An investment program which shows the bid ask price beyond the immediate ones showing.?

Question

If I can see what the demands are for that stock, I can make a better decision on when to buy. Example... I can already see Alfred wants 400 shares at 4.32. Bob wants to sell 200 shares at 4.37. I want to see Charley's selling 7000 shares at 4.38. And David is selling 12000 shares at 4.39. That way I know that it won't go much higher if I planned on selling mine.

Or charley and david are only selling 100 each at those prices, Evan wants to buy 9000 shares at 4.31, I would know that it won't go down beyond that price and would go up instead. Anyhow, I want to know about the other buyers and sellers beyond the immediate bid and asking prices. Is there a program out there for that? In other words, I need to know if there is a block volume of 10,000 shares, I want to know are they on the buyers side, or the sellers. Thanks.

Answer 1

I know what you mean. I have an account through TD Ameritrade.  They have a feature on their trade screens called Qoutescope (TM).  It will show up to the 6 closest blocks for sale or their bid.  I hope that helps.  It helps me see supply/demand along with quanitity and price.

Answer 2

While it does not show who, thinkorswim.com shows best bid/ask and quantities at that price waiting in the wings from each of various exchanges in real time.  It also has real time quotes and charts and other tools that typically update every 3 seconds.  You can try their software thinkDesktop with Paper Money by signing up for an account, but until you fund the account, everything is delayed.  The account and trial expires after 30 days if not funded, but can be renewed if you need more time to evaluate it.

There are no monthly or annual fees, just reasonable trade commissions.  They are Chicago based.

I use that info even for trading at Fidelity, because their Active Trader Pro only updates quotes every 2 minutes and not sure when their Level II quotes update (maybe just when refreshed). But I do not have a high volume Fidelity account (Silver level).

Answer 3

Actually it doesn't quite work that way. What you are talking about are Level II quotes, they will show you the best bid and ask on each exchange, but they won't necessarily show you how many, or even the actual price that the person will accept. There are a number of ways that a person can hide their true intentions. You can place a reserve order, so that the quote will only show 100 shares, when in actuality you may have 10,000 shares. Or you can place a discretionary order, which indicates that you will accept one price, when in actuality you will accept something else. Also you will only see the best price on each exchange, not those lined up behind it, unless they are on another exchange. Also, you can set the order to automatically move if the bid, ask, or last price move, so what is there now, may not be there 2 seconds from now. It is a constant chess game, with each side trying to figure out what the other sides true intentions are. Trust me, it's not as easy as it seems. The professional brokers on the other hand, have Level III quotes. They can see all the orders. They have a distinct advantage. But unless you work for a brokerage firm, you can't get Level III quotes. So in some sense you will always be working in the dark.

If you don't currently have a source for Level II quotes you can download Quotetracker, they have various sources for delayed Level II quotes, but nothing streaming for free. It will give you an idea of how to use Level II quotes.