Level 2 and Time and sales24 Jul 2025 09:40
This is my take on these for some newer users of this info.
Keep an eye on the BID and the ASK, if they are lowering the ASK and raising the BID it could be a sign that they want to top up their held shares to be in line with their set risk reward profile and vice versa.
The timings of the MM updates and frequency can be interesting and may indicate a few things, such as have they turned their algorithm off and are manually managing their RR profile, appetite for trading that day, whether they want to buy or sell.
Many Trolls will focus on the BID and post that it has dropped and we are going to hell in a hand basket. This is not the case. Look at what the ASK is doing, is it a case of they have changed the BID and maintained the ASK for example? That could be a sign of a few things such as their RR profile requires adjustment, they simply want to attract selling (or buying) with a. more attractive offer than their competitors, they have a large order they need to fill.
how many trades are there in comparison to the volume? Is the volume above or below average? Are the MM behaving differently from yesterday or last week?
With Time and Sales, are there lots of little orders bunched, if so that could be smaller trades being bunched from smaller platforms and may temporarily skew the actual direction of travel.
Are there large orders in the MID price? A good sign BTW.
What is the frequency of orders, it it tailing off, remaining constant etc.
If you are trading minute to minute info is useful. I trade this share at times of news but have a large core holding for the long term. I find that to be the most profitable way to deal with this share. I use platforms such as this to get up to date links and points of view I might not have thought of. Sentiment is useful and prompt news updates are essential for trading.
Keep an eye on VWAP and TWAP, these are your friends, Know what the 200 day and 50 day MA are and where we stand in relation to those.
I hope this is useful for those who are newer to this way of making money.