ERHC Energy Inc (ERHE)

[oilman57]

Institutions trade in large sums of money and large blocks of shares, dwarfing the action of the individual investors. An institutional purchase or a sale of a stock usually means thousands of shares and millions of dollars moving the stock. Moreover, an institution must commit itself to spend days, weeks, or even months to fulfill its goal."

"Why? Because if an institution wants to acquire, say, a 1% stake in a stock, it cant do it in one fell swoop. If it did, the buying flurry would make the stock's price rise too fast, forcing the institution to chase its tail as it watches its own buying activity raise costs. Instead, institutions pace themselves, buying smaller yet significant amounts of shares at a time."

"That's called accumulation, and its one of the most important signs that are stock has sunny days ahead. Often, a stock will make modest, little noticed price gains on above average volume before it makes a major advance, or just as it begins one."

http://biz.yahoo.com/special/volume04_article1.html