Churning
Volume Price Analysis glossary · Validation Vs. Anomaly (Spread & Volume)
Definition
High volume on narrow-spread bars indicating heavy two-sided activity without directional conviction — often distribution in disguise.
Churning in plain English
Churning is when tons of shares change hands but the price barely budges — lots of noise, no real progress. That combination is a red flag, because heavy trading usually pushes price somewhere; when it doesn't, it often means big players are quietly unloading their holdings into an eager crowd while pretending nothing's wrong. It's like a car with the engine roaring and the wheels spinning, yet the car goes nowhere — a lot of effort producing almost no movement. In price analysis, secret 'distribution' (selling in disguise near a top) frequently hides inside this churn.
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