Table of contents

Zero Prints

Zero prints occur when there is no volume at the bid on the low of the bar, or when there is no volume at the ask at the high of the bar

RULES

- no (0) volume at the bid at the low of the candle
- no (0) volume at the ask at the high of the candle

On the right we see an example of a bar which has no volume at the bid at the low of the bar which is a bullish sign 

Thin Prints

Thin prints occur in the candle when there is aggresive selling / buying with almost no counter-trading .  With the thin print feature you can highlight the price levels where there is almost no counter trading  


RULES

- a bar (red or green) which has one or more low volume price levels on the bid and/ or ask

On the left you can see 2 bars. The first (green) bar has multiple thin prints on the bid colored in green, the 2nd (red) bar has a single thin print on the ask which is colored red since its a bearish sign

The default max volume for thin prints is set to 1. This means that any volume of 0 OR 1 on either the bid or ask will be highlighted 

You can change this max volume setting in the indicator settings to any value you like

Exhaustion prints

Exhaustion prints indicate weakness. In an up trend we would like to see a good amount of contracts traded at the high, while in a downtrend we would like to see a good amount of contracts traded at the low. If this is not the case and we see only a small amount of volume at the high in an uptrend, or at the low in a downtrend then this indicates weakness or exhaustion. The trend might come to an end or go into a consilidation area 

RULES:
Bearish exhaustion prints:
- red candle with (almost) no volume at the ask at the high of the bar

Bullish exhaustion prints:
- green candle with (almost) no volume at the bid at the low of the bar

On the right we see price going sideways at a high printing several bars with bearish exhaustion prints. Then price suddenly drops
At the bottom again we see bearish exhaustion prints occur and 1 bar later the market reverses up again

By default the threshold for the exhaustion print is set to 10. So any cell at the high or low with a volume less of 10 will be marked as an exhaustion print.

Ofcourse you can customize the threshold, colors and you can even extend the threshold into the nex bars or until broken if you would like

Volume sequencing

Volume sequencing occurs when we have multiple price levels with increasing volume. When we see this we know the big guys are aggresively buying this market up (or selling it down) 

Bullish volume sequencing is colored with a blue background and bearish volume sequencing with a magenta background. Ofcourse you can change these colors as you wish

RULES:
Bullish volume sequencing
-  5 or more price levels with increasing volume on the ask

Bearish volume sequencing
-  5 or more price levels with increasing volume on the bid


On the left we see a footprint chart in which 3 bars contain volume sequencing. A clear indication the trend is up
If we take at the first bar then we can see buyers pushed the market up from the low and bought it up with increasing volume (0, 17, 165, 181 ,573). Each price level has an increasing volume

volume sequencing can also be extended tot the right for a fixed number or bars, until broken , or until tested

Sweeps

Sweeps occur when aggresive buyers or sellers enter the market and aggresively start pushing price higher (or lower). These actions often leave small volume nodes behind which we can recognize with the sweeps

On the right we see a sweep through the bar with 4,0,0,0 volume at the ask

sweeps  can also be extended tot the right for a fixed number or bars, until broken , or until tested

Unfinished business

An unfinished auction occurs when the high (or low) has both buy and sell volume. The presence of bid trades at the high (or ask trades at the low) of a bar could mean that  movement has not yet been exhausted and there is a probability that price will return to that level soon to complete the process.

RULES:
- New high with numbers at bid AND ask at high of the bar

- New low with numbers at the bid AND ask at the low of the bar

Fading momentum

The fading momentum signal indicators that a trend or swing is weakening and likely to reverse or go into a consolidation phase

RULES:

Bearish:
-3 bars with positive delta , were the delta of each bar is lower then the previous bar

Bullish:
-3 bars with negative delta were the delta of each bar is higher then the previous bar



In the example on the right we can see 3 bars with negative delta going from -131 -> -52 -> -29. Clearly sellers are drying up and momentum is fading. When that happens we see the Fading momentum marker being drawn on the 3rd bar and the horizontal stripe being drawn by the indicator. After that  bar the market rips higher.

