DOM

What is the DOM?

The DOM (depth of market) is the live order book displayed as a price ladder: the size of resting limit orders at each level on the bid side and the ask side, often ten or so levels each way depending on the feed. It shows intentions rather than transactions; every number on the ladder is liquidity someone has offered at that price and can cancel at any moment. Futures scalpers read the DOM to judge where liquidity is thick or thin and how fast it is being consumed or reloaded.

Because resting orders can be layered, spoofed, or pulled, the DOM is read together with executions: the tape shows what actually traded, and footprint charts aggregate those executions bar by bar. Large size that persists and absorbs incoming orders as price approaches is more informative than size that vanishes on contact, which is what liquidity heatmaps are built to track over time.

How traders use it

• Locating thick liquidity: unusually large resting size often acts as a short-term barrier or magnet, and traders watch whether it absorbs incoming market orders or gets pulled as price nears.
• Timing entries at a level: rather than buying a level blind, DOM traders wait to see bids refresh and hold under pressure before joining, and stand aside when the ladder thins out.
• Gauging pace and urgency: the speed at which levels are consumed and reloaded shows how hard one side is pressing; a ladder being eaten level by level is the microstructure view of a sweep.