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Key Takeaways
- A reported stock print records execution price, share quantity and time.
- FINRA’s OTC data distinguishes ATS executions from non-ATS broker-dealer activity.
- Multiply execution price by shares to calculate the print’s transaction value.
- The worked 600,000-share print at $25.20 is worth $15.12 million and equals 7.5% of average daily volume.
- Track repeated levels and the stock’s response, then compare options activity in the same ticker.
What is a dark pool print?
A dark pool print is a reported stock execution associated with dark-pool activity. Trading feeds also group broader off-exchange executions under this label. FINRA’s reporting categories distinguish ATS and non-ATS broker-dealer volume. Each print records the execution price, share quantity and time, the fields that define the transaction you are evaluating.
Formula
Print notional = execution price × reported shares- Execution price times reported shares gives the transaction’s notional value.
- Divide reported shares by the chosen average daily share volume to calculate relative size.
How to measure the size of a dark pool print
A feed labels a 600,000-share XYZ execution at $25.20 as a dark-pool print.
- Reported shares: 600,000
- Execution price: $25.20
- Print notional: $15,120,000
- Average daily volume: 8,000,000 shares
- Share of average daily volume: 7.5%
The $15.12 million execution represents 7.5% of average daily share volume. Place its $25.20 price on the stock’s trading map, compare repeat activity around that level and inspect options flow in the same ticker.
XYZ’s average daily volume is 8 million shares. The print therefore represents 7.5% of an average day. Comparing the same quantity with normal and session volume helps prioritize the activity across tickers.
How to read a dark pool print’s price level
Match the report to its execution time and price. Apply corrections and sale conditions when locating it on the chart, then group repeated executions near the same area.
Watch how stock trading develops around that level. Compare the price response and volume with activity in the option chain. Focus on the expiration, strikes and structures involved.
Dark-pool flow lists large executions and recurring levels, and the ticker’s options flow shows the contracts trading around them.
Limitations of dark pool prints
- A print records a completed trade. Read the side and the motive from the surrounding tape, since the print itself carries price, size and time.
- Know what the print covers. Dark pools and other off-exchange venues, including broker-dealers that fill orders internally, all report their trades to FINRA. InsiderFinance’s Dark tab shows those off-exchange prints of $1 million or more, and Dark Pool Levels shows the prices where that size keeps coming back.
- Apply corrections and sale conditions before you mark the level. A print matched to the wrong time or left uncorrected puts the level in the wrong place on the chart.
- Name the baseline for relative size. The worked 7.5% uses an 8-million-share average day; a different average or the session’s volume gives a different figure.
- One print can be a slice of a larger order or one leg of a hedge, so look for related prints before sizing the position behind it.
Bottom line
A dark pool print is a reported stock trade associated with dark-pool activity: a price, a share quantity and a time. Size it in dollars and against average volume, place it on the chart at its execution time, and confirm repeated levels with the stock’s response and options activity before you trade them.
Clear answers
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources and Further Reading
- SEC: Regulation of NMS Stock Alternative Trading Systems
- FINRA: OTC ATS and Non-ATS Transparency
- FINRA: Trade Reporting Frequently Asked Questions
How entries are sourced, calculated and updated: editorial methodology.