Trade imbalance?

[soylent]

Anyone know what these messages are all about:

*DJ Nvidia Corp (NVDA) Mkt On Close Sell Imbalance: Shrs 78973

I see this stuff all the time. Of course, NVDA was trading 1M shares per minute so 78K is insignificant. But, I've seen some bigger numbers -- especially on the QQQ...

I read something about a market maker imbalance where they need to purchase <x> shares to keep the books straight... I guess that's why you see those ramps on stocks for the last 5-10 mins as they try to close them...

Anyhow, just wondering if there is value in this / if anyone trades it / has read more about it?

Thanks!

-c

[DuaneG]

Hi Soylent,

Personally, I know of a few traders who tend to look for this type of imbalance. It can be a pretty risky move, so it takes a type of trader that is very cool under pressure. I found an article that you may interested in reading. Most of the written work on this subject is somewhat dry and boring as it comes from the various exchanges in the form of rule numbers. Hope this is enough to get you started.

[soylent]

Thanks Duane -- that is very interesting.

I'll keep poking around the exchanges and see if I can unearth some more arcana...

-c