The following document was originally drafted for an exclusive, closed-door quantitative trading group (SWMG). We did not sanitize these charts for this public release. They are raw, unedited internal notes. Apply this data ruthlessly.
Operator's Note (2026 Update)
The visual data feeds in this archive were originally captured using Exocharts. It is a solid, legacy platform. However, the landscape has shifted. For operators looking to execute these exact same CVD and footprint setups today, our desk heavily recommends Market Monkey ($69/mo). They offer identical or superior visual clarity without the legacy friction.
In orderflow, charts show the volumes traded on bid and ask, and not just price. Therefore, instead of just seeing the prices at which trades occurred, you’ll also see the volume of trades both on the buy and sell side.
Since it relies on current data, the advantage of orderflow analysis is that it provides valuable insight into market conditions and psychology. It also provides the aid for the confirmation for tops and bottoms, helps you see where supply and demand have changed, and more.
Orderflow allows traders to see how the market is changing in real-time, with the provided statistical information previously mentioned. Therefore, it allows you to make immediate informed decisions.
With orderflow, you can see clearly where buyers and sellers are entering the market. An orderflow chart allows you to determine the strength of the buyers and sellers, to see weak lows and highs, and more. Essentially, it lets you make far more informed decisions.
It also allows you to see what is happening in the market right at that moment, allowing you to make the most of trading opportunities as they appear.
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Hint: From my personal experience, with the current market conditions, orderflow might give you an advantage on the LTF (Micro) but can totally distract you on the HTF (Macro).
Delta
As mentioned in Liquidity, there are two primary types of orders:
Market order (Aggressive)
Limit order (Passive)
Market orders are the only orders that move the market.
Delta is the sum of market orders.
Equation behind delta is:
Delta = aggressive buys - aggressive sells
Positive delta means aggressive buyers
Negative delta means aggressive sellers
Max & Min Delta
Max and Min Delta are the maximum and minimum values delta reached within a candle.
Visual 2D representation of how Delta fluctuates providing these values:
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Hint: Delta discrepancy (between final Delta and Max/Min Delta) can help you spot trapped traders.
Cumulative Volume Delta
CVD is a tool that measures the difference between the volume initiated by buyers and sellers over a specified period, typically within a trading session or a visible range.
CVD adds up these differences over time, providing traders with insight into whether buyers or sellers are more active and how that activity might affect price movements. Positive CVD values indicate more buying pressure, while negative values suggest more selling pressure.
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Delta indicator by itself does not mean anything, it is important that trader always overlays the action of delta into the context of price. Taking it out of context will provide trader just deceptive information.
CVD concepts:
Absorption
Absorption is the most frequent pattern given by CVD, since it’s the most common way for market to distribute the orderflow. The basic premise of absorption is that one side of market keeps re-freshing with new limit orders and the counter orderflow is spending a lot of fuel eating into those orders, but eventually chances are that initiator will fail as the market sentiment shifts.
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When it comes to absorption it is very important that trader is always comparing / weighting the price moves and delta moves over time. Current 5 minutes of delta / price action relative to past 30 min, past 30 minutes relative to past 60 minutes, always weight the context. Because if context is not weighted properly eventually trader will see fictional story trough delta indicator.
Soaking
Soaking is stronger pattern than absorption. It is usually not general market that is causing it, but instead single hidden large trader with limit order absorbing large portion of counter-orderflow around very specific price area, often very tight price area. Strong soaking is usually very visible on CVD by huge disconnect with price (for example CVD dropping very strong but price is completely flat). General difference between overall market absorption and soak is that, absorption is often caused by many sellers stacking limit orders around key levels, while soaking is single hidden trader that is swallowing orders because he does not want other traders to front-run him.
Stuff
Stuffed moves are usually around very strong obvious resistance or support levels where many traders will initiate breakout entry. Very often around DHigh/DLow levels.
Once breakout is in progress the buyers will start pressing with ask aggression which will be shown on CVD, but the breakout has very little progress. Buyers kept pressing but price has barely moved. This is often due to large seller (hidden often) that is unloading large sell position right around there.
Once the buyers exhaust chances are that strong selloff will initiate as all the buyers realize that now many traders (longs) are stuck around the same price and were unable to push the price up. The key to look on CVD is how much exactly has CVD moved at key breakout location relative to overall action inside whole structure, there should be very notable difference.
And vice versa can be used (but flipped around) for breakdown that is stuffed.
Spot vs Perps
They are both calculated with the exact same formula but they behave differently.
More specifically, Spot CVD:
usually is used to observe accumulation and distribution,
tends to be more useful on the HTF (macro),
isn’t aggressive and sometimes can lead price.
While, Perps CVD:
usually is used to observe absorption and weakness,
tends to be more useful on the LTF (micro),
is too aggressive and overreacts to price’s fluctuations.
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It’s easier to understand the difference between those CVDs’ behaviors by, firstly, understanding the difference between those markets (Spot and Perps).
Spot is used mostly for long term investment while perps are used mostly for scalping/day trading and its leverage.
Good divergences between price, spot cvd and perp cvd:
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Hint: Since different exchanges have different MPs, CVD works better if used aggregated. For e.g. if you are using only ByBit’s CVD and there is a whale absorbing buyers on Binance, you won’t be able to see this action.
Operator's Tip: If you need to visualize Spot vs. Perp CVD divergences like this without lag, the Market Monkey data engine handles it natively.
VP shows how much volume has been traded at each price level. VP supplements Market profile, though both data price-time and price-volume are essential, and synergies decision making.
It’s the most common way to display an auction with volume and price.
Typically, A VP consists of:
Point Of Control
POC (or vPOC) is the level with the most traded volume.
Naked POC (or nPOC) untested POCs.
Value Area
VA is the area/zone with the highest traded volume.
VAH: Value Area High
VAL: Value Area Low
High Volume Nodes
HVN are areas where price found acceptance in the past and price can react from in the future.
Low Volume Nodes
LVN are areas where price pierced through with ease in the past, leaving illiquid levels.
