These are the key players you look for on Level II. It is basically the main MM that always seems to be supporting the bid driving it up, or hitting the ask and driving the PPS down. It is the party who seems to be controlling the action in the stock. The ax isn't always trading the stock in one direction or another. Sometime he is keeping it in a tight range and sometimes he is not there at all and another ax may step forward. Note that there are times where there is no ax present. The point is the ax is the one to watch closer than all other parties or MMs. When you learn to trade with the ax your odds greatly increase.
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