A little info on understanding some of what we've been seeing on the L2 for the past couple months.
If you look at ECN order sizes for irregularities, you can tell when institutional players are trying to keep the buying quiet (which can mean a buyout or accumulation is taking place). We'll take a look at how you can detect similar irregularities below.
Market makers can hide their order sizes by placing small orders and updating them whenever they get a fill. They do this in order to unload or pick up a large order without tipping off other traders and scaring them away. After all, nobody is going to attempt to push through a 500,000 share resistance, but if a persistent 10,000 share resistance is there, traders may still think it is a beatable barrier.
Market makers also occasionally try to deceive other traders using their order sizes and timing. These types of orders are called NITBB or NITSO (No Intention to Buy Bid or No Intention to Sell Offer). When using this technique, the market participant displays a huge size greatly exceeding all others seen on Level 2. Most often it’s done in order to provoke traders to move in the opposite direction, as they are trying to undercut this big size or to get in or out “front running” this size.
Example: If some player wants to accumulate shares at $5.90 while the market is at $5.98 x 10, he can try and display a huge size at $6.02, spooking traders into selling.
There are cases when a big player interested in a stock, builds his position as a stock moves. There is already interest in a stock aside from his interest, maybe as a result of some news event. Trying to get as much shares as possible at more favorable prices, our player can apply combinations of methods described above. The player will show big sizes trying to cap the movement and provoke pullback which he will be using to accumulate more shares. The player will have to be very careful to avoid being “steamrolled’ by hot buying. As he maneuvers, his movements sometimes can be read. This is dangerous and fast game, for our player as well as for a trader that tries to utilize his moves. If he is using ECNs to mask his identity, this becomes even more of an art. Used in conjunction with chart reading, these observations can provide additional clues for timely entry and exit.
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