I looked into it years ago. It is basically an overlay onto your charts showing all this order-flow information, that is supposed to help you make trading decisions. It is trying to help you "read the tape". Hey, it may work for some folks, but it doesn't do it for me. Check it out for yourself.
Candles are substituted with balls which represent volume. Cosmetically appealing and if you watch the videos you will get pulled into the sales pitch but as with anything it all still comes down to your interpretation. Op is obviously very excited with his new toy. Just got to give him some space, and a bit of time
You have that jump in with both feet way, no analysis paralysis, ...curious How steep would you say the learning curve is? Got a user group to jam with? How long till you are placing trades with cashage material, a month or two maybe. Ask a few who do, it'd be interesting. Looks cool, like the wallpaper at Terence McKenna's https://elitetrader.com/et/threads/...t-right-here-baby.335635/page-15#post-5153332
Thanks for the kind replies - been busy last couple days - gutted a couple old desktop PC's that were on the pile of rotting computers in the barn - swapped a couple power supplies - new motherboard/cpu - my son built a Linux server - I have a "new" 10 year old desktop that will drive 3 displays - learned last week about the danger of losing one's place in mid-trade while staring at the wrong screen while (fixating on all the colored dots). Now have 2 big displays extended and butted up like one humongous single display - much better for old eyes and slow hands. Spent the last couple days watching youtube vid's about "the tool" that I dropped the name of more than once. Excited to hear Scott Pulcini talking about trading off the DOM in the "old days" (pre-algo). He said upon seeing BOOKMAP's (sorry) order book chart that it was "the picture" in his head that he saw when looking at the DOM - that's kind of how it hit me too (in a noob way). Realizing now the what struck me as a "dance" was the movement of price bouncing and rocking as it collided with standing limit orders and "rhythm" was a sense of the intensity of the struggle between the bids/asks (relative volume). Anyhow - have refitted the trading platform - working on understanding charted order flow - thinking of it as learning to read "sheet music" - gonna ease into the next phase of the journey. Cheers to all!
is your drop a sponsor here? tell em to be one if you wanna favor up, otherwise, little courtesy, smiley face here. lol if you ever need a next computer remember the name scatophagus in hardware to factor into your search. cheeper than a couple hundred egges for hatching. you not gonna believe the value for the buck. you run a farm? how soon for into the lagoon, mr boom?
I have not used BookMap. But listening to Pulcini's life story was sobering, to say the least. He was a star, until Algo's came along, and he stuck it out until around 2005, I believe. Then he left trading, for many years. I would love to hear what BookMap users are experiencing? Is your performance radically improving (at least 2X, at minimum)...
Thanks for your reply - have to admit as a noob it seems that any kind analysis is slow/distracting compared to instinctive responses - still gravitating back to the DOM/T&S and throwing quick trades close to the spread - presently able to glance out of the corner of my eye at BOOKMAP and see the size/color of the balls - keep track of slower movements/trends/volume (quite helpful) - probably using BOOKMAP a lot more than I realize but any shift of attention away from DOM/T&S to attempt conscious analysis "breaks the connection" - sounds crazy. Probably the most noticeable thing about "dancing" is that there is no time to second guess/worry/freakout - scalped on the ladder for 30 minutes before work today on a bouncy stock with a big spread - felt all "floaty" and relaxed as I stepped away - and here's the twist - nothing seems to beat this "crazy noob tape reading thing" - it just wins more - a lot more. ****BOOKMAP has been really useful for spotting spoofing - have been logging potential stock choices and playing back at 16x speed - avoiding the ones that look like a patchwork blanket. Cheers!