Hi Paul,
Thanks for your message. Well I want learn how to scalp. I therefore would like to use L2 for the initial months on a number of shares to get a greater understanding of how it all works and how it can help with my trading and it will also give me a greater understanding of how market makers operate.
Unfortunately, some days I’m be away from my monitor therefore won’t be able to view L2 during market hours. I was therefore wondering it was possible to view the depth of the order book after market hours?
Thanks
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a free program, MWSNAP 3, avail on zdnet and others, does an admirable job of screen capture, with amazing clarity, the ability to resize your page and pointers and stuff. cant go wrong with the price !
Now a bit about level 2, which I use on my MB account ---- having come out of equities years ago, level 2 was indeed necessary and one could not flip (SCALP is no longer a correct term, as "scalpers" went the way of the dinosaur when the SOES bandits stopped working in the very late 90's and the market turned to decimals and not 16ths. by doing that, the market prevented the ability of sliding between the bid and ask that was the scalpers stock in trade, so now we "flip" for a larger amount of points --- just a historic note !)
when flipping, it is best to know your trends and support and resistance, and trade that way --- as you watch, the level 2 numbers change constantly, but when its heading for your chosen tp point, you will see the number of shares increase tremendously as your tp point approaches, confirming your choice --- if you see strong numbers increasing OVER your tp point, your choice now as to move your tp point or not, as those bidding those numbers MAY or MAY NOT be correct, not to forget they may also be playing longer timeframes than you are playing. Also remember that mm's are playing the ECN game and they can "plant" deceptive asks to get you to go higher on your tp point --- high enough NOT to be able to sell !
level 2 is a great tool when used correctly, but (at least to my way of thinking) you should ALREADY know your entry and exit points beforehand --- level 2 on forex moves so rapidly that you have to be ABSOLUTELY SURE of where you want to go, because with its many ups and downs and headfakes, it can force you to exit at a loss if youre not positive about where youre going.
other words, because of the market playing every timeframe and every timeframe influencing what you see on level 2, without a decent amount of experience you can get easily stopped out or bail because you see the price moving completely away from your tp point.
on the other hand, used correctly and with experience, its values show you the market as it exists at that moment, and can be a great help in confirming your chosen exit points !
its a tad trickier than it looks at first glance, but its learnable and useful and i wouldnt do without it, although i dont trade from it !
