A trade can be big in dollars and ordinary for its stock. It can also be modest in dollars and the largest that stock has seen since 2016. BigTape shows both views, side by side.
Two numbers for every print
Every print carries two numbers. The first is its size in dollars, such as $412M. The second says how unusual that size is for this ticker, such as #3 since 2016.
You need both. Dollars alone cannot tell you whether a trade stands out. Rank alone hides the scale, because a
Picture two prints of $40 million each. In a giant index ETF, that size might not reach the
Rank looks back to 2016
Rank compares a print with the other trades in the same ticker since 2016, by dollar value. If a ticker's history starts later, rank starts there too. A company that listed in March 2021 shows “history starts Mar 2021”. Only eligible trades count. Canceled trades never count, and a few trade types are left out and shown faded as Excluded.
There are three rank tiers. The #1 Print is the largest single trade since 2016.
Ranks can change. A print that was #7 when it happened can be #8 a month later, because a bigger trade arrived. Its details show both, for example “Was #7 when printed · #8 now”. In replay, ranks appear as they stood at the replay clock.
Rarity looks at the same history
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Rarity uses the same history as rank, so the dollar threshold moves only as the ticker's history grows. A trade can be a Rare Print without coming near the Top 100, and a Rare Print has no rank number. The chart draws the top prints by all-time rank in the part of the chart you're looking at, so Rare Prints show when few larger prints share the view, or when you pick a larger number under Prints.
When a print qualifies for more than one tier, it takes the highest. A trade that is both rare and Top 10 is labeled Top 10.
The size ladder
The size ladder puts both ideas on one scale. It has four rungs, one per tier, each drawn at the size that tier's mark has on the chart. Under each rung is this ticker's dollar threshold.
Rare Print ≥$9M · Top 100 ≥$38M · Top 10 ≥$210M · #1 Print $1.20B
Switch tickers and the rungs stay where they are. Only the dollars change. For a giant ETF the ladder might start in the tens of millions. For a small company it might start near the $50,000 minimum.
This is also how to read the chart. A bigger circle means a rarer trade for that ticker. The dollar figure leads every label, so the size is always there in plain numbers.
When a rank is not available
Ranks need history. If a ticker's history is still loading or incomplete, BigTape shows “Rank unavailable” and draws its prints at one neutral size. It does not guess a rank. The dollar size is still shown, because it comes straight from the report.