Congrats cashmoney! This is something I have been curious about, but have yet to take the time to learn. Keep up the good work.
I dont see how tape reading is even remotely possible these days. Maybe find a buyer/seller on a real thin stock perhaps, IDK. Just seems like a big waste of time trying to read a fragmented electronic algorithmic order.. I could be wrong though.
Yes, the market fragmentation is the biggest problem for a tape reader, but there are listed stocks that still traded on NYSE about 80% if its daily volume. So by watching just one tape you can get a pretty good idea if there any aggressive buyer/seller in the stock.
To just start right away with the tape, you will loose yourself, and like most say, will take you one hell of a long time. Put up Range charts(tick chart with the minimum spread of the stock) next to it. Without any doubt this will help you tremendously. It's up to, though
When there is an aggressive buyer/seller in a stock, it doesn't matter what INDU or spooz are doing - the algo is kicked in and it keeps working the order until it's done or get canceled. Look at CF yesterday - it went up 11pts on a smooth line regardless what the market was doing.