Nothing like a contentious topic to shake things up. When I started trading, it was in the Treasury Pits and I think that I did something like "tape reading". Kinda. Maybe.
@Gaslight Capital, so in your version of tape reading, there’s no use of level2? Obviously it was not available at the time of Livermore and Wyckoff. I am not arguing against your interpretation, but “tape reading” nowadays refers to the interaction between time-n-sales and order book(s).
And "liberal" nowadays refers to a tax and spend Democrat whereas the founding fathers understood it to be someone whose primary attachment was to individual liberty. The fact that folks today do not understand what tape reading is and prefer to use it to refer to something that is not tape reading does not make them correct. Tim Sykes and others refer to level 2 as tape reading. It is not. It is level 2, it is the order book, but it is emphatically not tape reading. Tape reading is a lost skill or art, not because of changes in technology, but because so much misinformation abounds that no one knows what it is any longer. I posted this elsewhere in this thread. This is about as clear of a general idea of what tape reading is as one can get. This is from Wyckoff: "Tape Reading is gauging the momentary supply and demand in particular stocks and in the whole market, comparing the forces behind each and their relationship, each to the other and to all. A day trader is like the manager of a department store; into his office are submitted hundreds of reports of sales made by the various departments. He notes the general trend of business -- whether demand is heavy or light throughout the store but lends special attention to the products in which demand is abnormally strong or weak. When he finds it difficult to keep his shelves full in a certain department or of a certain product, he instructs his buyers accordingly, and they increase their buying orders for that product; when certain products do not move he knows there is little demand (or a market) for them, therefore, he lowers his prices (seeking a market) to induce more purchases by his customers. A floor trader on the exchange who stands in one crowd all day is like the buyer for one department in a store -- he sees more quickly than anyone else the demand for that type of product, but has no way of comparing it to what may have strong or weak demand in other parts of the store. He may be trading on the long side of Union Pacific stock, which has a strong upward trend, when suddenly a decline in another stock will demoralize the market for Union Pacific stock, and he will be forced to compete with others who have stocks to sell. The Tape Reader, on the other hand, from his perch at the ticker, enjoys a bird's eye view of the whole field. When serious weakness develops in any quarter, he is quick to note the changes taking place, weigh them and act accordingly." Very much the same skill set. Strictly speaking, not the reading the tape as you had access to a specific market, not THE market (though you treasury guys sure did seem to think you were the market). The tape reader judges the immediate trend and character of the market by watching the action of leading stocks and their interaction with the market an done another. It is a shame that this is open to debate. But we've been bombarded with trading educators and vendors for going on 25 years, most of whom (unlike yourself) are failed traders. So the hoi polloi are learning from the ... hoi polloi.
That's cool, what software is that? I use a basic HI/LOW ticker that catches stocks like SPI right from the start.
Scanz.com formerly known as Equityfeed. I use their breakout scanner and set it just for new HOD new LOD, and I have a watchlist I point it to that has the FAANNG+MT plus about 100 other actives from IBD 50 and low float specs.
Thanks again! I think I have a general understanding now. After reading this and looking at the screenshot you shared, my understanding is, its not just looking at one specific stocks order book or recently closed trades. Its looking at the over all market to gauge over all direction. There is a trader on here that I respect and has told me he "doesnt use any charts or indicators". He also mentioned he has been watching the screens for over 30 years... if that helps anyone wondering about "tape reading". I see what you what you mean, its like a completely different game.
^^^ and when volume events are added to the mix with multi-time frame (fractal) analysis, cash cow anyone?
The main benefit is to follow price action using time and sales to see a) strength of momentum breakouts and b) when a pivot trade starts to move