Absorption: the wall that takes the hits

Absorption happens when aggressive orders hit a level in size, and passive liquidity takes them all without giving way. Volume is huge, delta is strongly one sided, and yet price barely moves. Someone on the other side accepts everything that is thrown at them. When the aggression runs out, price often leaves in the other direction, carried by those who absorbed and by the trapped aggressors who have to get out.

This is the most important behavior in this course. It brings together everything you have learned: volume (effort without result), delta (strong and ineffective), the footprint (large cells at the same price), the heatmap (a level that holds or reloads) and the bubbles (clusters that crash into the level).