Stopping Volume

Stopping volume occurs when a trend is exhausted and hits a brick wall of traders who are stopping the trend and pushing price in the other direction. We can detect this if the POC (and thus the most volume) is traded at the edge of the candle and the volume traded at the bid or ask is higher then the previous 10 candles


RULES:
- Green bar with POC near the low of the candle
- there is more volume traded at the bid at the lowest 2 price levels in the current candle then there was traded at the bid at lowest 2 price in the last X candles

- Red bar with the POC near the high of the candle
 - there is more volume traded at the ask at the highest 2 price levels in the current candle then there was traded at the ask at highest 2 price in the last X candles

Bar statistics

The indicator can display bar statistics above and below each candle. In the indicator settings, you can define what should be displayed in each row above and below the candle. You can show up to 4 different rows above the candle and 4 different rows below the candle

Bar Markers

The footprint indicator can show markers for each footprint signal above/below each bar. Bullish signals will be shown beneath the candle and Bearish signals will be shown above the candle

Define your own dynamic color rules using c#

The indicator allows you to use C# script to define color coding rules. With these c# scripts you can create advanced rules which determine what forground and background color an item should have based on the rules you define.

You can define custom rules for:
- Bar statistics
- Vertical stripe
- Footprint summary table cells

For example lets say you want the volume displayed in the bar statistics to be the color Cyan when the volume is more then 10.000
You can do this using the following rule

if (Volume >= 10000) TextColor= "Cyan";

This simple rule will set the Text color to Cyan when the bar volume is equal or above 10.000

Let take it a bit further
 if (Volume >= 10000)  { TextColor= "Cyan"; BackgroundColor="White"; Opacity=30 }

This rule will still set the text color to cyan, but now it also sets the background color to a 30% white (which is more or less greyish)

Since the rules are just c# you can also use things like if, then, else, loops, Math.xxx() functions e.g.
if (Delta >= 1000) TextColor= "Cyan"; else if (Delta >= 0) TextColor = "ForestGreen"; else TextColor = "DarkRed";

This  will set the Text color to cyan when Delta is equal or above 1000
If its below 1000 then it will set the textcolor to ForestGreen when the delta is above 0 and DarkRed when the dela is below 0

You have access to the complete c# language and the following variables

Properties of the current (forming) footprint bar

Volume    - the total bar volume value
Delta        - the bar delta value
MinDelta  - the bar min delta value
MaxDelta - the bar max delta  value
DeltaPercentage - the bar delta / volume% value
COTHigh - the bar COT High value
COTLow - the bar COT Low value
Open - the bar's open price
Close - the bar's close price
High - the bar high price
Low - the bar low price
CumulativeDelta - the cumulative delta value for the bar
CumulativeVolume - the cumulative volume for the bar
POC - the bar POC price
ValueAreaHigh - the bar Value Area High price
ValueAreaLow - the bar Value Area Low price
TotalAsks - the bar total ask volume
TotalBids - the bar total bid volume
Trades - the number of trades executed in the bar
IsGreenBar - true if the bar is a green candle, false otherwise
IsRedBar - true if the bar is a red candle, false otherwise
DeltaChange - the change in delta between the current and previous bar
DeltaChangePercentage - the change in delta  between the current and previous bar expressed in %
DeltaRate - the rate of the delta
VolumePerSecond - volume / second
DeltaStandardDeviation - The standard deviation of the bars/ delta 
VolumeStandardDeviation- The standard deviation of the bar's volume
TradesStandardDeviation- The standard deviation of the bar's number of trdes

SellImbalances - List<double> Contains the prices in this bar where a sell imbalance occured 
BuyImbalances - List<double> Contains the prices in this bar where a buy imbalance occured
StackedSellImbalances- List<double> Contains the prices in this bar where a stacked sell imbalance occured
StackedBuyImbalances- List<double> Contains the prices in this bar where a stacked  buy imbalance 
Bids - Dictionary<double,double > Contains the volume traded at each price level on the bid of the current bar
Asks - Dictionary<double,double > Contains the volume traded at each price level on the ask of the current bar
TradesBids - Dictionary<double,double > Contains the number of trades at each price level on the bid of the current bar
TradesAsk - Dictionary<double,double > Contains number of trades traded at each price level on the ask of the current bar 


Other properties available:

Bars - List<FootPrintBar> - Array which contains all the footprint bars
CurrentBar - the current footprint bar number
Opacity  - background color opacity (0-255)
BackgroundColor - name of the background color
TextColor - name for the text color

Footprint summary table

The indicator can show a footprint summary table which shows all the important metrics for each candle
You can fully customize the look & feel of the table and which rows gets shown there

