How to get and follow the ideas of market makers?

<p id="isPasted">As a retail trader, you cannot directly get the ideas of market makers, but you can track their activity by analyzing their "footprints" in the market. Market makers are large institutions that create and remove liquidity, and their trades are often reflected in volume, price action, and order flow data.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>How to follow market maker activity</strong></p><p><strong>Volume analysis</strong></p><ul><li>Unusual volume: Look for stocks with high trading volume compared to their average. This can signal increased institutional interest.</li><li>Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP): Institutions use VWAP as a benchmark for their trades. Trading above the VWAP is considered bullish, while trading below is bearish. A price retracing to the VWAP after a move can be a signal.</li><li>Volume by price: This indicator shows the volume traded at different price levels. Strong volume at key price points can indicate areas where institutional traders are active. </li></ul><p><strong>Order flow analysis</strong></p><ul><li>Level 2 market data: This provides a detailed view of the order book, showing multiple bid and ask price levels and the order sizes at each. Large pending buy orders can indicate support, while large sell orders can signal resistance.</li><li>Time and sales: This tool displays a real-time record of all executed trades, including price, volume, and timestamp. Analyzing this data can reveal buying and selling patterns and market momentum.</li><li>Reading the "tape": By combining time and sales data with order flow analysis, you can interpret price and volume movements to gauge market sentiment. </li></ul><p><strong>Identifying institutional strategies</strong></p><ul><li>Accumulation and distribution: Market makers accumulate large positions slowly over time to avoid spiking the price. They later distribute (sell) shares gradually without causing a crash. Unusual volume can help identify these accumulation and distribution phases.</li><li>Order blocks and supply-demand zones: Institutions accumulate and distribute within specific price ranges called order blocks or supply-demand zones. When the price returns to these zones, it often bounces or is rejected.</li><li>Fake breakouts and stop-loss hunting: Market makers may trigger false breakouts to trap retail traders, using the liquidity from triggered stop-loss orders to enter or exit their own positions. </li></ul><p><strong>Other tools and resources</strong></p><ul><li>Track bulk and block deals: In some markets, exchanges report large institutional trades. Following these can provide clues about institutional sentiment.</li><li>Analyze options data: Monitoring options data can reveal institutional hedging or speculative activity. For example, large call or put writing can indicate a bullish or bearish bias.</li><li>Understand market structure: Instead of relying solely on indicators, focus on how institutions create price movements. For example, observing when the market structure changes can help confirm which way "smart money" is moving. </li></ul><p><strong>Important considerations</strong></p><ul><li>Market makers often use complex, high-speed algorithms and dark pools (private exchanges) to obscure their intentions, making them difficult to track perfectly.</li><li>Don't rely on any single indicator. Combine multiple tools, including volume analysis, order flow, and technical indicators, to get a more complete picture.</li><li>The goal is not to perfectly copy institutional trades, but to understand their footprint and align your strategy with the observed market flow. </li></ul>