Trades
Trades lists every deal in a share that has actually gone through, with its time, price, and size, so you see the real pattern of buying and selling rather than a single last price.
The last trade shown on a quote is one number. Behind it is a stream of individual deals, and that stream carries information the single figure hides. Whether the price is being pushed up by many small buyers or one large one, whether a sudden drop was a single big sale or steady selling, whether dealing is busy or has dried up: all of this is in the size and timing of the trades. The list shows you each deal as it prints, most recent first, with its time, the price paid, and the number of shares.
A trade is a record of something that has already happened. The price of the latest trade is not the current bid or offer, and a trade at a price does not mean more shares are available to you there. Large trades often print some minutes late, so a big block appearing suddenly may explain a move that has already happened. Orders still waiting to be filled are on Level 2, not here. The chart compresses these same trades into bars.
Related pages
| Quote | The quote is what is bid and offered right now. Trades are the deals already done at, or between, earlier bids and offers. |
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| Level 2 | Level 2 shows orders still waiting to be filled. Trades shows orders that have been filled. Together they show you what is queued and what has actually dealt. |
| Chart | A chart summarises these trades into bars over time. The trades list is the individual deals inside each bar. |