Delta

What was bought at market minus what was sold, candle by candle, with its signals.

6 min read

What it measures

A candle’s delta is what was bought at market minus what was sold at market in it. Positive, in ice, if aggressive buyers were in control; negative, in pink, if sellers were. Volume traded without a known aggressor isn’t counted.

The Delta indicator draws it in its own strip below the candles, Per candle (the default) or Cumulative over the session, and marks four signals on it.

1-minute ES candlestick chart with the Delta as a ice and pink histogram below price — The default Delta below a 1-minute ES chart: one bar per candle, ice if delta is positive and pink if it’s negative.

How it’s drawn

There are eight modes: Histogram (the default), Candles, Bars, High low, Line, Area, Step and Dots.

Candles and bars: each delta candle opens at zero, or where the previous one closed if you draw the cumulative value, and closes at its delta.
The wick: with Bid-ask it runs from what was sold to what was bought in the candle; with Ticks it’s the actual path of delta within the candle, trade by trade; with None, there’s no wick.
High low: the size of the delta, without its sign, from zero.
Numbers: optionally, each candle’s value written above or below it.

The signals

They’re marked with dots in the strip and, optionally, by tinting the price candle. The first two are on by default.

Divergence: price makes a higher high but the session’s cumulative delta doesn’t follow (bearish), or a lower low and cumulative delta holds up (bullish). A pivot is confirmed once it has 3 candles on each side, so live it appears 3 candles later.
Absorption: a candle with a delta of at least 2 times the average, but with a small range (at most 0.7 times the average) and closing against its delta. Heavy aggressive buying that doesn’t lift price is selling absorption, and vice versa.
Trapped (off by default): a candle that closes up with negative delta, or down with positive delta. Whoever was aggressive is stuck on the wrong side.
Extreme (off by default): a delta of at least 3 times the average.

The average delta and the average range are those of the candles before each one, starting from the first one loaded, and the first 20 candles aren’t evaluated. That way, a signal that has already appeared doesn’t change later.

Built-in strategies

What the indicator already has inside and can mark for you on the chart. They show what has happened; they are not recommendations.

Divergence

On by default

What it marks: Dots in the strip when price makes a higher high and the session’s cumulative delta doesn’t follow (bearish), or a lower low and cumulative delta holds up (bullish). Optionally, it tints the price candle.
Alert: No alert: it shows on the chart.
Turned on with: «Detect divergences», in Divergence.

Absorption

On by default

What it marks: Dots in the strip when a candle has a large delta, a small range and closes against its delta. Optionally, it tints the price candle.
Alert: No alert: it shows on the chart.
Turned on with: «Detect absorption», in Absorption.

Trapped delta

Off by default

What it marks: Dots in the strip when the candle closes up with negative delta, or down with positive delta. Optionally, it tints the price candle.
Alert: No alert: it shows on the chart.
Turned on with: «Detect trapped delta», in Trapped.

Extreme delta

Off by default

What it marks: Dots in the strip when the candle’s delta is at least 3 times the average.
Alert: No alert: it shows on the chart.
Turned on with: «Mark extreme delta», in Extremes.

Adding it to the chart

In the chart bar, Indicators ▾ › More Indicators…. You’ll find it in the Volume / Order Flow category. It’s drawn in its own strip, below the candles. How to adjust a strip is in Indicators.

Settings

Open them by double-clicking its strip, or with the ⚙ on its row in Indicators ▾. Each section collapses and expands on its own.

Setting	Default	What it does
Display
What is drawn	Per candle	Per candle or Cumulative over the session.
Drawing mode	Histogram	Histogram, Candles, Bars, High low, Line, Area, Step or Dots.
Extremes (wick)	Bid-ask	Bid-ask, Ticks or None. Only for candles and bars.
Positive · negative delta color	Ice · Pink	The fills, bodies, dots and numbers.
Wick color	Black	The wick color for candles and bars.
Width	1 px	From 0.5 to 10 px.
Zero line · Zero line color (0 = automatic)	Yes · Automatic	Automatic is dark on a light background and light on a dark background.
Value on the axis	Yes	The value, on the right edge of the strip.
Strip height	92 px	From 40 to 400 px.
Divergence
Detect divergences	Yes	Turns the signal on.
Candles on each side of the turn	3	From 1 to 20.
Bullish · bearish divergence color	Ice · Pink	The colors of the marks.
Mark with dots · Paint the price candle	Yes · No	Where it’s marked.
Absorption
Detect absorption	Yes	Turns the signal on.
Times the average delta	2×	From 0.5 to 10×.
Maximum range (times the average)	0.7×	From 0.05 to 3×.
Buying · selling absorption color	Blue · Orange	The colors of the marks.
Mark with dots · Paint the price candle	Yes · No	Where it’s marked.
Trapped
Detect trapped delta	No	Turns the signal on.
Trapped buyer color · trapped seller color	Pink · Ice	The colors of the marks.
Paint the price candle	No	Tints the candle.
Extremes
Mark extreme delta	No	Turns the mark on.
Times the average delta	3×	From 1 to 10×.
Color	Yellow	The color of the mark.
Numbers
Show the number · Where	No · Above	Above or Below.
Color (0 = same as the delta) · Size (0 = the delta’s · size)	The delta’s · 9 px	From 6 to 24 px.
Grid
Draw grid · Color (0 = automatic) · Divisions	No · Automatic · 4	Reference lines, from 2 to 10 divisions.
Neural
Glow (Neural theme)	Yes, when added	A halo of light in the color of each line or mark, like the one on the Neural theme candles. A newly added indicator comes with it checked; the ones you already had saved don’t.
Glow intensity (%)	60%	From 0 to 100%.

Settings belong to each chart: changing the Delta on one chart doesn’t change it on another.

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