My path towards learning tape reading...

Discussion in 'Trading' started by Sky123987, Apr 8, 2008.

  1. a trading model that I'm very interested in but never have really gotten into it too much is tape reading.

    What is the best way to learn this? I took about a week of downloading tick data. Everytime there is a trade, change in bid, bid size, ask, or ask size is recorded.

    I have done this with the OpenTick data feed and the (much better) Genesis data feed.

    However, I must say I ain't gotta clue what is going on. I know that the Trade comes after the change in the bid like for example

    if 500 shares are bought on the bid you'll see
    (5)20.20 * 20.25(10)
    (10)20.19 * 20.25(10)
    ---> s 500 @ 20.20

    but, I can't put together ANYTHING. I dont know if it is the data I'm getting (I've heard the genesis data feed is good) or what, but I find it nearly impossible to sort through the data and come up with a story of what happened?

    Would watching any particular stocks be helpful? do I want to watch news stock? is there a certain type of stock that is easier for tape reading? is there is certain # of avg daily volume that you'd like your tape reading stock to have?

    just looking for some help
    thx