The recent announcement by Upstox, one of India’s leading brokerages, about providing free Tick-by-Tick (TBT) charting data to its customers marks a groundbreaking shift in the trading landscape. Upstox’s new initiative to offer TBT(Tick By Tick) data-based charts for free democratizes access to high-quality institutional-grade real-time data. Historically, such data was the preserve of elite institutions with deep pockets. Now, retail traders can trade with the same quality of information as top-tier financial institutions.
Types of Datafeed used by Traders
Level 1 Datafeed: Mostly Provided by Datafeed Vendors and Web Based Charting/Backtesting Platforms like Tradingview
Level 2 Datafeed: The majority of Indian brokerage firms provide Level 2 feeds to their users with up to 5 Top Bid x 5 Top Ask order depth levels.
Level 3 Datafeed: Few Brokers and Premium Data Vendors like Bloomberg provide Level 2 feeds with orderbook depth up to 20 levels.
Tick by Tick Feeds: Tick by Tick data, also known as TBT broadcast data—a high-resolution stream provided by NSE, capturing every single order submitted by traders and every trade matched at the exchange.High-frequency traders and the one and only broker offering TBT feeds is Upstox
Importance of Tick-by-Tick Data from a Charting Perspective
High-frequency trading firms utilize the TBT feeds. Currently, Upstox offers this data to their charting platform clients which enhances the integrity of OHLC (Open, High, Low, Close) bars on charts. Each bar in a TBT chart accurately reflects the complete range of market activity within a given time frame, unlike Snapshot charts that may miss vital intra-bar price movements.
Snapshot Data: The Traditional Approach
Snapshot data captures market data at periodic intervals. While useful for a general market overview, it lacks the depth and immediacy of TBT data, offering just a glimpse rather than the complete picture.
Due to its aggregated nature, Snapshot data can lead to inaccuracies in charting. These inaccuracies might affect crucial trading decisions, especially in price-sensitive strategies.
TBT vs Snapshot: A Paradigm Shift
Upstox shift from Snapshot to TBT charting is not just a technological upgrade; it’s a paradigm shift in how market data is consumed and utilized. With TBT, traders gain a microscopic view of market movements, allowing for a more precise and nuanced analysis.
For intraday traders, TBT feeds provide a more reliable, accurate, and comprehensive market view, essential for making informed trading decisions. As the landscape of trading data evolves, the importance of real-time, granular data becomes ever more apparent, and TBT feeds are at the forefront of this change.
Congratulations and all the best
This is very good news. Can you also ask upstox, if they will start providing Orderflow and Market Profile charts from within their charting platform? If yes, that will be a market disruptor.
This is very good news. Will upstox also provider Orderprofile/ Footprint chart inside their platform? If yes, that will be a game changer! Please ask