Section 2 · Market Mechanics
Time & Sales
Every trade, printed in real time — the heartbeat of the stock.
Time & Sales is the heartbeat of the stock.
Every trade: time, price, size. Large prints at the ask = aggressive buyers. Large prints at the bid = aggressive sellers. T&S confirms what Level 2 predicts — it is the ground truth of who is actually trading.
3 things to know
Green prints (at ask) = buyers crossing the spread aggressively — bullish pressure.
Red prints (at bid) = sellers crossing the spread to exit fast — bearish pressure.
Large prints (10,000+ shares) signal institutional involvement — not retail.
Dive Deeper
Green prints (at ask)
Buyers are crossing the spread to get filled — aggressive. This is bullish buying pressure in real time.
Red prints (at bid)
Sellers are crossing the spread to exit fast — aggressive. This is bearish selling pressure in real time.
Large print size
Prints of 10,000+ shares signal institutional involvement — the big money is actively moving.
Key vocabulary — tap each card
Practice
Time & Sales tape
Green = buying at ask. Large prints signal institutional participation.
Did you know?
Jesse Livermore made his first fortune as a teenager in the 1890s reading the physical ticker tape in bucket shops. "Reading the tape" is 150 years old. The skill is the same — only the medium changed.