Large Print

A large print is a single transaction in the Time and Sales feed that stands out due to its size: substantially larger than the typical trade prints flowing through at that moment. In the context of ES futures, a “large” print might be 50, 100, 200, or more contracts trading in a single fill.

Why large prints matter

Retail traders typically trade 1–5 contracts per transaction. Institutional traders: hedge funds, prop desks, CTAs: trade in much larger size. When a 200-contract print appears at a specific price, it is almost certainly not a retail trader. It signals that a significant participant made a decisive move at that level.

Large prints are important because:

• They represent real capital being committed
• They often occur at inflection points: just before a breakout or reversal
• They can act as support or resistance levels on a retest

Interpreting large prints by context

Large buy print at a breakout level: confirms the breakout. A large participant is loading aggressively at new highs, not waiting for a pullback.

Large buy print into resistance: potentially absorption by sellers. Price may stall or reverse if the large buy is met with an even larger passive sell wall.

Large sell print at a key support: bearish. Large participant is aggressively exiting longs or initiating shorts.

Large print accompanied by tape acceleration: highest conviction signal. When a large print appears as the tape is already running fast in that direction, it indicates a stampede, not an isolated decision.

Size thresholds by instrument

Instrument	Typical trade size	”Large” threshold
ES	1–10 contracts	50+ contracts
NQ	1–5 contracts	25+ contracts
MES / MNQ	1–20 contracts	100+ contracts

These are approximate. During high-volatility events (FOMC, CPI), typical sizes increase and thresholds should be adjusted accordingly.