Thanks for all your replies. Appreciate for some further advise (sorry for the long post as I felt I had to explain my reasoning for the above query)
Trader333,
Thanks.. Both Direct Access Elite and E-signal no longer offer this features. I've been scouring other websites as well and can't find the feature anywhere else so far. Sigh.
TheBramble and Mr Charts,
Thanks for the advise. Yeah, I know that there can be different MMs that are controlling a particular stock at different times of day etc. What I was planning to do was along the below line. Appreciate your advise. Thanks.
First, I have to admit the plan below may be 'lofty'/'crazy' etc. My purpose is just to 'quantify' or 'made easier' a portion of what the experts can read from Level II. I've been staring at the Level II for ages and have been reading a lot from whichever websites/forums etc but still find it hard to make use of Level II , depth of market and tape (although theory wise, I know a reasonable amount). Thus, this was how the below plan came into effect.
Plan:
1) See if that particular column called 'best' which shows the number of times MM/ECN has been at the inside bid/ask during the day. If available, I will then proceed to the below steps
2a) Observe for patterns such as :
Is there a particular time/price level (certain support/resistance level), where one of the ECNs/MMs are actively supporting/pushing down the price. This will be made easier as I've 'sort of identified the axe' for that particular day/time.
Also if from 1) above, the number of times each major MM/ECN has been at the inside bid/ask are roughly equal, then I may pay more attention to other things instead of trying to figure out 'something' when there is nothing to be seen on Level II and tape.
3) I also plan (if possible), to draw charts where I can actually plot the number of times each major MM/ECN is at the inside bid/ask versus price/time. The chart will be for days and also intraday. This will allow me to see visually whether the MM/ECN is faking the 'bids/ask' and when they are really supporting the price as I can see how price reacts with the 'inside bid/ask'. This will allow for easier tracking of MM/ECN at particular times/price (especially when I want to enter into a position)
In a nutshell, the above is what I was thinking of. Please note that I've not incorporated the plan where: 'bids/asks are actively being lifted' or 'depth of market'(which some experts have found it useful). From what I understand, these are also some strategies that are used and which I'm trying to identify (know the theory only) from watching. Difficult so far.
Any advise from anyone is appreciated. I really want to know whether is it worth learning to read Level II, depth of market and tape as so far I've not really succeeded in this (I heard from an expert that it can take months to yikes!! years and some never succeed).
Rog1111,
Thanks for all your replies. I may not pursue this path of 'programming the information' based on your feedback. Thanks for that info. I will have to see whether the benefits outweigh the time that will be needed to do the above.
TIA