Bookmap Order Flow Timeline: Reading Trade Speed and Activity
The Bookmap order flow timeline and trades counter show you how fast the market is actually trading. Price alone doesn’t tell you when activity explodes or dies. This tool does. If you want to see when algos fire, when stop runs kick off, or when the market goes dead, you watch the timeline.
What the Order Flow Timeline Shows
The order flow timeline tracks:
- number of trades per unit of time
- volume per unit of time
- speed and intensity of execution
Instead of just watching candles form, you see when the tape suddenly accelerates or stalls. Pair that with the volume dots vs bubbles view and you get a very clear read on real activity.
How the Trades Counter Works
The trades counter is a simple but powerful metric: it counts how many trades are going off in a given period. More trades = more activity. Fewer trades = dead tape.
Key uses:
- spotting the moment a dead market wakes up
- seeing when a breakout has real participation
- identifying fake moves with weak trade counts
Why Trade Speed Matters
Market moves are not just about price level—they’re about how fast orders hit.
- Slow grind with low trade speed → weak, grindy move
- Fast bursts with heavy trade speed → strong initiative aggression
When you combine trade speed with CVD, you know whether aggressive buyers or sellers are actually pushing with size or just noise.
Patterns to Watch in the Order Flow Timeline
1. Volatility Burst
Sudden spike in trade count and volume over a short window.
- often aligns with news or session opens
- can mark the start of a trend leg
- usually shows big bubble streaks on the chart
2. Exhaustion Spike
Huge burst in trade speed at the end of a move, then instant drop-off.
- often near extremes
- stops get cleared
- reversals or sharp pullbacks follow
3. Dead Tape
Very low trade counts, flat activity.
- range-bound chop
- poor conditions for tight stops
- fake breakouts more likely
Order Flow Timeline + Heatmap
The timeline by itself is useful, but it gets stronger when combined with the heatmap:
- trade speed spike into major liquidity → likely breakout or absorption
- no trade speed increase into big wall → likely fake move
If you haven’t already, read Bookmap Heatmap Basics so you know how liquidity looks while you watch speed shifts.
Timeline + Sweeps and Stop Runs
Sweeps and stop runs always show up on the timeline as a burst in trades. That’s how you confirm you’re seeing a real sweep and not just a random tick.
- trade speed explodes
- volume concentrates across several levels
- heatmap levels vanish or get crushed
We already broke down the move mechanics in Bookmap Sweeps and Stop Runs.
Filtering Noise
Not every spike matters. You focus on:
- spikes into key levels
- spikes with strong CVD agreement
- spikes with visible liquidity reactions (pulling or stacking)
Spikes in the middle of nowhere with no liquidity or CVD context are usually noise.
Final Thoughts
The order flow timeline and trades counter tell you when the market is actually doing something, not just drifting. When you line up trade speed with liquidity, CVD, and bubbles, you’ll stop entering right as the tape dies and start trading when real activity is kicking off.