The Value of Current Level II Data

Only a few months ago, professional traders could place trades with great confidence.  They could visually determine the market depth from their DOMs, or Depth of Market trading platforms.  Examples include Trading Technologies’ X_Trader and the built in platform of Interactive Brokers.

Recently, however, sophisticated order types have entered the stage.  These platforms allow traders, including large institutional traders, to “hide” orders from the visible orders.  Conditions allow the orders to not appear in the order book until a certain price is reached.  They can also be configured to allow an order to “evaporate” when the market approaches the price.  the net result is that the information being viewed is not credible.  Since it is not credible, it is actually counter-productive.

What is a trader to do? The most reliable data available is HISTORICAL.  Price & Volume.  That information represents what real buyers paid to real sellers in the given time frame, and at what volume.  One day the regulators may outlaw this deceptive order practice,  In the interim, be aware that what you think you see on your Level II screen may be Smoke and Mirrors.