QCharts - Market Depth Window

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QCharts - Market Depth Window
This article provides a guideline for using the QCharts market depth window. To see data inside a Market Depth Window you must be subscribed to Market Depth Level II data.

Market Depth Overview


Opening a Market Depth Window
There are three ways a user can open a Market Depth Window.  The first way is shown below by selecting File from the main menu and clicking New=>Market Depth.



The second way to open a Market Depth Window is by right clicking a symbol on a Quote Sheet and selecting New=>Market Depth.



The last way is by using the shortcut button at the top of QCharts.

What data do i see in a Market Depth Window?
The Market Depth Window provides a list of the Best Bid and Best Ask prices along with Size, Timestamp and MMID (Market Maker ID) info.  Visit the symbol lookup on nasdaqtrader.com to find MMID codes or click here to download a list of market participants along with their corresponding MMIDs. 

What is a Market Maker?
A market maker is a Nasdaq member firm that buys and sells securities at prices it displays in Nasdaq for its own account (Principal) trades and for customer accounts (Agency Trades).

Market Maker ID (MMID) Display
The MMID display has five columns (The last four of which may be toggled on and off with the right-click menu) as follows: 

Index/Status - The narrow column at left occasionally has a letter, indicating: l - stale posting; S - short position; and E - partial execution.

MMID
Each Market Maker is required to post a bid and ask simultaneously, so comparing the two prices indicates their bullishness. To highlight the bid and ask of a particular MMID, select add tracker from the right-click menu. Remove trackers deletes all the trackers you have added. To find the full name of a Market Maker, select identify market maker from the right-click menu, or click here for a list of important Market Makers.

Price
A "+" or "-" after the Bid or Ask price indicates whether the market maker has increased or decreased the price.

Size
A "+" or "-" after the size figure indicates whether the market maker has increased or decreased the bid or ask share size.

Time
Comparing the times of a market maker's bid and ask prices indicates which one was more recently adjusted.

What do the plus(+) and minus(-) signs next to the price and volume fields signify?
Prices that have moved up from the previous quote have a plus sign (+) after the price. Those with moves down have a minus sign (-) after the price.

What are the Regional Exchanges?
The Regional Exchanges are filled in the MMID fields when any other stock other than Nasdaq listed stocks are requested. These regional exchanges include the Pacific Stock Exchange (PACX), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Boston Stock Exchange (BOST), the Cincinnati Stock Exchange (CINC), and the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHGO).

What do the colors in the Market Depth Window represent?
The Bids and Asks are color-coded as follows:
 
Best price is displayed in yellow  
2nd best is displayed in green  
3rd best is displayed in blue  
4th best is displayed in red

Market Depth Window right-click menu  
Upon right-clicking the Market Depth Window, you will see the following menu.



Font
This option will allow you to change the font style and size of the text in the Market Depth Window.
Colors
This option will allow you to change the colors inside the Market Depth Window.

Single Quote
This option will allow you to enable/disable the Single Quote area in the Market Depth Window.

Meter
This option will allow you to enable/disable the Meter in the Market Depth Window.

What does the Meter display indicate?
The Meter shows the aggregate volume of posted bids and asks at each of the best prices nearest the spread, which is represented by a black notch in the middle of the meter. Each small tick on the meter represents 1,000 shares; every 10.000 shares is a larger tick. the meter shows immediate breadth of buying and selling pressure (it does not show depth because market makers are not required to post more than a minimum volume amount).
 
Traditional
This option will allow you to enable/disable traditional or non-traditional view.

Add Tracker
This option will allow you to add a tracker to a specific Market Maker.

Columns 
This option will allow you to enable/disable the column headers in the Market Depth Window.

Export
The only export option is Image which will allow you to save a screenshot of the Market Depth Window. 

Layout
This option will allow you to save a chart window in terms of Color, Font, and feature settings so that this layout can be applied to new Market Depth Windows.