Every futures contract trades on a centralized order book. The order book is the list of all buy and sell orders waiting to be filled.

The DOM is your window into that order book. In DXtrade it is the Market Depth widget.

It shows you:

This transparency is unique to exchange-traded markets like futures. Every order goes to the same central exchange (CME, CBOT, COMEX, or NYMEX for the Upcomers instruments), so the exchange publishes aggregated depth: the total contracts resting at each price level. Standard CME Globex data shows up to 10 price levels on each side (aggregated quantity per level, not individual orders). DXtrade XT displays that depth on the ladder.

The Market Depth widget is a price ladder built around the current market price. It lists the resting bids (buyers) at prices below the market and the resting asks (sellers) at prices above it, with the last traded price in between.

The bid side shows how many contracts traders want to buy at each price below the market. These are people willing to pay that price.

The ask side shows how many contracts traders want to sell at each price above the market. These are people willing to sell at that price.

Accumulated quantity is a running total. DXtrade shows the cumulative number of contracts stacked from the top of the book down to each level, so you can see how much size sits between the current price and a level further out.

My Orders is where your own resting orders appear, lined up against the price level they are working at. This is how you track and manage your orders on the ladder itself.

The highest bid and the lowest ask together are called the "top of book." The difference between them is the bid-ask spread. For a liquid contract like ES (E-mini S&P 500), the spread is usually one tick (0.25 points, worth $12.50). For thinner contracts or quieter hours it can be wider.

The numbers in each column tell a story.

Stacked bids below market. Lots of buying interest waiting. The market may have support at those levels.

Stacked asks above market. Lots of selling interest waiting. The market may struggle to break through.

Disappearing orders. A large bid vanishes as price approaches it. The order was canceled, not filled. Resting orders get pulled constantly for legitimate reasons (repricing, risk management, algo behavior), so a bid that disappears may never have been committed liquidity you can lean on.

Aggressive market orders. When the numbers at the top of the bid or ask drop quickly without price moving, contracts are being bought or sold at market. Watch which side is being consumed.

Refilling. Large orders that get filled and immediately reappear at the same price suggest strong commitment from a big participant.

You do not need to master order flow to trade futures successfully. But understanding the basics gives you an edge over chart-only traders. On most DXtrade XT setups you can pair the Market Depth widget with a Time and Sales widget (the tape of executed trades: price, size, and direction), which many traders keep open next to the ladder.

The DOM shows the contracts available at each price, which is critical for sizing.

Say you want to buy 10 ES at the current ask, but the ask only shows 4 contracts. A Market order fills 4 at the ask, and the remaining 6 fill at the next price level up. That is slippage, even on a liquid contract, during a thin moment. On ES each tick is 0.25 points and worth $12.50, so pushing those 6 contracts one tick further costs an extra $75 (6 x $12.50). DXtrade XT execution is volume-aware, so a large order can partially fill against the displayed depth.

The same depth drives Limit fills. On the DXtrade XT simulator, a Limit order fills only when there is enough resting volume to complete your full quantity at your limit price or better. A Limit can sit unfilled even if price trades to it, if the size at that level is too thin to fill you.

Before placing large size, glance at the DOM. If the levels above are thin, scale your size down or use a Limit order to avoid eating through the book. The Accumulated Qty column makes this easy: it tells you exactly how many contracts sit between the current price and the level you would fill up to.

DXtrade lets you place orders directly from the Market Depth ladder, which is the fastest execution method in futures trading.

To buy, click on the bid side at the price you want. To sell, click on the ask side at the price you want. Set your quantity (the number of contracts) first, so the click uses the right size.

Clicking at the current market places a Market order (immediate fill at the best available price). Clicking away from the market stages a Limit order that rests at that level until price reaches it.

For deeper coverage of order types and when to use each, see Order types in DXtrade.

Once an order is working, it appears in the My Orders column next to its price level.

Modify. Drag your resting order up or down the ladder to a new price level to change where it works.

Cancel. Click the cancel control on your order in the My Orders column to pull it from the book. You can also manage the same orders from the Orders widget (which has a Cancel all button) or by dragging or removing the order line on the chart.

Both have a role, and they answer different questions.

Most professional futures traders keep both open at all times. The chart sets up the trade. The DOM executes it. DXtrade lets you trade from the chart as well: on most setups your open positions and working orders show on the chart and you can place and drag pending orders directly on it, so you can use whichever surface fits the moment.

Trading off the chart only. Missing the DOM means missing real-time supply and demand. Even basic DOM awareness improves entries and exits.

Misreading direction. A bid is someone wanting to BUY. An ask is someone wanting to SELL. Confusing these reverses your read of the market.

Chasing thin markets. If the DOM shows only 1 or 2 contracts per level, the contract is illiquid at that moment. Avoid market orders and use Limit orders.

Relying on orders that vanish. Large orders that disappear as price approaches them may not be committed liquidity. Trust the orders that stay and actually get filled, not the ones that pull at the last second.

One-click trading on a fast contract before you are ready. Practice on the micros (MES, MGC, MCL) until DOM clicks become second nature. A wrong click on a full-size ES or GC contract can cost serious money. A micro is one tenth the size of its full contract, so it carries one tenth the risk per tick while you learn.

The DOM is your microscope into the futures market. Every serious futures trader uses it, and every professional shop trades from it.

Start by learning to read it. Practice on the micros. Move to full-size contracts once your reads are reliable.

The chart shows you where the market has been. The DOM shows you where it is right now.

Questions? Reach us any time through the chat in the Upcomers Help Center, or email us at [email protected].