In Reminiscences of a Stock Operator there is a scene where a tout runs up the the Commodore and says buy such and such stock. The Commodore phones his broker and says sell 10K, then says sell 10 more. Tout goes, “What are you doing, I said Buy!, not sell”. Commodore says, I need to see how the market is taking the orders.

Does it make a difference how your orders are being filled? Are they gobbled as price passes thru as if you weren’t even there, or does it nibble nibble at the order and partially fill, or does it touch and fill, or does it sit on price touch, touch, not fill, then fill? Do these variations even make a predictive difference in what happens in the near future?