Dark pool institutional trades leading up to the 2020 market crash

Dark Pool Levels for TrendSpider — Complete Settings Reference

A detailed guide to every configuration option in the Moby Tick Dark Pool Levels indicator


Overview

The MobyTick Dark Pool Levels indicator displays institutional dark pool transactions as horizontal price levels on your TrendSpider chart. This reference guide explains every setting so you can customize the indicator to match your trading style.


Data Settings

These settings control what data is fetched and displayed.

Date Range

Default: 30 Days

Controls how far back to search for dark pool transactions.

OptionUse Case
TodayIntraday scalping, seeing fresh institutional activity
WeekShort-term swing trades, recent positioning
30 DaysStandard swing trading (recommended starting point)
60 DaysMedium-term analysis
90 DaysLonger swing trades, quarterly patterns
6 MonthsPosition trading, major institutional zones
1 YearLong-term investing, historical support/resistance
CustomSpecific date range using the Start field

Start (YYYYMMDD)

Default: Rolling based on Date Range selection

When Date Range is set to “Custom,” enter your desired start date in YYYYMMDD format.

Example: 20250601 = June 1, 2025

Note: Data availability extends back approximately 5 years to January 2020


Number of Prints

Default: 30
Range: 1–30

How many price levels to display on the chart. Levels are ranked by the sort criteria you select.

SettingUse Case
5–10Clean chart, only major levels
15–20Balanced view
30Maximum detail, see all significant activity

Pro Tip: Start with 10–15 to avoid chart clutter, then increase if you want more granularity.


Minimum Share Size

Default: 50,000
Range: 50,000–100,000,000

Filters out smaller transactions. Only prints with share volume ≥ this value will appear.

SettingUse Case
50,000See more activity (good for lower-volume stocks)
100,000Standard filter
500,000Focus on large institutional trades only
1,000,000+Major block trades only (best for high-volume stocks like SPY, AAPL)

Guidance by Stock Type:

  • Large-cap (SPY, QQQ, AAPL): 500K–1M minimum
  • Mid-cap: 100K–500K minimum
  • Small-cap: 50K–100K minimum

Table Settings

Control the on-chart data table that displays dark pool transaction details.

◆ Show Table

Default: On (checked)

Toggle the table visibility. When enabled, a table appears on your chart showing details for each displayed level.


↳ Table Sort By

Default: Shares (Largest)

Determines the order of rows in the table AND the ranking of lines on the chart.

OptionSorts By
Shares (Largest)Total share volume (highest first) — recommended
Price (Highest)Price level (highest first)
Date (Newest)Most recent transaction first

↳ Table Columns

Default: Standard (Rank, Price, Date, Shares)

Choose which columns appear in the table.

PresetColumns Displayed
Standard (Rank, Price, Date, Shares)Rank, Price, Date, Shares
Minimal (Rank, Price)Rank, Price
Compact (Rank, Price, Shares)Rank, Price, Shares
Date Focus (Rank, Price, Date)Rank, Price, Date
Value Focus (Rank, Price, Value)Rank, Price, $ Value
Standard + ValueRank, Price, Date, Shares, Value
No ValueRank, Price, Date, Shares, # Trades
Full (All Columns)All available columns
No RankPrice, Date, Shares, Value, # Trades

Table Properties (EDIT button)

Opens TrendSpider’s standard table editor where you can adjust:

  • Position: Where the table appears (Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right)
  • Font size
  • Background opacity
  • Border styling

Label Settings

Control the text labels that appear on each horizontal price line.

◆ Show Labels

Default: On (checked)

Toggle label visibility on the price level lines.


↳ Label Position

Default: Left

Where labels appear on each horizontal line.

OptionDescription
LeftLabels at the left edge of the line
RightLabels at the right edge of the line

Tip: Use “Left” if your chart has price action on the right side; use “Right” if you want labels near current price.


↳ Label Format

Default: Price + Size

What information to display in each label.

FormatExample Output
Price Only$685.50
Size Only2.5M
Date Only12/15/2025
Value Only$1.7B
Price + Size$685.50 | 2.5M
Price + Date$685.50 | 12/15
Price + Value$685.50 | $1.7B
Size + Date2.5M | 12/15
Size + Value2.5M | $1.7B
Date + Value12/15 | $1.7B
Price + Size + Date$685.50 | 2.5M | 12/15
Price + Size + Value$685.50 | 2.5M | $1.7B
Price + Date + Value$685.50 | 12/15 | $1.7B
Size + Date + Value2.5M | 12/15 | $1.7B
All Details$685.50 | 2.5M | 12/15 | $1.7B

Line Colors (DP Line 1–30)

Each of the 30 possible price levels has its own color swatch. This allows you to:

  1. Color-code by rank: Default colors often gradient from one color to another (e.g., green → yellow → red) to visually distinguish the largest prints from smaller ones
  2. Match your chart theme: Customize colors to fit your personal chart setup
  3. Highlight specific levels: Make important ranks stand out

Default Color Theme: All Yellow (as shown in screenshot)

Click any color swatch to open the color picker and customize that specific line.


Recommended Configurations

Day Trading / Scalping

  • Date Range: Today or Week
  • Number of Prints: 10–15
  • Minimum Share Size: 100,000+
  • Label Format: Price + Size
  • Table: On, Compact preset

Swing Trading

  • Date Range: 30 Days
  • Number of Prints: 20–30
  • Minimum Share Size: 50,000–100,000
  • Label Format: Price + Size + Date
  • Table: On, Standard preset

Position Trading / Investing

  • Date Range: 6 Months or 1 Year
  • Number of Prints: 30
  • Minimum Share Size: 500,000+
  • Label Format: All Details
  • Table: On, Full preset

Clean Chart (Minimal)

  • Date Range: 30 Days
  • Number of Prints: 5
  • Minimum Share Size: 1,000,000+
  • Show Labels: Off
  • Show Table: Off

Pro Tips

  1. Layer multiple instances: Add the indicator twice — once for “Today” and once for “30 Days” — to see fresh activity overlaid on established levels.
  2. Adjust minimum size by ticker: High-volume stocks (SPY, QQQ) need higher minimums; lower-volume stocks need lower minimums.
  3. Use table sorting strategically: Sort by “Date (Newest)” when looking for fresh institutional activity; sort by “Shares (Largest)” when identifying the strongest levels.
  4. Simplify labels for screenshots: Use “Price Only” or “Price + Size” for clean chart screenshots to share.

Dark Pool Levels by MobyTick Trading — Institutional Intelligence for Retail Traders

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