Suppose you lot could follow every unmarried stock listed on the NYSE together with rail every few seconds how many of the stocks were trading on upticks versus how many were trading on downticks. What would that data tell you?
A buyer who wants to ain shares aggressively volition execute alongside a grade of urgency together with volition pay upwards for those shares. Such lifting of offers volition drive stocks to merchandise on upticks.
Conversely, a seller who wants out of shares aggressively volition also execute alongside urgency together with volition convey the bid price. This hitting of bids causes stocks to merchandise on downticks.
By calculating the publish of stocks trading on upticks minus those trading on downticks every few seconds, the NYSE TICK ($TICK on eSignal feed) is an immediate, existent fourth dimension stance survey. It is based on the actual transactions inwards a wide stock universe together with hence represents what traders are truly doing, non simply what they tell they'll do inwards a survey.
One application of NYSE TICK is to convey the intraday readings together with do a cumulative line, like to an advance-decline line. As you lot tin run across above, that cumulative trouble has been making fresh bull marketplace highs. That tells me that marketplace participants remain cyberspace buyers. Note how selling pressure level was restrained during the most recent marketplace tumble. That was a dandy tell that the downwards motion was a correction inwards a rising market, non the kickoff of a behave market.
There are many other applications of TICK every bit well. For instance, since 2012, private readings that piece of job past times close +900 or autumn below -900 stand upwards for 2 amount criterion deviations from average. That tells us that at that spot is pregnant buying or selling pressure level across the wide stock universe. Note that such buying or selling has to move wide based, every bit you lot tin exclusively become those extreme readings if stocks beyond the S&P 500 listing are lifting or selling off.
To become those extreme TICK readings where together with so many stocks are upticking or downticking simultaneously, nosotros demand to run across institutional participants aggressively buying or selling baskets of shares. That is an first-class stance clue.
For instance, later early on selling that took TICK to the -740 expanse during Friday's session, buyers entered inwards forcefulness together with drove TICK higher upwards +1000. From that request forward, to a greater extent than stocks traded on upticks than downticks. That was a squeamish tell for the coming upward tendency day.
And what if NYSE TICK readings remain pretty much betwixt +500 together with -500 for the day? That is oftentimes a practiced indication that institutions are non participating aggressively together with that at that spot is piffling directional demand or provide for shares. That tin move a practiced clue alerting us to slower, rangebound trade.
So much of successful short-term trading boils downwards to rapid designing recognition, derived from enough of observation. I receive got archived one- together with five-minute TICK readings for years together with studied their nuances. For me, it's been a dandy tool for identifying who is inwards the marketplace together with which means they're leaning.
Further Reading: Interpreting Markets With NYSE TICK