Lesson 1 of 1 · 2 min

Tape

Every print, in order — price, size, time and side. How to read it and what it hides.

The tape — time and sales — lists every trade as it happens: the time, the price, the size, and (usually) whether it traded at the bid or the ask. It's the rawest orderflow view there is.

A time & sales window. Prints at the ask in green, at the bid in red; one large print highlighted. (Illustration.)

Definition

Time & sales is the chronological record of executed trades. Each line is a print.

What to read on the tape

Pace — how fast prints arrive. Speed picks up when participation increases.
Size — unusually large prints relative to normal for that instrument and time of day.
Side — whether prints are mostly at the ask (aggressive buying) or the bid (aggressive selling).
Repetition — many prints at the same price with the level holding can indicate a refilling passive order.

Key Insight

The tape is most useful at a level you planned, for a few seconds or minutes. Watching it all day is how traders talk themselves into random trades.

In-depth role

Footprints summarise the tape into bars. The tape keeps the sequence — what came first, how fast, and how big — which footprints compress away.

Limits

Feeds may aggregate fills, which changes print sizes.
Large participants often split orders into many small prints.
Fast markets can deliver prints faster than anyone can read them.

Trading implication

Use filters — for example, highlight prints above a size threshold — and only consult the tape where you already have a reason to be paying attention.

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What to read on the tape

Pace — how fast prints arrive. Speed picks up when participation increases.

Size — unusually large prints relative to normal for that instrument and time of day.

Side — whether prints are mostly at the ask (aggressive buying) or the bid (aggressive selling).

Repetition — many prints at the same price with the level holding can indicate a refilling passive order.

Key Insight

The tape is most useful at a level you planned, for a few seconds or minutes. Watching it all day is how traders talk themselves into random trades.

In-depth role

Footprints summarise the tape into bars. The tape keeps the sequence — what came first, how fast, and how big — which footprints compress away.

Limits

Feeds may aggregate fills, which changes print sizes.

Large participants often split orders into many small prints.

Fast markets can deliver prints faster than anyone can read them.

Trading implication

Use filters — for example, highlight prints above a size threshold — and only consult the tape where you already have a reason to be paying attention.