[notouch]

The tape can be misleading at times. There may be big institional offers sitting at a resistance level but on the tape all you would see is the offers being hit which would look bullish. Also a lot of traders take profit using a limit order. The most common order is probably a bracket order with a stop on one side and limit on the other to take profit. It's difficult to tell from the tape what is covering/liquidation and what is new orders. The way I see it, when the offers are being hit it just means the buyers are more aggressive - more desperate to get the order in because they're scared the price will run away from them. When the bids are being hit the sellers are more aggressive. What you're looking for is aggressive sellers at a resistance level or aggressive buyers at a support level.