Back in the day trading NYSE stocks and learning to read the Specialist prints one thing we used to look for was the “Clean Up Print”. This was usually the print on an intraday gap in the direction of the immediately preceding trend with big volume. This was a sign of a floor broker possibly finishing working the order and just getting it done. Coming into the lunch hours in NY it was common for our scans to be looking for this.

Today we watched URBN make a buying spurt into the teeth of a SPY sell program around 11 am that pushed the SPY from 122.60 area to down below the figure at 122. Watching the tape in URBN it became obvious a buyer was in there working hard. Then right about 12 noon…a big volume spurt and a bid that suddenly seemed weaker. Looking like the modern day “Clean Up Print” it was a great spot to put on a short. Low risk and it would be obvious very quickly if the buyer had finished. Tape reading old school meets today’s trade.

Jeff Davis @Shaq48_Trading [email protected]