Charting and Studies User Guide - CQG.com

Tick (Tick)
Tick charts display each price traded as a unique point on the chart.
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A reported trade that immediately follows an identical trade is considered a flat tick. the second
trade, the flat tick, is shown on the tick chart only when the flat tick checkbox is selected.
If bids and asks are not normally used to build bar charts for a particular market, the bids and
asks are not shown on tick charts.
When you have a custom BATS filter on the chart to process best bid/ask quotes, each quote
affects the volume output in these ways:
• Bid/Ask tick volume, filtered tick volume, filtered bid/ask tick volume are not increased.
• Trader volume, filtered trade volume, bid/ask trade volume, and filtered bid/ask trade
volume are not increased.
You can apply large trade detection to volume using the Aggressive parameter.
Suppose these limit orders are working at a single price:
10 lots, 1 lot, 2 lots, 1 lot, 10 lots, 100 lots
An order is placed for 1 lot and fills against the first working order, making the quantities:
9 (partially filled), 1, 2, 1, 10, 100
Next, an order is placed for 3 lots, so the order sizes become:
6, 1, 2 ,1, 10, 100
Then, an order is placed for 100 lots, so the order sizes become:
0 (filled), 0, 0, 0, 0, 20
So, the fill amounts were:
1, 3, 6, 1, 2, 1, 10, 80
Tick bars indicate the number of ticks (8).
Missing from this information is any indication that an order for 100 lots was triggered.
Ticks provide information about the passive side of trading. With the aggressive parameter
turned on, the number of orders (3) is exposed, revealing the role of aggressors in the current
market.
Note that tick charts are not available for contracts quoted on a delayed basis.
Tick charts can work well with products that aren’t as active.
Charting and Studies User Guide