Customize what to show

The footprint table can show up to 10 rows. In the indicator settings you can fully customize what to show in each row

Note that you dont have to show all 10 rows. If you only like to to show 3 rows then you can simply disable the other 7 rows by setting it to none

Dynamic cell highlighting

As we shown above in the dynamic color rules using c# section you can define custom rules when a cell should be highlighted and what colors it should be shown

Custom cell highlighting rule examples

Here you will find some examples of how to use custom color rules to customize the footprint summary table to your own taste.
The examples below show the coding expression which you can fill in the indicator settings under footprint and then the correct custom color

Highlight Small MinDelta
This example will highlight the Min Delta with a white background color if its value is below 10
MinDelta custom color:
if (Math.Abs(MinDelta) < 10) BackgroundColor="White";

Highlight Small MaxDelta
This example will highlight the Max Delta with a white background color if its value is below 10
MaxDelta custom color:
if (Math.Abs(MaxDelta) < 10) BackgroundColor="White";

Highlight Delta Closing at MinDelta
This example will highlight the Min Delta with a Magenta background color if delta closes within 95% of the MinDelta
MinDelta custom color:
if (Delta < 0 && Math.Abs(Delta/MinDelta) >= 0.95) BackgroundColor="Magenta";

Highlight Delta Closing at MaxDelta
This example will highlight the Max Delta with a DodgerBlue background color if delta closes within 95% of the MaxDelta
MaxDelta custom color:
if (Delta > 0 && Math.Abs(Delta/MaxDelta) >= 0.95) BackgroundColor="DodgerBlue";

Highlight Extreme delta
This example will highlight the Delta with a cyan background color if delta is more then 1000, and Magenta if delta is less then -1000
Delta custom color:
if (Delta>1000) BackgroundColor="Cyan";
else if (Delta < -1000) BackgroundColor="Magenta";

Highlight High Delta Percentage
This example will highlight the DeltaPercentage with a cyan background color if delta percentage > 25%
DeltaPercentage custom color:
if (DeltaPercentage > 25) BackgroundColor="Cyan";

Highlight High Volume
This example will highlight the volume with a cyan background color if volume > 10000
Volume custom color:
if (Volume > 10000) BackgroundColor="Cyan";

Highlight Ratio colors
This example will show a green text color if the Ratio is < 1 and its a green bar, or a red text color if the Ratio is > 28 with a red bar
Ratio custom color:
if (IsGreenBar && Ratio < 1) TextColor="Lime";
else if (IsRedBar && Ratio > 28 ) TextColor="Red";

Delta Imbalances

The footprint order flow indicator can show
- normal imbalances
- multiple imbalances
-2nd slot imbalances
- oversized imbalances
- big imbalances
- stacked imbalances
- inverse imbalances
- reversal imbalances

Delta Signals

The footprint order flow indicator can show several delta signals like
- Above / below POC signal
- Delta Rise
- Delta Drop
- Delta Tail
- Delta Reversal
- Delta Divergence
-Delta flip
- Delta Trap
- Delta Continous POC
- Delta Sweep
- Trapped Traders

Delta Reversal signal (R)

The Delta Reversal signal gets plotted when a bar has an above-average max and min delta. It is plotted with the letter 'R' and a light salmon vertical stripe

RULES
- The bar has above-average max and min delta

EXAMPLE
On the right we see that the second bar has a high max and high min delta, and prices reverse.

Delta Drop signal (O)

The delta drop signal is a 4-bar signal and is indicated with the letter 'O' and/or a red vertical stripe. The signal happens when there is a sudden decrease in the delta and when the delta is getting weaker and weaker . This is often a tell that the current trend might be ending and we will go into a consolidation or reversal.

