Tape Reading Basics: How to Read Time & Sales and the DOM Together
Tape reading basics teach you how to read real-time buyer and seller aggression by combining Time & Sales (T&S) with the DOM. If you only look at one, you’re blind. Both together give you the truth about order flow, liquidity, and who is actually in control.
Time & Sales: The Print Stream
T&S shows what actually traded, not what’s advertised on the book. It tells you:
- Who hit the bid
- Who lifted the ask
- Print speed (urgency)
- Print size (aggression)
Big, fast prints at the ask = aggressive buyers. Big, fast prints at the bid = aggressive sellers.
The DOM: The Liquidity Map
The DOM shows resting limit orders—where liquidity is stacked, pulled, or added.
- Stacking bids = potential support
- Stacking asks = potential resistance
- Pulling liquidity = easier movement
- Absorption = trapped pressure
This lines up with what you learned in liquidity basics.
How Tape Reading Actually Works
Here’s the blunt truth: tape reading is just comparing what prints (T&S) to where the liquidity sits (DOM). When prints attack liquidity and chew through it, you get direction. When prints fail, you get reversal.
1. Aggressive prints + thin liquidity = fast breakout
When buyers lift the ask aggressively and the ask side is thin, price rips quickly.
2. Aggressive prints + thick liquidity = absorption
Large ask stacks that don’t move even after heavy buying = buyers trapped.
3. Slow prints + pulled liquidity = fake move
Low-effort prints pushing through shallow orders = unreliable breakout.
Reading the Tape at Key Levels
At important levels—POC, VAH/VAL, liquidity pools, FVG boundaries—you want to see whether the market shows:
- Absorption (big limit orders holding the level)
- Aggression (market orders blowing through it)
- Indifference (thin book, low prints)
This ties into market profile basics and fair value gaps basics.
The Best Tape Reading Signals
No bullshit. These are the only real signals that matter:
- Large prints repeatedly hitting one side without movement → absorption → reversal
- Large prints followed by a vacuum of liquidity → continuation
- Print speed spike + liquidity pull → breakout
- Fake size appearing, then disappearing → spoofing → trap potential
Tape Reading Isn’t About Prediction
You’re not trying to predict the future. You’re confirming who’s in control right now. Tape reading basics give you immediate confirmation that a move is either real, weak, or about to fail.
Combine T&S aggression with DOM depth and you stop entering trades blindly. You start entering with confirmation from the only thing that actually moves the market—orders.