Use the Tradovate Time & Sales (T&S) Module
Time & Sales streams every executed trade in real time, so you see the actual prints hitting the market. Here's how to add the module, load your contract, and read the flow.
The tape tells you what the chart can't. Time & Sales streams every executed trade in real time, so you see the actual prints hitting the market: the price, how many contracts changed hands, and the exact moment it happened. Here's how to add the module in Tradovate Web, load your contract, and read the flow.
What the T&S Module Shows
T&S stands for Time & Sales. Other platforms call it the tape or the data stream. It's a market-data tool that lists trades as they execute for whichever instrument you point it at. One glance tells you where trades are actually filling and whether size is showing up on the bid or the ask, which is why order-flow traders keep it open next to the DOM. One thing to sort out first: the tape only prints live trades if your account has a real-time market data subscription. On delayed data you'll still see prints, just behind the live market.
Add and Use Time & Sales: Step-by-Step
Open a Time & Sales Module
Click the + (New) button at the top-left of the platform, then drag and drop the T&S (Time & Sales) module into your workspace and drop it wherever you want it to sit. There's a faster route too: right-click an instrument in a chart, SuperDOM, or Market Analyzer, and near the bottom of that menu you can drag out a new T&S module with the instrument already loaded.
Load Your Instrument
Left-click the instrument name in the tab at the top-left of the module. A search box drops down. Type the contract you want, say ESU5, and pick it from the list. The tape switches over and starts printing that market's trades right away.
Track More Than One Market
Watching a few instruments at once? Add another tab inside the same T&S module and load a second contract into it. Now one panel holds every market you follow, and you flip between them with a click instead of cluttering the screen with separate windows.
Read the Tape
Every row is a single executed trade, and it carries four things: Time (when the trade printed, down to the thousandth of a second), Price (the price the trade executed at), Size (how many contracts were in that trade), and Acc (accumulated volume traded at that price so far this session). Color does the heavy lifting: green rows are buys, red rows are sells. Across the top of the module you'll see the last trade price, the net change for the session in points and percent, and the total volume traded.
Filter Out the Small Trades
In a fast market the tape scrolls too quickly to read every clip. Use the Volume Filter to set a minimum contract size, and only prints at or above that number show up. It's set to 1 by default, so bump it to something like 10 or 25 and the single-lot noise drops away, leaving the larger orders that actually move price.
| Column | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Time | When the trade printed, down to the thousandth of a second. |
| Price | The price the trade executed at. |
| Size | How many contracts were in that trade. |
| Acc | Accumulated volume traded at that price so far this session. |
Handy Things to Know
- Pair it with the ladder. The tape shows what already traded; the SuperDOM ladder shows the resting orders. Reading them side by side is where order flow gets useful.
- Keep a chart open too. Confirm what the tape is hinting at against price on your Tradovate chart before you commit.
- No extra columns. The T&S module keeps a fixed layout. There's no column picker, so what you get is Time, Price, Size, and Acc, plus the volume filter.
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Start Your Free 5-Day TrialFrequently Asked Questions
Green rows are buy trades and red rows are sell trades. Watching the balance and speed of the two colors gives you a quick read on which side is being aggressive.
The tape needs an active real-time market data subscription. Without one you'll see delayed prints. Add live data for your exchange and the trades will stream as they happen.
Yes. Add a separate tab for each contract inside the same module and switch between them, instead of opening a new module for every market.
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.