Read Order Flow With the Tradovate Tick Stream
The tape tells you what is actually trading, not what might trade. Here's how to open the Tradovate Tick Stream, read it, and filter it to the prints that matter.
The tape tells you what is actually trading, not what might trade. Tradovate's Tick Stream prints every trade that crosses in your contract, along with the size behind it, so you watch real buying and selling hit the market live. Here is how to open it, read it, and filter it to the prints that matter.
What the Tick Stream Shows You
Every row in the Tick Stream is one print, a single executed trade. As trades cross, new rows stack in at the top with the price, the contracts, and the time. The module shows every print and the volume tied to it, and you can filter that stream by volume, which turns a blur of ticks into something you can read.
Color does the heavy lifting. Buys print in green, sells print in red, so a wall of green means buyers are lifting offers and a run of red means sellers are hitting bids. The header shows the last traded price, the session's net change in points and percent, and total volume so far.
Read the Tradovate Tick Stream: Step-by-Step
Open a Tick Stream Module
Open your module launcher (the add-module or plus control in the Tradovate web platform) and pick the Tick Stream. Depending on your build, the same module may show up as T&S or Time & Sales, the classic name for a tape. Dock it next to your chart or DOM so you can watch price and flow together.
Load Your Contract and Confirm Live Data
Select the contract you are trading, and use the current front-month (the active ES or NQ, not a continuous symbol). Then make sure you are on live data. A delayed feed still fills the stream, but the prints lag the real market, which is worthless for reading flow. If your quotes look delayed, subscribe to real-time market data before you trust the tape.
Read Each Print
Read the rows. Each line gives you the price, the size (contracts in that single print), and the time. Green marks a buy at the ask, red marks a sell at the bid. Size is where the story sits: a steady drip of one and two lots is noise, while a sudden 50 or 100 lot is a real participant showing their hand. Watch whether the big prints keep hitting the same side.
Filter by Volume to Isolate Big Orders
This is the setting that makes the Tick Stream worth running. Set the Volume Filter to a minimum contract size (it defaults to 1, which shows everything) and the stream hides any print below that number. Bump it to 25 or 50 and only the size that moves price remains. Pick a threshold that fits your contract; a big print in ES looks nothing like one in a thin micro.
Pair It With the DOM and Run a Second Stream
The tape reads best next to depth. Put the Tick Stream beside a SuperDOM ladder so you can see where big prints land relative to resting bids and offers. One habit worth building: keep two streams open, one unfiltered for context and one filtered high for the whales. Lean on a single filtered stream and you lose the surrounding flow that gives those big prints their meaning.
What the Columns and Colors Mean
| Element | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Price | The price that single trade executed at. |
| Size | Contracts in that one print. Large sizes flag real participants. |
| Time | When the trade crossed the tape. |
| Green print | A buy, traded at the ask (a buyer lifted the offer). |
| Red print | A sell, traded at the bid (a seller hit the bid). |
| Header | Last price, session net change in points and percent, and total session volume. |
How to Actually Use the Tape
- Watch for absorption. Heavy size pounding one side while price barely moves means someone is soaking it up.
- Line up big prints with your levels. Size arriving at support or resistance is a tell.
- Never trade the tape alone. Confirm it against the DOM and your chart first.
- Tune the filter per session. Overnight size is not the same as regular-hours size.
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Start Your Free 5-Day TrialFrequently Asked Questions
Functionally, yes. It is Tradovate's tape, one row per executed trade. Some builds label the module Tick Stream and others call it T&S or Time & Sales, so check the exact name in your platform.
You are most likely on a delayed or missing market-data feed. The Tick Stream needs a real-time subscription to show live prints, so confirm your data first.
There is no single right number. Start at the default of 1 to see everything, then raise the minimum until only meaningful size for that contract shows through.
This guide is for educational and informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or trading advice. Trading futures and other leveraged products carries a substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for every investor. PickMyTrade is an independent third-party automation platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Tradovate, Inc. "Tradovate" and all related names, logos, and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Platform features and steps change over time, so always confirm the current process in the official Tradovate platform and documentation before acting.