The Order Flow & Heatmap glossary
The key concepts explained simply, with animated visualizations. The basics to read the flow like a pro.
Heatmap
A map of liquidity: resting buy/sell orders colored by size. You see where large volume hides before it acts.
Learn more →Absorption
When large orders soak up aggressive flow without letting price move. Often a sign of exhaustion and an imminent reversal.
Learn more →Delta
The difference between buying volume (at the ask) and selling volume (at the bid). Cumulative delta reveals which side truly dominates.
Learn more →POC (Point of Control)
The price level where the most volume traded. It acts as a magnet and a value reference for the session.
Learn more →Iceberg order
A large order split up: only a small part is visible and refills on each fill. The real size stays hidden.
Learn more →Spoofing
Fake large orders shown then pulled to mislead the market. Spottable when liquidity “vanishes” as soon as price gets close.
Learn more →Footprint
The bar-by-bar detail of volume traded on the buy and sell side at each price.
Learn more →VWAP
The volume-weighted average price: the 'fair value' reference institutions follow.
Learn more →Stop run
A quick sweep of an obvious level to trigger stops, just before a reversal.
Learn more →Imbalance
A marked excess of aggression on one side at a level, visible on the footprint.
Learn more →Order Flow
Analyzing real order flow — who buys, who sells, at what price and size — instead of lagging indicators.
Learn more →DOM (order book)
Depth of Market: the real-time list of resting buy and sell orders at each price, level by level.
Learn more →CVD (Cumulative Volume Delta)
The running sum of delta (aggressive buys minus sells) across the session.
Learn more →Volume Profile
A horizontal histogram of volume traded at each price over a period — it reveals value areas and gaps.
Learn more →Value Area (VAH / VAL)
The price range where ~70% of volume traded: bounded by the VAH (high) and VAL (low).
Learn more →Liquidity
The order volume available to trade at a given price. Large players seek liquidity to enter without slipping the price.
Learn more →Tape Reading (Time & Sales)
Reading the stream of executed trades one by one — size, price, side — to feel the market's pace and aggression.
Learn more →Exhaustion
When one side's aggression fades despite heavy volume — often the end of a move.
Learn more →Volume Node (HVN / LVN)
A peak (HVN) or trough (LVN) of volume on the profile: HVNs attract price, LVNs get crossed fast.
Learn more →Open Interest
The total number of open (unclosed) futures contracts. Its change reveals whether a move is backed by fresh money.
Learn more →Drawdown
The maximum loss allowed on a prop-firm account before failure. The most important rule to understand before buying an evaluation.
Learn more →Trailing Drawdown
A drawdown that follows your equity high: the more you make, the higher the failure threshold rises.
Learn more →Profit Split
The share of profits you keep once funded — often 80% to 100% on the trader's side.
Learn more →Payout
The actual disbursement of your profits by the prop firm. Its frequency and reliability matter as much as the split.
Learn more →Funded Account
A trading account whose capital is provided by a prop firm, earned after passing its evaluation.
Learn more →Evaluation (challenge)
A prop firm's paid test: hit a profit target without breaking the rules to earn a funded account.
Learn more →DeepCharts
An Order Flow and heatmap analysis software (third-party, deepcharts.com) we use daily to read liquidity.
Learn more →DeepDom
A fast, visual order book (DOM), third-party software, to read market depth and aggression in real time.
Learn more →FDAX
The DAX 40 futures contract, listed on Eurex. Big tick value (€25 per point), deep book: an ideal order-flow playground — that very few prop firms offer.
Learn more →Eurex
Europe's major derivatives exchange (Deutsche Börse group), home of the FDAX, Euro Stoxx 50 and Bund. The prop firm industry's blind spot — nearly all stop at CME.
Learn more →DAX 40
The index of Germany's 40 largest listed companies — Europe's economic barometer, and the underlying of the FDAX.
Learn more →London session
The European morning session (~8am–12pm, Paris): the European open, the FDAX liquidity peak and the first real flow of the day.
Learn more →Want to go further?
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