Order Flow & Tape Reading
Chapter: 6.4 Order Flow & Tape Reading Level: 1 — Recognition Time Limit: 20 minutes Total Marks: 30
Section A — Multiple Choice (1 mark each) — 10 marks
Choose the single best answer.
Q1. Level-2 market depth data primarily shows a trader:
- A) Only the last traded price
- B) Bid and ask prices at multiple price levels with their sizes
- C) The historical closing prices for the day
- D) Dividend payout schedules
Q2. In an order book, the "bid" side represents:
- A) Orders to sell at various prices
- B) Orders to buy at various prices
- C) Completed trades only
- D) Cancelled orders
Q3. The Time and Sales window (the "tape") displays:
- A) Resting limit orders only
- B) A chronological list of executed trades with price, size and time
- C) Only end-of-day summary volume
- D) Broker commission rates
Q4. The Point of Control (POC) on a volume profile is:
- A) The highest price of the session
- B) The price level with the greatest traded volume
- C) The opening price
- D) The midpoint between high and low
Q5. Delta in order flow analysis is defined as:
- A) Buy volume minus sell volume
- B) High price minus low price
- C) Close minus open
- D) Total volume divided by trades
Q6. Spoofing is best described as:
- A) A legal hedging technique
- B) Placing orders with intent to cancel them to mislead other traders
- C) A type of volume profile chart
- D) Executing a large order in small pieces
Q7. The Value Area typically contains what percentage of the session's traded volume?
- A) 50%
- B) 68%
- C) 70%
- D) 90%
Q8. Absorption in tape reading refers to:
- A) A large resting order absorbing aggressive orders without much price movement
- B) A sudden price gap
- C) The market maker widening the spread
- D) Volume disappearing entirely
Q9. A footprint chart primarily adds which information to a standard candle?
- A) Moving averages
- B) Bid/ask volume traded at each price within the bar
- C) Fundamental earnings data
- D) Option Greeks
Q10. Cumulative delta is calculated by:
- A) Resetting delta each bar
- B) Running total of delta across successive bars
- C) Averaging delta over 20 bars
- D) Multiplying delta by volume
Section B — Matching (1 mark each) — 6 marks
Match each term (Q11–Q16) with its correct definition (i–vi).
| # | Term |
|---|---|
| Q11 | Value Area High (VAH) |
| Q12 | Layering |
| Q13 | Exhaustion |
| Q14 | Iceberg order |
| Q15 | Value Area Low (VAL) |
| Q16 | Ask (offer) |
Definitions:
- i. The lowest price of the value area
- ii. Placing multiple non-genuine orders at several price levels to create false depth
- iii. A large order where only a small portion is visible at a time
- iv. The highest price of the value area
- v. When aggressive buying/selling loses momentum and reverses
- vi. Price at which sellers are willing to sell
Section C — True/False WITH Justification (2 marks each) — 14 marks
State True or False (1 mark) and give a one-line justification (1 mark).
Q17. A wide spread between the best bid and best ask usually indicates high liquidity.
Q18. Cumulative delta rising while price stays flat can signal hidden buying absorption.
Q19. Spoofing and layering are legal and encouraged market-making strategies.
Q20. The POC often acts as a magnet/support-resistance level because it marks the highest-volume price.
Q21. Institutional orders are frequently split into smaller pieces (e.g., iceberg orders) to reduce market impact.
Q22. A footprint chart and a time-and-sales tape show exactly the same raw information in the same format.
Q23. Exhaustion is typically confirmed by a spike in volume followed by failure of price to continue in the same direction.
Answer keyMark scheme & solutions
Section A — MCQ (1 mark each)
Q1. B — Level-2 shows the depth of book: multiple bid/ask price levels and their sizes, not just last price (A) or historical data. (1)
Q2. B — Bids are buy orders; the highest bid is the best bid. Sell orders sit on the ask side. (1)
Q3. B — Time & Sales = executed trades in time order (price/size/time). Resting orders live in the order book, not the tape. (1)
Q4. B — POC = price of maximum traded volume in the profile; it is a volume concept, not a high/open/midpoint. (1)
Q5. A — Delta = buy (aggressor) volume − sell (aggressor) volume, measuring net aggressive pressure. (1)
Q6. B — Spoofing = entering orders with intent to cancel, creating a false impression of supply/demand (illegal). (1)
Q7. C — By convention the value area holds ~70% of volume around the POC. (1)
Q8. A — Absorption: a large limit order soaks up incoming aggressive market orders with little price movement. (1)
Q9. B — Footprint charts display volume executed at bid vs ask at each price level inside the bar. (1)
Q10. B — Cumulative delta is the running (accumulated) sum of per-bar delta over time. (1)
Section A total: 10
Section B — Matching (1 mark each)
| Q | Answer | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Q11 VAH | iv | Upper boundary of the value area |
| Q12 Layering | ii | Multiple fake orders across levels = false depth |
| Q13 Exhaustion | v | Loss of aggressive momentum → reversal |
| Q14 Iceberg | iii | Only a small visible tip of a large order |
| Q15 VAL | i | Lower boundary of the value area |
| Q16 Ask | vi | Price sellers offer to sell |
Section B total: 6
Section C — True/False + Justification (2 marks each)
Q17. FALSE (1) — A wide spread indicates low liquidity; tight spreads indicate high liquidity. (1)
Q18. TRUE (1) — Rising cumulative delta with flat price means aggressive buying is being absorbed by resting sellers (hidden absorption). (1)
Q19. FALSE (1) — Spoofing/layering are manipulative and illegal under market-abuse rules. (1)
Q20. TRUE (1) — The highest-volume price attracts price back to it, acting as support/resistance. (1)
Q21. TRUE (1) — Institutions slice large orders (icebergs/algos) to minimise price impact and signalling. (1)
Q22. FALSE (1) — The tape is a chronological trade list; the footprint aggregates bid/ask volume by price per bar — different formats. (1)
Q23. TRUE (1) — Exhaustion shows a volume climax followed by price failing to extend, signalling a likely reversal. (1)
Section C total: 14
PAPER TOTAL: 30 marks
Scoring note
- MCQ/Matching: all-or-nothing per item.
- T/F: 1 mark correct verdict + 1 mark valid justification (no justification = max 1 mark).
[
{"claim":"Delta = buy volume minus sell volume gives net +40 for buy=120,sell=80","code":"buy=120; sell=80; delta=buy-sell; result = (delta==40)"},
{"claim":"Cumulative delta is running sum of per-bar deltas [10,-5,20,-3] = 22","code":"deltas=[10,-5,20,-3]; c=0; cum=[]; \nfor d in deltas:\n c+=d; cum.append(c)\nresult = (cum[-1]==22)"},
{"claim":"Value area conventionally ~70% of volume","code":"va=70; result = (va==70)"},
{"claim":"Section marks 10+6+14 sum to 30","code":"result = (10+6+14==30)"}
]