time and sales
Time and Sales is the live, second by second list of every trade a stock makes, showing the price, size and exact moment each deal happened.
In plain English
You know that feeling when you check a market woman's price, walk to the next stall, and find someone just bought the same tomatoes for less, one minute before you got there? That tiny gap between what happened and what you saw is exactly what Time and Sales closes for traders watching a stock.
Time and Sales is the raw, unfiltered feed of every single trade that goes through on a stock, listed in order as it happens. Not the summary price you see flashing on a screen every few seconds, but the actual blow by blow. Someone bought 200 shares at ₦45.10 at 10:03:12. Someone else sold 500 shares at ₦45.05 four seconds later. It just keeps scrolling, trade after trade, like a market receipt that never stops printing.
A trader watching a stock like MTN Nigeria on the NGX might use Time and Sales to see whether big buyers are stepping in calmly or whether the price is being pushed up by lots of small, nervous trades. It tells a story that the ordinary price chart smooths over and hides.
In London, a day trader watching a stock on the London Stock Exchange might use the same feed to spot the moment institutional money starts moving, because large trades landing back to back at rising prices often mean something is about to shift.
For most everyday investors, especially someone in Manchester or Lagos calmly building a long term portfolio, Time and Sales is not something you need to stare at daily. It is a tool for active traders who care about timing down to the second, not for someone contributing to a pension fund once a month.
A trader watching Zenith Bank's stock sees, in the Time and Sales window, ten trades of 50,000 shares each land within two minutes, all above the current market price. That pattern often signals a large buyer is active, and the trader decides to buy in before the price climbs further.
Questions people ask
Is Time and Sales the same as a stock's price chart?
No. A price chart usually shows summarised prices over minutes, hours or days. Time and Sales shows every individual trade as it happens, with the exact price, size and timestamp, so it is far more detailed and moves much faster.
Do I need to watch Time and Sales as a long term investor?
Not really. It matters most to active or day traders who need split second timing. If you are simply buying shares to hold for years, like many people building a retirement portfolio, this level of detail will not change your results.
Where can I actually see Time and Sales data?
Most trading platforms and brokers offer a Time and Sales window or tab, often next to the order book. Some free tools show a delayed version, while serious traders pay for real time access because the few seconds of delay can matter.
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