Tradovate Time and Sales Explained for Futures Traders
The Time and Sales (T&S) window in Tradovate shows every trade as it happens. If you know how to read it, you can spot aggression, exhaustion, and real momentum—stuff you’ll never see from candles alone. This guide breaks T&S down without the nonsense.
What Time and Sales Shows You
Time and Sales lists every print: price, size, and whether the trade hit the bid or the ask. It’s the closest thing you get to the raw heartbeat of the market.
| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Price | Where the order executed |
| Size | How many contracts traded |
| Color | Bid hit (red) or ask lift (green) |
| Speed | How fast prints are flowing |
It’s simple, but the signal is strong if you know what you’re watching.
Bid vs Ask Prints
T&S is color-coded:
- Red = sells hitting the bid
- Green = buys lifting the ask
Red stacking = sellers pushing. Green stacking = buyers pushing. Watch how it lines up with your DOM (use the DOM settings guide to tighten your ladder).
Large Prints: The Real Clues
Big orders tell you who’s serious. On ES, a 50+ lot is worth noticing. On NQ, even 10–20 lots matter. Large prints at the highs or lows often mean:
- Absorption (someone is defending a level)
- Breakout pressure (buyers or sellers punching through)
- Traps (late traders getting stuffed)
One giant print isn’t a signal. A cluster of large prints is.
Print Speed: Momentum Check
You don’t need fancy indicators to see momentum. Just look at the print speed:
- Fast green flow → aggressive buyers
- Fast red flow → aggressive sellers
- Stalled flow → indecision / balance
Combine this with volume nodes from the Tradovate order flow tools page and you’ll see where price is likely to pause or burst.
Filtering T&S for Clarity
In Tradovate, you can filter prints by size. This helps you ignore noise. A clean setup is:
- Minimum size: 2–5 contracts (filters junk)
- Maximum size: leave open
This keeps the tape readable without hiding real activity.
How to Use T&S Without Overthinking It
You don’t need to “read the tape like a prop trader.” Just watch for:
- Green streaks into resistance → breakout attempt
- Red streaks into support → breakdown attempt
- Large green prints stacking → smart money buying
- Large red prints stacking → smart money selling
- Fast prints dying instantly → failed move
T&S is confirmation—not your primary trigger.
Final Thoughts
Time and Sales is simple but powerful. It shows you aggression and intent in real time, without indicators or guesswork. Keep it clean, filter out noise, watch large prints, and combine it with your DOM and chart structure.