I'll give it a shot. Quote from chiefraven: usually if the stock is going up it looks something like this: ^ 32.00 200 31.99 NYSE 32.00 1x2 So far, so good. People taking offers can be seen as bullish. However, sometimes there are times when it looks like this: ^ 32.88 200 32.88 NYSE 32.90 8x2 in which the uptick print happens at the bid price and not the offer price... how can this be? how is he getting that 200 shares at 32.88 when people are selling at 2.90? Assuming, on your platform, the "^" means uptick from the previous different print, it just means the previous different print was <= 32.87. If the NYSE bid hasn't moved since that lower print, it was probably from an ECN. Otherwise, the NYSE just upbid. the other scenario is: ^ 32.78 200 32.77 NYSE 32.79 2x2 when the uptick print is printed at a price between the bid/ask. Now from my experience, i know that most of the time when the uptick print is going off and it's of shares equal or less than 1000 shares, it is usually being printed at the offer price (scenario 1) since most often time it's an NX order, and with NX order you can only buy from the offer price. I can't agree with those assumptions. If the last different print was less than 32.78, any print at 32.78 or higher will show an uptick. I don't think you can draw any correlation between <= 1000 shares and it being an NX trade. The only thing you know for sure is that if it is 1100 shares or greater, it cannot be an NX trade. I can't really see why it matters, either. In this scenario, the print can be caused by either: 1. Someone sends a buy market for 200 to NYSE, and the spec or someone in the crowd is willing to improve the offer, or an opposing market or <= 32.78 limit order comes in around the same time, so 200 trades at 32.78. 2. There is a (possibly-hidden) ECN bid or offer at 32.78 and someone hits/takes it. Finally, i know that a lot of times with shares greater than 1000 shares, meaning it's probably a market order, it's usually not being printed exactly at the offer price because the specialist has the control to print it at whatever price he wants. I can't see any reason why > 1000 shares would have any correlation to it being a market order. Again, the only thing you know is that it's not NX (whatever good that does). And again, it prints between the bid and offer because it happens on an ECN or there is someone (the spec, the crowd, or a sell order) willing to improve on the quote.
hey guys do you think tape reading is harder on nasdaq then new york for scalpers and also do you think theres more profit potential in nasdaq ?
thats strange i thought you want to be able to read what the market makers are doing and the automated traders are doing and the games they play there must be some tape reading involved it just would be different from new york
I don't know what page were it says there is no tape reading on nasdaq do you know the exact date ? thanks
this threat is a bit long... The reason why you can't read the tape at the NASDAQ is that there's no specialist. When you're tape reading, you are assuming that there is a specialist, and he knows who the big buyers and sellers are, and he takes advantage of that information. So by knowing how specialists work you're able to tell when there's an aggressive institutional buyer or seller in the market.
If I have to trade, I'd short the bid simply because I can get a better fill. Price movement is equal on either side with the given info. 56K bid could change to 100 in a second.
so your saying i should ignore any prints and all price action and just focus on the charts and what the market is doing ?
Hi guys, Could anyone clarify a few key points to me? I think once i understand these key components of tape reading, it will really help me in the long run. First of, I am a little confused about the spread. Basically there are 2 types of spreads. 1) both bid/offer gets dropped or raised. 2) either the bid is dropped or raised while the offer stays the same... or vice versa. Could anyone tell me the differences and the meaning behind each of these? Now, i know a spread is created because the specialist is trying to look for buyers or seller at the new price range. so let's say the quotes changed from 23x24 to 18x24(bid price decreased)... what's exactly is the purpose of this move by the specialist? is he trying to look for a buyer or a seller and at what range? what if the price changed from 23x24 to 13x14? (both prices were decreased) or 23x24 to 33x34 (both prices increased) or from 23x24 to 33x24 (bid price increased) ===================== my second question is regarding market prints, but most importantly, the price in which the market prints was pritned (whether it's closer to the bid or offer price) Now, i hear that if you're short on a stock you would want the print to get printed at the bid price or at least closer to it. and if you want to long you want it to be closer to the offer price or closer) But why exactly is this? simply because if you're short, the price at the bid or closer to the bid price is the price that's the lowest? What really determines what price the market prints get printed at? whether at the bid, at the offer, or closer to the bid or closer to the offer. And what do these prints indicates? (in both of these examples bellow the prices are dropping and going into a downtrend) let's say the the quote is 20x25, and the new market print after that quote gets pritned at 20 on a minus tick. this means there are more sellers than buyers when he was trying to match orders for that new print? or let's say the quote is 20x25 and the new market print is printed at 25 on a minus tick... what does this mean?
Let's remember (check back if you want to)...that tape reading is "all-encompassing" - and only a porion of your decision making though process is dictated by the bid/ofer spread/size last trade. It really makes a difference when you know what the "peers" are doing (RS), what the Spoo's are doing (PREM/DISC to FV) TICK, TRIN, etc. Looking just at the "tape" would be like determining a good restaruant to go into in the middle of hurricane Katrina....might be the right decision, definitely the wrong timing. Trying to help, Don