Time and Sales
Time and Sales is the tape. Every trade on one instrument prints as a row with time, price and size. The color shows whether it traded at the bid or at the ask.
Open Time and Sales
- In the top bar, click + and choose Time and Sales.
- Click the instrument name in the header and search for a symbol, like
ES. - If you have more than one connection, pick the one that gives you market data for it.
Read the tape
New trades land at the top, so the newest print is always the first row.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| TIME | When the trade printed, in your app timezone. |
| PRICE | The trade price. |
| SIZE | Contracts in the trade. |
The color shows who was aggressive.
- At Ask means a buyer paid the ask.
- At Bid means a seller hit the bid.
- Block 1 and Block 2 are bigger trades with their own colors, so they stand out. You set the size range for each one.
Settings
Right-click the grid and choose Settings….
General
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Size Filter | Hides trades outside a size range. Put the smallest size in From and the largest in To. Leave To at 0 for no top limit. | From 1, To 0 |
| Timestamp | Shows TIME in Seconds or Milliseconds. | Milliseconds |
| Print Mode | Picks which trades are listed: At Bid, At Ask, Block 1 Bid, Block 1 Ask, Block 2 Bid, Block 2 Ask. | All on |
| Number of Rows | How many trades to keep. Older ones drop off the bottom. | 100 |
| Row Height | Row height, from 4 to 100. | 15 |
| Grid Line Color | Color of the lines between rows. | Dark gray |
Text Font
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Text Font | The typeface. | Open Sans |
| Font Size | From 8 to 24. | 12 |
| Font Style | Regular or Bold. | Regular |
| Text Align | Alignment of the cell text. | Center |
Columns View, Colors and Blocks
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Columns View | Tick TIME, PRICE and SIZE to show or hide them. | All on |
| At Bid and At Ask colors | Text and background color for normal trades at the bid and the ask. | Red at bid, blue at ask |
| Block 1 | A size range, plus text and background colors for bid and ask trades in that range. Upper size 0 means no top limit. | 50 to 99 contracts |
| Block 2 | The same for a second, bigger range. Block 1 is checked first. | 100 contracts and up |
Show only the big trades
- Open Settings… and find Print Mode.
- Untick At Bid and At Ask.
- Leave the four block boxes ticked.
Now the tape only lists trades that fall in Block 1 or Block 2. Change the ranges under Blocks to the size you care about. The Size Filter still applies first.
Tip. To make every new Time and Sales window open the way you like it, use Save as ... or Save as default in the right-click menu.
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