Intermediate · Smart money · 5 lessons · about 20 min

Dark Pools

Where institutions trade size off-exchange, and how their prints become levels.

  1. 01What a dark pool isA dark pool is a private venue where institutions trade large blocks without showing orders on the public book.
  2. 02Prints vs. tradesEvery dark pool print is a record of a trade that already happened at a specific price and size.
  3. 03Levels from dark pool volumeWhen a large fraction of a day's volume prints in a tight price range on a dark venue, institutions collectively decided that…
  4. 04When prints matterA one-million-share dark pool print on a stock that trades 50 million shares a day is background noise.
  5. 05Combining with flowDark pool volume tells you where institutions traded large size in the underlying.

Educational content only. Not financial advice.