Learning To Read The Footprint Chart
Learning To Read The Footprint Chart
This guide is designed to introduce a structured way of learning how to read a Footprint chart. Its about training your eyes what to look for, and training your mind to understand what it means. The material presented here is not necessarily the only or best approach; so please feel free to modify the suggestions to suit your needs. It is assumed that the reader has at least a basic understanding of what a Footprint chart is and how it is created. If not, then please view the MarketDelta Simplied Video and read the Anatomy of a Footprint Document before proceeding. Upon completion of this document, you should proceed to the MarketDelta Footprint Strategy Manual to continue your education and then consider attending a seminar hosted by MarketDelta to deepen your understanding and get hands on training. More details can be found at the end of this document or at MarketDelta.com/education. This data has traditionally been delivered in tabular form via what is generally called a Time & Sales window. The age-old concept of reading the tape refers to the skill of reading and interpreting the rapidly scrolling lines of the T&S window to gain insight into order ow. Tape reading tends be be mentally exhausting, it is relatively easy to miss something, and for all but a gifted few, the trading patterns hidden in this data can not be directly observed. The Footprint chart can signicantly reduce the challenges of pure tape reading, and even reveal market dynamics and trading behavior not easily recognized in pure tape reading.
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ORDER flOW
If the meaning of the phrase order ow is not clear to you, it should be by the end of this document. Order ow analysis is the missing link for many traders. It refers to how the orders are coming into the market, how they are being lled; whether executing at the offer or on the bid. It is the dual auction at the most micro-level. Assessing order ow in real time can tell the trader how trade is being facilitated in any direction, a key concept in auction market theory. The order ow patterns, as revealed by the Footprint chart, that well be looking at are NOT traditional price patterns. Rather, these are T&S patterns that youve probably never even realized existed. The T&S data simply moves too fast to comprehend, and then in a ash the data has scrolled by, out of site. The Footprint patterns can be classied into three general categories: Intra-Bar Patterns, End of Bar Patterns, Multi-Bar Patterns These patterns rarely, if ever, mean anything in and of themselves. This is where the MarketDelta Footprint diverges radically from traditional price pattern and/or indicator based analysis. No attempt is made to oversimplify or under-simplify. Nor is the Footprint a red light / green light type system. Instead, the insight gleaned from a deep and experienced comprehension of the Footprint, allows the trader to integrate this data along with current market context and sound market logic. For example, auction market theory or any other viable analytic philosophy which affords the trader the ability to assign structure and thus meaning to what he/she observes, combined with the Footprint, will provide decision support of the highest possible quality. The Footprint is not more or less important than either of the other two elements just mentioned; it is equal. In general, Market Prole, support and resistance analysis, trend lines, and other macro-type big picture analysis provides the WHERE TO TRADE. The Footprint excels in showing WHEN TO TRADE because of the way it represents order ow and volume.
Always Keep In Mind A Footprint is essentially a graphical or spreadsheet-like rendition of the most basic and fundamental market generated data which trading activity produces. It is a very natural way to view the data.
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After rst gaining a basic understanding of what a Footprint chart is (which presumably youve already achieved) the next step is to gain some level of observational awareness. Avoid making preconceived conclusions. Avoid deciding, in advance, what something is going to mean. Instead, begin the process with simply learning how to pick out key elements of Footprint structure. Thats what this document is all about. Once you have gained some facility with what the various elements of Footprint structure are, then you can begin coming to conclusions regarding the meaning of the elements in various contexts. Also, you can begin to assemble the elements into patterns. In this way, youll start making your own rules, based on what is real, not what some tradition, some book, or some trading guru has told you; which may or may not be valid information. The Footprint lets you come to your own conclusions, if you learn to see the Footprint in an unbiased fashion.
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The following sections will provide examples of some of the more important order ow patterns which the Footprint exhibits. The patterns can be broken down into three general categories: 1. Intra-bar patterns: those patterns which form within and as a bar builds in real time. 2. End of Bar patterns: those patterns which can only be assessed and analyzed at or after the time which the bar closes. 3. Multi-bar Patterns: which build over a series of bars.
Looking at the nest resolution of how the patterns are built up, leads us to the three considerations below. It is these considerations that form the building blocks (or elements as they will be referred to) upon which the larger patterns are composed, perceived, and analyzed by the trader. As you go through this document, and more so as you begin your learning and discovery process working with actual charts, it is these three pattern types which you can lean on if you become stuck or confused. No matter where you nd yourself in the process, you can ask yourself questions about these three pattern types. Questions about context, about relative and absolute changes between the elements within the pattern, and about how these three elements can create actionable patterns. Here are some of the key elements to watch out for within the three pattern types. 1. Intensity of volume and/or delta in a given Footprint bar or cell. 2. The level of imbalance or balance between bid traded volume and offer traded volume in a given cell or cluster of cells. 3. The ability or inability of price to continue in the direction of the current order ow, judged in the context of items #1 and #2 directly above.
