



Rob
2.3K posts

@1TickRob
Futures Day Trader | NQ’s Daddy | Combat Vet 🇺🇸








I want to debunk this idea because I see it repeated on X way too often. The belief that “if you don’t use a ladder, you don’t understand order flow” is simply not true, DOM is just one tool. Traders can read liquidity, participation, absorption, and aggression through footprints, time & sales, volume profile, and broader market context without watching a ladder all day. I use the DOM myself and I think it’s valuable, but it is not some magical edge that invalidates every other form of order flow analysis. Reading the ladder is also highly subjective. Two traders can watch the exact same movement and come away with completely different conclusions. The argument that “if you can see the orders, institutions want you to see them” is also overused. Spoofing and hidden liquidity exist, but that does not make resting liquidity and heat maps useless. Price reaction around those areas still provides valuable information. At the end of the day, the market does not care which tool you use. What matters is whether your process is consistent, repeatable, and profitable.









I feel like if you don’t understand this (a drawing I made in under 1 minute) Then there’s not much hope you will ever become a profitable trader








