Tape (Time & Sales)
The live, scrolling feed of every executed trade — time, price, size, and which side was aggressive. Reading it is 'tape reading.'
Learn more Glossary
The trader's glossary
Plain-English definitions for the words that actually matter on the order book — tape, order flow, Level 2, Bookmap and the rest. No jargon for jargon's sake.
Level 1
The surface quote: the best bid, the best ask, and the last traded price. What most basic broker apps show.
Level 2 (market depth)
The order book beyond the best quote — multiple bid and ask price levels, the size resting at each, and on Nasdaq the participants quoting there.
Learn moreDOM (Depth of Market)
A live ladder of resting buy and sell orders by price. The futures world's version of Level 2.
Order flow
The live buying and selling happening inside the candle — resting orders plus executed trades — read to judge who controls price right now.
Learn moreFootprint chart
Candles that show executed buy vs sell volume at each price inside the bar. A futures-first tool; less reliable on fragmented stock data.
Liquidity heatmap
A color map (as in Bookmap) of resting limit orders over time — brighter where more size sits — so you can watch liquidity build, hold, or pull.
Learn moreAbsorption
When aggressive orders keep hitting a level and price won't move — a large player is quietly soaking up everything. Often where a move flips.
Learn moreRefill
A bid or offer that gets hit, disappears, and comes right back at the same price, repeatedly. A sign of real, committed size.
Wall
An unusually large resting order parked at one price. A real wall caps price; a fake one vanishes when tested.
Spoofing
Placing large orders with no intent to fill them, to fake demand or supply, then cancelling. Illegal under the Dodd-Frank Act — but it happens, which is why you confirm with the tape.
Learn moreIceberg order
A large order that only displays a small slice at a time, hiding its true size on the book.
The Ax
The market maker that tends to dominate order flow in a specific Nasdaq stock. A murkier read today, with so much hidden and algo flow.
Market structure
The framework of higher highs and lows, support and resistance, and breaks of structure that show which side controls the trend.
VWAP
Volume-Weighted Average Price — the average price weighted by volume across the session. A common intraday reference level.
Cumulative delta (CVD)
Cumulative Volume Delta — the running difference between aggressive buying and selling, used to gauge net pressure.
Pattern Day Trader (PDT) rule
A US rule: making 4+ day trades in 5 business days on a margin account requires a $25,000 minimum account equity.
The 1% rule
Risking no more than about 1% of your account on any single trade, so no one loss does real damage.