Sierra Chart DOM columns explained: resting depth vs recently traded volume

What the main Sierra Chart DOM columns show

With Sierra Chart DOM columns explained in one sentence: some columns show resting orders that have not traded yet, and others show contracts that have already traded. The bid size column and ask size column display resting limit orders waiting in the order book. Recent volume and volume-at-price columns count executions that already happened. Most DOM reading mistakes come from mixing these two groups, so this article defines each common column by which group it belongs to.

If you want help arranging the ladder itself, see the Sierra Chart trade DOM layout for beginners. Here the focus is narrower: what each number means and what it does not mean.

Two kinds of data on one ladder

The Trade DOM is a vertical price ladder. Every row is one tick. On ES and NQ that is 0.25 points, on CL it is 0.01, on YM it is 1 point and on RTY it is 0.10. Each column then fills those rows with a different data source.

• Market depth (resting liquidity). Limit orders sitting at a price. They can be added, reduced or cancelled at any moment without a single contract changing hands. This data comes from the market depth feed.
• Trade data (executed volume). Contracts that actually matched. A trade is permanent. It cannot be pulled after the fact. This data comes from the trade feed, the same source that drives time and sales and footprint charts.

A quick rule: if a number can shrink without a trade printing, it is depth. If it only grows until a reset, it is traded volume.

Depth columns: bid size and ask size

Bid size column

The bid size column shows the quantity of resting buy limit orders at the best bid and at the price levels below it. On ES, if the best bid is 5000.00 and the cell reads 220, there are 220 contracts of buy limits waiting at 5000.00 (hypothetical numbers). Rows below show the next levels of depth, up to however many levels your data feed provides.

What it does not tell you: that anyone has bought. Those 220 contracts are intentions. They become volume only if sellers hit them with market orders.

Ask size column

The ask size column is the mirror image: resting sell limit orders at the best ask and above. With ES bid at 5000.00, the ask sits at 5000.25, and the ask size column shows how many contracts are offered there and higher up.

Two practical notes for both columns:

1. Depth is limited by your feed. Some feeds send a fixed number of levels, others send more. If the ladder stops showing size a few ticks away from the inside market, that is a data limit, not an empty book.
2. Depth needs market depth data enabled. If the bid size and ask size columns are blank while prices update, check that your data service includes market depth for that symbol and that depth is enabled in your connection settings.

Some layouts also offer a combined size column, which displays bid and ask size in one column on their respective sides of the market. It is still depth, just packed into less screen width.

Traded volume columns: recent volume and volume at price

Recent volume column

The recent volume column shows contracts that traded at each price over a short, recent window. In Sierra Chart this is commonly split into recent bid volume and recent ask volume:

• Recent bid volume: trades that executed at the bid, meaning sellers used market orders and hit resting buy limits.
• Recent ask volume: trades that executed at the ask, meaning buyers used market orders and lifted resting sell limits.

The word "recent" is what separates this column from session totals. The values are cleared after a reset condition, so the column reflects activity happening now rather than everything since the open. The exact reset behavior is configurable in the DOM column settings. Before relying on the column, open those settings in your version and confirm what triggers the reset (for example a time interval or price moving away from the level). Two traders with different reset settings will see different numbers on the same ladder.

Example on NQ: price trades at 18000.00 for several seconds and the recent ask volume cell at that row climbs from 0 to 85 (hypothetical). That count is executed buying at the ask. Meanwhile the ask size at 18000.00 may have dropped, refilled or stayed the same, which is a separate question about resting depth.

Volume at price columns

Volume columns, often split into bid volume and ask volume, accumulate traded volume at each price over a longer period, typically the chart's session or loaded data. Think of them as a vertical volume profile next to the ladder. They answer "where has trading concentrated today?" while recent volume answers "what is trading right now?". The bid and ask split relies on the same trade-side logic used in footprints, so it benefits from tick by tick data. Sierra Chart's tick by tick data configuration documentation explains how to store data at that resolution.

Other columns you will see

• Price column: the ladder itself. Not data, just the reference axis.
• Buy and sell order columns: where your own working orders appear and where you click to place or move them. These reflect your orders, not the market.
• Profit and loss column: the open P/L your position would have at each price.
• Pulling and stacking columns: if available in your version, these track changes in resting depth at each price over time. They are derived from depth, not trades, so a large "pulled" value means orders were cancelled or reduced, not executed.

Column names and availability change between Sierra Chart versions. Check the column list in the Trade DOM settings rather than assuming a specific label. The general Chart Settings documentation is a good starting point for where chart-level options live.

Reading depth and traded volume together

The useful information comes from comparing the two groups at the same price, not from either alone. A neutral, observational routine:

1. Note the resting size. ES ask size at 5000.25 shows 300 contracts.
2. Watch the recent ask volume at that row. Buyers lift the offer and recent ask volume rises.
3. Compare. If recent ask volume keeps growing while ask size stays near 300, someone is refreshing the offer. If ask size drops to zero with little traded volume, the orders were likely cancelled rather than filled.

These are descriptions of what the book is doing, not trade signals. The same pattern can resolve in either direction. For seeing how depth evolved over time instead of only its current snapshot, the market depth historical graph setup covers the chart-based view.

A note on EURUSD: spot forex has no single central exchange, so any depth your broker shows reflects that venue's liquidity only. If you want centralized depth for the euro, CME's Euro FX futures (6E) provide exchange order book data. CME Group's education resources explain how futures order books and matching work.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Calling a large bid size "buying." It is resting interest. Buying shows up in ask-side traded volume.
• Comparing recent volume to session volume. They cover different time windows by design.
• Ignoring reset settings. A recent volume column that resets slowly behaves almost like a session total.
• Assuming blank depth means no orders. Check feed depth levels and market depth permissions first.
• Forgetting spoofing-style behavior exists. Displayed size can disappear before price reaches it, which is exactly why depth and traded volume must be read separately.

If you prefer to start from a configured ladder with these columns already in place and labeled, a Sierra Chart depth of market chartbook saves you the setup time so you can focus on reading the data.

Conclusion

Every Trade DOM column falls into one of two buckets. Bid size and ask size are resting depth: orders that can vanish without trading. Recent volume and volume-at-price columns are executed trades: contracts that have already matched. Label each column in your head by bucket, confirm your depth feed and reset settings, and compare the two at the same price instead of reading either in isolation. To get a ready-made workspace with the DOM columns already arranged, explore the Sierra Chart chartbooks available at SierraOnShop.

FAQ

Why does my recent volume column sometimes show zero at a price that clearly traded?

The column has likely reset. Check the reset condition in the DOM column settings. A short interval or a reset triggered by price moving away will clear values quickly.

Do bid size and ask size need tick by tick data?

No. They rely on market depth data from your feed. Tick by tick storage matters more for traded volume columns and footprint charts that split volume by bid and ask.

Can I see depth during a replay?

Only if market depth data was recorded and is available for that period. Without stored depth, replay shows trades but leaves depth columns empty or incomplete.

Is the DOM volume the same number I see on a footprint chart?

It should match when both cover the same period and use the same data, since both count executed trades. Differences usually come from different time windows, resets or data resolution.