INTRA-bAR PATTERNs
COlORs & SHADEs Of INDIvIDUAl CElls
The darker the shade, the more imbalanced is the order ow. Lighter shades indicate a more balanced scenario. Likewise, a series of adjacent cells, all the same color, indicate directional trade. Roughly alternating colors (candy-cane-like if you will) indicate balance and/or indecision. Dont expect to see perfect patterns. You may nd it easier to ask yourself what something doesnt look like, rather than what it does look like. This inverse way of thinking can sometimes release you from being too attached to what you believe, instead of whats really there.
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Note variations in color and shade. Are the sequential cells the same color?
Or, do they vary, with only 2 or 3 cells in a row the same color?
Moderately Imbalanced
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This is a relatively balanced Footprint. Note that the bar opens and closes near the same point, exactly what you would expect in balance.
Here is the same bar, shown in prole form. Clearly, some patterns are more apparent graphically, while others are more clear numerically.
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High volume node, the bottom of a down bar, is showing buying; not what you want to see if you are short.
BAR TOTAls
Do not forget traditional data like total volume and price range. The Footprint doesnt replace basic price/volume relationship analysis, it supplements it. But now, in addition to total volume for a given period (or bar) the trader can look at total delta, which is essentially showing the net order ow conviction. It can be useful to compare these values (price range, volume, and delta); both from bar to bar, and also to note how volume and delta for the bar are correlated. In order to make it easier on the trader, MarketDelta has a built-in function which displays these bar totals for you. Its called the Footprint Bar Statistics indicator and is shown below. The Footprint Bar Statistics panel can also show numerous other data values for each bar and is fully user adjustable.
At bar extremes, when neither the bid side or ask side is zero, there is a high degree of probability that this price will be retested.
The upper row is total volume, the lower row is delta, which is the net difference between volume traded on the bid and the offer.
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MUlTI-bAR PATTERNs
FAIlED AUCTION
Failures can take many forms. Buyers or sellers may not be active at a particular price level. Neither side may be interested at current prices. Learn to differentiate between a true failure and something that appears like a failure. For example, compare a market which has moved up on strong volume to a key point of resistance immediately after the open and then volume at the extreme prices drops off to a mere crawl; versus a market with no news, moving into lunch time, and just not much going on, also showing very weak volume at a relative price extreme. In the rst case, there is potential for a trade, in the second case, most traders would be wise to simply stand aside as the potential reward, given the risk, just isnt present. In the example below, we see a combination of volume rst dropping off as price makes little upward headway, and then one last round of buying (the dark green price cell) with no ability to move price up. This example begins to show how the analytic puzzle pieces start coming together. First, we take note of successively higher prices (bar by bar) ending with failed auctions at the top of each bar. Then, the order ow shows relatively strong buying in the form of a dark green Footprint cell and a signicantly imbalanced cell at that (89 sells versus 1,022 buys). Yet, the best price can do is move up 1 tick from the heavy buying and immediately dries up. Next thing you know, that strong buying turns into strong selling, in the adjacent two price cells below. This is how you read the Footprint. If this arrangement occurred at a price level of signicance (i.e. a previous day high, edge of multi-day range, upper boundary of a value area, etc), then this scenario would represent an ideal potential trade entry. We urge you, though, not to simply go looking for patterns that exactly mimic this scenario. Thats not what this is about. It is about assessing how all the pieces t together for a given context.
Note the series of Footprint top cells, each showing ZERO selling, yet buying is at a very low level, and continues to decrease. Buying comes in, but cannot budge price.
