Updated · first published
What is Iceberg Detector?
An iceberg order is a large order a player doesn't want to show: it's displayed in small slices that reload on each fill, to hide its true size. To the naked eye you only see a small order that 'refuses to disappear.'
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How do you spot an iceberg order?
An iceberg is a large order sliced into small pieces: the book shows 20 lots, yet 500 trade at that price without the level giving way. In MBO you see the slice refill after each execution. DeepDom isolates that behavior automatically.
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What DeepCharts does better
The Iceberg Detector automatically spots the reload pattern, a slice consumed then re-posted at the same price, again and again, thanks to MBO data that tracks every order. That signature is simply invisible on level-aggregated data: few tools detect it natively, and it's exactly what DeepCharts materializes for you.
Using it day to day
Day to day, run it on your key levels: a flagged iceberg tells you someone is defending that price with far more size than shown. Especially common on institutional futures, FDAX, NQ, ES, Bund, where big players must hide their size.
Example: price hits a NQ level several times where an iceberg is flagged. While it reloads, the level holds and rejects price. Then the reloads stop: the iceberg is exhausted, the blocking liquidity vanishes, and price breaks sharply. The detector showed the defense, and its end.
⚠ The trap to avoid
The trap: believing an iceberg is impassable. It absorbs… until exhausted. Fading it with no plan for the level breaking ignores that the moment it stops reloading is precisely when price accelerates the other way.
Combine it with
Combine it with the heatmap (for the context of other walls) and footprint/delta (to see the aggression testing it): the iceberg marks the defense, executed flow says whether it holds.
FAQ
What is an iceberg order?+
A large limit order shown in small slices that reload on each fill, to hide its real size. It looks like a small order that refuses to disappear.
How does DeepCharts detect icebergs?+
Through MBO (order-by-order) data: the tool spots the reload pattern of a slice consumed then re-posted at the same price, a signature invisible on level-aggregated data.
Is an iceberg a buy or sell signal?+
Neither by itself: it's an absorption signal, a strong defense of a level. Direction comes from how price reacts: hold then reject, or exhaustion then break.
Are icebergs legal?+
Yes. Unlike spoofing (fake orders pulled before execution), an iceberg is a real order that executes: it's simply split to hide its size. It's a legal, common practice.
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