The NYSE Tick Index gives us the relationship of stocks up ticking versus down ticking at their last traded price. The Tick is an extremely useful tool for intraday traders.
For Example:
If there are 3000 stocks trading on the NYSE and 1500 trade higher from their previous price and 500 trade lower than their last price the Tick will read +1000. But wait what about the other 1000 stocks? They could be unchanged from their last price.
When using the Tick we are looking for extremes to enter or exit a trade. Tick readings of +1000 or -1000 are considered very strong as we typically trade between 1000 most of the time on the NYSE.
On this day, a relative high tick would be a reading above 400. Allow the tick to establish itself for the day during the first 30-mins or so of the NYSE session. Ticks inside 400 are simply noise.
Tips for Using the Tick:
Tick readings within |400| indicate chop, ignore them
On a range day you can look to fade tick extremes
A 1 period moving average can make it easier to see the trend of the Tick
Note the extreme tick readings for the day:
When we get a high tick and a high in price at the exact same time, this could indicate the high of the day.
When a high tick prints without a simultaneous high price we can continue to make new highs, until a new high tick is reached (the reverse is true for a low tick followed by new lows).
Here are some trading examples of how I use the tick.