PowerView in Esignal

[n23mc]

Is it working correctly?

EVERY single MM for EVERY single stock I've checked today have had identical Level II screens & Powerview screens, with no market makers on the same side of the market at different depths showing on the Powerview screen.

[AndyS]

Hi N,

I'm not sure I follow you description of the problem. Could you post some screen shots? I'm looking at several PowerView displays of various stocks and nothing is jumping out at me as being wrong.

Any further information you can provide will help us in determining this problem.

Regards,
Andy

[n23mc]

PowerView screens shouldn't like 100% identical to Level II screens.

There isn't 1 stock today where the Powerview is showing something different than the Level II screen.

[n23mc]

Powerview should show duplicate bids or ask by at least a few MM's.

It's not.

That's the power of powerview.

Is Esignal's Powerview not working today?

I signed up for it last night after getting the email about it from Esignal.

[FibbGann]

Are you sure you are on powerveiw and not level 2, there is a toggle for that?


Fibbgann

[n23mc]

Yep, I have it set to Powerview.

Does anyone else see no difference at all in the market makers on L2 & Powerview when putting the 2 windows side by side?

It can't just be me.

[JayF]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the MM data area supposed to be the same for PowerView, and it's TotalView that has the differences?

Here's a screenshot of what I see.

[shaeffer]

PowerView and TotalView comparison

First let me apologize for the abbreviations, but hopefully this will be easier to read.

I've used PowerView (PV) and TotalView (TV) for two days now, and here's what I'm seeing, and in some cases not understanding.

Both PV and TV have identical DepthView (DV) windows (the upper 5 level window, aggregate MM window). What's screwball imo is that DV only includes SuperMontage (SM) participants. So if non-SM participants (cinn, inca, arcx) are alone at a top 5 bid or ask price in the Level 2 (L2) window, then the colors and price levels in DV do not match L2 - somewhat confusing. If I look at DV alone, I might be missing huge liquidity from a non-SM member.

Question 1: Is the depth meter using the DV numbers or the L2 numbers? I notice different depth meters for the same stock between PV and TV - why?

With PV and TV side by side, the DV windows are identical (as I said above) , but the lower windows are not. I think the PV lower window is identical to L2, but the TV window is not, since non-SM members don't appear. Instead, the TV lower window shows multiple bids/offers by the same MM, but so far, I've only seen multiple orders using SIZE, though knowing that liquidity is there is useful, even if the MM is hidden.

Question 2 What exactly are the Total and Shown columns in DV?
I think Total means total # of shares by all SM members (including multiple bids/offers by SM members), but excluding non-SM members? And I thought Shown meant 'as shown in L2 - i.e. including non-SM members. But very often the value in this column is 0, when I can clearly see a corresponding bid or ask in L2. Please clarify what these columns mean, and if they are linked to the depth meter.

My present thought is never to bother looking at TV. Assuming the extra liquidity of multiple orders is appearing in PV (is this true?), and given that TV does not show the non-SM members anywhere (even in the depth meter?), my initial thought is that TV actually shows you less of the market than PV. And if multiple orders are hidden using SIZE, it doesn't even help in determining who is the ax?

Instead, I'm thinking PV is the better view, with DV closed. Therefore only the L2 window of PV is open, so I can see non-SM orders as well, and with the depth meter open, I can see (I hope) the effect of any multiple orders. I think in PV that the lower window (L2) might not be showing the multiple orders, so it doesn't show everything, but again, if that's accounted for in the depth meter, that's not so bad.

I'd appreciate other users thoughts on the pros and cons of these views, and if they have helped their trading, as well as answers to the above questions from the eSignal folks.

I'm still on the learning curve with L2 (and its new variations). Does it really tell you more than watching a 1 minute chart with volume, or is it too much smoke and mirrors? Maybe that should be the subject of another thread - probably has been.

Thanks
shaeffer

[n23mc]

Now I'm getting "No Data" on the TotalView screens. I think there's a bug in the servers....

[JayF]

n23mc,

We are investigating the TotalView issue. Thanks for the report.

[JayF]

Restarting eSignal should correct this problem. If it does not, please send me a PM with your eSignal username.

[JayF]

shaeffer,

Great to hear from you. Been awhile since we last spoke.

To answer your first question, the Depth Meter uses the data in the Market Maker quote area (i.e. the bottom portion of the Market Depth Window.) Because of this and the fact that TotalView does not include non-SuperMontage Participants (an exchange requirement,) the Level II and PowerView meters will be different then the TotalView meter (just as you mentioned.)

As an aside, other Market Makers can sometimes have multiple orders displayed on TotalView. For example, BTRD in the earlier screenshot I posted.

Regarding your second question, you are correct on your assessment of the Total column. I'll have to do some more observation/research on the Shown column to determine what that is.

[shaeffer]

Hi Jay,

Thanks for your answer.

What I would like to see is a depth meter that shows ALL liquidity, including non SuperMontage members, and including multiple MM quotes.

Since TotalView excludes non-SM members, its depth meter does not show all liquidity?

Now the lower PowerView quote window, which I think is identical to a stand alone Level 2, does not show the breakdown of multiple MM quotes, but is that liquidity still 'known' in PowerView, such that PowerView depth meter includes it?

If not, then neither the depth meter in PV or TV shows all the liquidity? Or for that matter, neither View shows all liquidity?

My respect for Nasdaq's efforts at increased transparency may drop a lot after I see your answers to the above. I just sent an email to nasdaqtrader.com - I'll let you know if they can clarify any of this

[brianb]

So will we be getting a depthmeter/ MD window that shows all liquidity anytime soon?

[shaeffer]

Hi Brian,

As I understand it from discussions with Jay, there will be a two step improvement in market depth.
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The first will be to add to Totalview the best (only) quotes from the non-supermontage participants. The DepthView (upper)window would be unchanged from what we see today, but the lower quote window would then show:

1. multiple quotes from supermontage members at the same top five price levels as shown in the depthview window, as we presently see in Totalview and Powerview.
2. best only quotes from supermontage members outside of the top 5 price levels - this would be new
3. best only quotes from all non-supermontage members - this would be new, and the big improvement, imo.

In other words, the lower quote window would now be the same as seen in Powerview or L2, plus the multiple quotes now seen in Totalview.

And the Depth Meter would then reflect all the liquidity seen in the quote window. This was going to be a high priority at eSignal (very early this year?).
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The second improvement was to combine all ECN books to see all quotes at all price levels from all participants. But some patent issues make this improvement many months(?) away.
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Although the 2nd improvement will be useful, personally I'll be content to see the 1st improvement Hopefully Jay can give us an update on timing for this.

Cheers
shaeffer