Updated · first published
What is Imbalance Tracker?
An imbalance appears when aggressive volume on one side vastly outweighs the opposite side at the adjacent price: typically a 3-to-1 ratio or more, diagonally. It signals one side taking control with force; stacked, they form a 'stacked imbalance,' a continuation signal.
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What DeepCharts does better
The Imbalance Tracker spots and highlights these automatically, on MBO data that cleanly separates bid and ask. Beyond the classic diagonal calculation, it also offers (v15.6) horizontal modes, horizontal imbalance and horizontal delta percentage, to measure the imbalance differently to suit your style, which few tools provide.
Using it day to day
Day to day, let it highlight the zones: stacked buy imbalances below price form a continuation floor. Use those zones as entry references (on a retest) or invalidation (if price cuts through without reacting). Very readable in trends on the CME indices and the FDAX.
Example: after a bullish break on the FDAX, three buy imbalances stack just below the breakout point. Price returns to test them, respects them, and moves off: the imbalance zone served as an entry springboard with a clear stop just below.
⚠ The trap to avoid
The trap: treating each isolated imbalance as a signal. A single one in the noise is worthless; it's stacked imbalances, at a place that makes sense (extreme, break, retest), that carry the information. Context is everything.
Combine it with
Combine it with the footprint (of which it's a reading), delta (the overall effort) and Fair Value Gaps: imbalances and FVGs often overlap to mark zones worth defending.
FAQ
What is an imbalance in order flow?+
A lopsidedness where aggressive volume on one side overwhelms the opposite side at the adjacent price (often 3:1 or more, diagonally). It marks a clear takeover by one side.
What is a stacked imbalance?+
Several same-side imbalances at consecutive prices. It's a far more reliable continuation signal than an isolated imbalance, and a zone price tends to respect on a retest.
What are the v15.6 horizontal modes?+
Two new calculation modes, horizontal imbalance and horizontal delta percentage, that measure the imbalance differently from the classic diagonal calculation, your choice by style.
Imbalance vs absorption: are they the same?+
No, they're opposite reads. An imbalance shows aggression that dominates (price moves its way); absorption shows aggression that gets soaked up (price doesn't move despite the volume).
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