HI guys So far i've only worked for 3 days, but I am picking things up very slowly. For example, i have just learned the 1st method i could use in a trade. And that is the indication of an uptick, which is often an alert to do a short sell.. For example, when there are ask prices with price 1 cent more (rather than a lot more) than the print price that comes after, then it most likely means that sellers are trying to get rid of their stocks a soon as possible, therefore driving the stocks down... and to notice an uptrend, it's exactly the opposite: bid price 1 cent lower than the print that comes after. Correct me if i'm wrong. Also, when i try to find a stock, i'll look at the openbook to see if there are any big sizes in the book, especially when it's more one sided, for example, not much buyers and a lot of sellers (so i can do a short sell.) But these stocks are hard to find. Are t here any other things i could look for in the openbook? Lastly, I was wondering if anyone could shed some lights as to how the specialist fit into all these. i know that sometimes during the trade, you have to watch out for certain prints, ' cuz those might be the specialist trying to balance the market, placing a bid where the demand is none existence, when everyone is trying to sell... but how do you tell if something is coming from a specialist? And also, on my screen, i'll see a p rint like this: NYSE ^ 19.80 500 (where ^ is the up symbol) are things like these printed by the specialist? telling us that all the orders have been accounted, and the result is there are 500 positive shares more than the negative shares , therefore raising the price to 19.80? or is t hat just one bid order at 500 at the price 19.80 that got executed and now printed to show us what order were done? And also what does it mean when someone says they have something "filled." And, when trading and scalping in a certain stock, if i want to buy a certain amount of shares, i will only get what i want to buy if there are enough people offering to sell their shares right? otherwise i wont be able to make the buy? for example, let's say i want to buy 500 shares, and just a second ago, 1 person sold 200 shares, and another sold 300 shares, meaning that the specialist will have 500 shares available to give me? And this is why sometimes the specialist will have to place a bid or sell himself? because sometimes if everyone is buying, and there are nobody selling, then there are not enough shares to give to the buyers... so the specialist will have to place an order in himself to hep the market move along? and when the specialist place such an order... is it shown as a limit order like in an open book: 18.90 NYSE 18.92 1x500 or is it diretly printed like: NYSE V 18.80 500? Sorry for all these questions, but i would certainly love to hear from you and learn more from your experience. And if anyone could explain to me how some of these thing work, i would really appreciate it.