Market-Maker
Volume Spread Analysis glossary · Effort vs Result & Spread/Close Analysis
Definition
An exchange-appointed intermediary (variously called a specialist, market-maker, or designated market maker depending on the venue) whose legal obligation is to maintain a continuous two-sided quote in the securities assigned to them. Market-makers enjoy two structural advantages over ordinary traders: order-book visibility (they can see resting buy, sell, and stop orders at every price level) and proprietary trading rights (they trade their own capital alongside facilitating customer orders). In VSA, every bar of spread, volume, and close position is read as a footprint of the market-maker's directional sentiment on that day's order flow.
Market-Maker in plain English
A market-maker is like the official ticket booth at a busy concert: they're required to always be ready to both buy from you and sell to you, so trading never freezes up. That job gives them two huge edges over you and me. First, they see the whole order book, meaning every waiting buy order, sell order, and "get me out" stop order sitting at each price, like a booth that can read everyone's mind about what they'll pay. Second, they can trade their own money for profit while doing this job. VSA reads each day's bar as a trail of clues about which way this insider is leaning.
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