RE: Question??I had sold for years without the level 2 quotes, and I would say to most its not worth what it costs, unless your into a lot of stocks that you trade. So if you buy a stock and have done your DD, and so plan on keeping it for some time, then level 2 quotes will not make that much difference for you. Without the level 2 You can still know where a stock is trading at the end of the day by looking at the high's and lows, and you can get that at the end of the day, without paying the cost of level 2. So in your case, as you work during the day, I would answer that it may not be practical for you.
Now if your into a lot of shares of many stocks, and you trade during the day, it does pay off. For example, If you have 100,000 shares, and the stock is thinly traded, then knowing what is behind the top bid and ask is sometimes usefull, if your wanting to buy or sell.
So level 2 does give a guide to your selling and buying, but remember even that trend can change on a moments notice, so sometimes even level 2 quotes won't help. In my case I try and have a basket of over 30 stocks in the high risk juniors, that I buy and sell, so I do use it every single day.
So in this case I have shares in UNB at .15 cents, and on my DD, I thought it would be down right dumb to sell out at near where I bought them, on the fire sale that just went down. The level 2 said it was going down like a rock with more sellers than buyers, after the news If I had sold out too, I would have just added to the problem of saying there is a fire, when I really don't think there was one. Sometimes management makes a mistake, but if you have done your DD, and think the property still has more merit after a fire sale, then you hang on, or sometimes you add some more when those who think the stock is dead sell out. So in this case, the level 2 only said what the news already was saying, and those who could not read between the lines were jumping ship. In the end there is always the risks you have to consider, on every stock, and like I said if your working like you said you are in the day, I think it would not be a good use of your money.
As always JIMHO