RULES:
-4 consecutive bars with decreasing delta

EXAMPLE:
Here you can see an example of a delta surge signal. The first bar has a delta of 596, then in the next bars we see the delta decrease to 13, -109 , -130 So in 4 bars, we went from +596 to -130 where each bar is getting a lower delta. When that happens the delta drop signal will be plotted 

Delta trap signal(A)

The delta trap signal is a 3-bar signal.. It tries to identify trapped traders in a strong up/down trend

RULES:

In a downtrend
- a green bar with strong positive delta
- followed by 2 red bars with negative delta which together cancel out the positive delta from the green candle
-  last red bar has a value area gap down

In an uptrend:
 - red bar with strong negative delta
- followed by 2 green bars with positive delta which together cancel out the negative delta from the red candle
- last green bar has a value area gap up


EXAMPLE:
Here you can see an example of a uptrend.. When price pulls back some traders went short thinking the the trend switched bearish. Immediately after we see strong buying coming in again with the Delta Trap signal

Delta Continuous POC signal(C)

Uses a continuous POC as a possible trend continuation signal

RULES:

In a downtrend
- a green bar 
- followed by a red bar which has the same POC price as the previous bar and negative delta
- followed by a red bar with negative delta and a value area gap
At least one of the 2 red bars needs to have strong negative delta


In an uptrend:
 -a red bar
- followed by a green bar which has the same POC price as the previous bar and positive delta
- followed by a green bar with positive delta and a value area gap up
At least one of the last 2 green bars should have strong positive delta


EXAMPLE:
Here you can see an example where price printed a delta continuous POC signal. You can clearly see th continuous POC as its highlighted by the horizontal yellow rectangle. Immediately after this we see another green candle which has strong positive delta. The close of that bar confirms the signal to go long

Delta Sweep signal(W)

Indicates when a big trader enters the market to push the market forward

RULES:

For shorts
- a red bar which contains a market sweep and has strong negative delta 

For longs:
- a green bar which contains a market sweep and has strong positive delta

EXAMPLE:
In the example we see market making a bottom and then a green candle gets formed with strong 1220 positive delta and a market sweep. The Delta sweep signal gets highlighted here in the background by a purple vertical stripe. You can customize the colors 

Trapped Traders Signal (P)

The concept of "trapped traders" refers to those market participants who find themselves in unfavorable positions due to incorrect predictions about market movements. For instance, consider the situation on the left where a significant amount of selling activity occurs at the lowest point of a price bar, but subsequently, the bar closes green. In this case, the traders who sold at the lowest point are considered "trapped" in a short position, as the market is moving against their expectations.

 To mitigate their losses, these trapped traders will need to close their short positions by placing buy orders.

 This influx of buy orders can contribute to the existing upward momentum in the market, further intensifying the price increase. In summary, trapped traders are market participants who, due to their incorrect predictions, inadvertently contribute to the continuation of a price trend in the opposite direction of their initial positions.

RULES:

- A green bar in which most volume was traded in the bottom part of the candle
- A red bar in which most volume was traded at the top of the candle


EXAMPLE:
Here you can see an example where some traders got trapped into a short.  (Green bar with most volume traded at the bottom)

Delta Slingshot signal(I)

Indicates a possible trend reversal when selling volume gets overrun by buying volume and market closing higher

RULES:

For longs
- a red bar with extreme negative delta
- followed by a green bar which closes above the red bar with positive extreme delta

For shorts:
- a green bar with extreme positive delta
- followed by a red bar which closes below the green bar with negative extreme delta

EXAMPLE:
In the example we see a red bar with -1321 delta 
Then after a consilidation bar the next bar closes above the red bar with with +1669 delt

Delta Signal Vertical Stripes

As shown before you can have multiple ways to show the delta signals. You can show them as bar markers, you can show them in the footprint summary table , but we also give you the option to show a vertical stripe when a delta signal occurs.

The vertical stripes are very easy to recognize and make sure you never miss any delta signal.

Also note that you can define your own dynamic rule in c# to determine when a vertical stripe is shown.
Scroll up to read more about the dynamic color rules using c# 

Alerts

The footprint indicator is equipped with a highly adaptable alert system. It allows you to activate as many as 10 alerts and select the corresponding signal for each alert. For instance, you can configure alert #1 to trigger when an exhaustion print emerges, while alert #2 can be set to activate when a delta trap is detected. The choice is yours.
Additionally, each alert can have its unique sound, and you can easily enable everything from the indicator settings.

Easy access menu

We added a quick and easy dropdown menu which allows you to quickly turn things on or off.
No more going back into the indicator settings, changing a single setting and then waiting for the chart to re-load. 
Just simply select what you want to show or hide and the chart will update instantly

For traders, by traders

We are just like you. We like trading the markets every day.
And every day, the market teaches us something new.  Besides this, we also get a lot of feedback from our customers. We take all this information and ideas to further continue to develop our indicators. And if you bought it before.. then ALL future updates will be free. How's that for a change ?