dollar volume | Shares traded × price | Doesn't capture whether today is unusual for that stock specifically |
| Float rotation | Volume ÷ total shares available to trade | A related but distinct concept — see market cap and float |
Where RVOL is used
- Day trading — RVOL is one of the first filters traders apply when scanning for the day's actionable setups. See What Is Day Trading?
- Penny stock screening — combined with low float, high RVOL is the core signal behind most penny-stock momentum scanners, including STKMRKT's own screener.
- Moonshot / micro-cap screening — sustained elevated RVOL over multiple days can signal accumulation ahead of a catalyst. See What Is a Moonshot Stock?
Frequently asked questions
- What is a good RVOL for day trading?
- Most day traders look for at least 2x RVOL before considering a name actionable — below that, a move is more likely to be random noise than a real, sustained signal. Readings above 5x usually mean there's a specific news catalyst behind the move.
- Does high RVOL mean the stock will go up?
- No. RVOL only measures how much unusual activity is happening — not which direction it's pushing the price. A stock can have extreme RVOL while falling sharply just as easily as while rallying. Always check RVOL alongside price direction and a catalyst, never on its own.
- Why does RVOL look artificially low right at market open?
- A naive RVOL calculation (today's volume so far ÷ full-day average volume) understates true relative activity early in the session, since only a few minutes of trading have happened. An accurate RVOL reading needs to compare against the average volume for that same elapsed time of day, not the full-day average — this is called "time-adjusted" RVOL.
- Is RVOL the same as float rotation?
- They're related but different. RVOL compares today's volume to that stock's own historical average. Float rotation compares today's volume to the total number of shares available to trade (the float) — a separate calculation that matters most for low-float stocks, where even moderate volume can represent a large fraction of all tradeable shares.