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Print out several copies of each of a number of days Footprints in your choice of periodicity. Pick one of the Footprint patterns or elements described in this document and circle every instance you can nd. Go back later and see if you missed anything. Then, take another printout of the same day, and repeat the exercise for a different pattern or element. Repeat for each element or pattern you choose to. Choose a particular range of time and examine it on several different periodicities. For example, 5 min, 15 min, 1.0 range, 5000 volume and 610 tick. Make sure you choose several periodicities which are non-time based. Compare these charts to see how the Footprint elements and patterns can be similar and how they can be different merely by changing periodicity. The markets are fractal in nature. This exercise provides some insight to seeing inside the fractal dimension of market data. Using playback charts, choose a pattern to watch for. Then, repeat the playback at gradually increasing speeds. This will instill the pattern in your unconscious and make it seem as though the real market is almost in slow motion, thus affording you additional decision making time with real trading, via the phenomenon of time distortion. During a live market, record in a journal the elements and patterns as you see them form, along with other related observations. After the close, go back and review what you recorded versus what actually happened. Did you observe and record accurately? Did you miss anything. Did you discover anything? Doing these sort of exercises is how any sort of skill is initially developed. Its how the best athletes improve, and its how great traders improve. Use drills as an opportunity to focus on learning one aspect well, then move on to the next. Dont try and learn it all at once. The above discussion and suggested drills can be described as explicit learning. You, the trader, is provided with specic information and practice techniques. You know what youre doing and what the purpose of the drills are at any moment. However, there is another type of learning known as implicit learning. In trading, implicit learning is essentially the process of unconscious pattern recognition development. This can only occur through extensive time in front of the screen viewing live markets and reviewing played back data. We would be the rst to admit that we used to cringe when we were told it takes screen time. We didnt want to hear about screen time. We wanted to be given a set of instructions, make trading black and white, and then just do it. We felt this way because we didnt have any condence in this unconscious learning being real. We didnt have condence that we were actually learning anything via practice drills and simulated trading. It didnt feel like screen time was producing any benet. Well, it turns out that this implicit type of learning does actually occur. Wef would strongly recommend anyone serious about developing their own training regimen and desiring more details on how implicit learning plays a role in trading success, to obtain Dr. Brett Steenbargers books on trading psychology. They are an invaluable resource.
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If you use an ocsillator (such as the stochastic shown here) crossing over some reference level, compare the Footprint elements and patterns of scenarios which show price follow through against those which do not follow through.
If you use pure price action, like this higher low, compare the Footprint elements and patterns of higher lows which continue up, versus those that fail and continue down. There will often be clues which simply cant be seen without the Footprint.
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If the purpose behind the Footprint had to be distilled down to a single sentence, it would be to answer this question: Do the buyers or the sellers, right now, exhibit more conviction. The Footprint expresses this conviction, via the patterns described in this document and the raw data itself as displayed either numerically or graphically. The pace or rate of trade, comparative levels of buy and sell volume, and statistically signicant shifts in the order ow (eg. how much did delta reverse or shift?) all provide evidence of either supply, demand, or indecision. Understanding the conviction of the order ow is not something which any indicator or price alone can provide. The Footprint affords an entirely new perspective on price movement, and thus works well in conjunction with other methodologies. The Footprint is not simply a regurgitation of data, like so often happens when stacking numerous indicators on a chart, which all show essentially the same thing. The Footprint adds dimensionality. Another word for conviction is certainty. An old adage says that he who has the most certainty wins. In trading, this translates roughly to the idea that strong conviction will continue to carry price until stronger conviction in the opposing direction is met. You can call it the physics of price movement, a teetor tottor, or a battle. The metaphor matters not. In the sense that the word is being used, certainty should not be confused with the hope or wishful thinking a trader has over a particular trade working out. Were referring to the certainty represented by the actions taken by a collection traders. The certainty we speak of is that represented by a seller hitting the bid with a market order. Or, by a buyer lifting an offer at the market. At the most basic level, trading is a game of conviction. If any of this idea is not clear, we invite the reader to once again review the video entitled MarketDelta Simplied (linked to earlier). We would also like to make a remark that doesnt really t in well under any particular heading thus far. It regards the notion of follow through. A key concept in understanding order ow, or any aspect of the dual-auction market cycle is that of continuation versus change. The opposite of price moving in a direction is price NOT moving in that direction. This initially may sound like nonsense. But think about it: price may continue in the same direction, it may reverse, or it may just sit and stagnate. Only one of those three possibilities produces prots, so start training yourself to look for signs of follow through and signs of non-follow through. Different trading styles and specic trading plans require specic approaches to dealing with each of these three scenarios.
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of daily observation before things really start clicking. A less experienced trader, particularly one who has yet to clearly establish a solid analytic style, could easily require several months or more to begin effectively assimilating Footprint data into his or her decision process. And, thats a good way to think about the Footprint: its a decision support tool. It doesnt make decisions for you. When or if you attempt to force it to make decisions for you, failure is sure to ensue. Equally, a trader who makes many, many intra-day trades will be seeing patterns more frequently and thus has the potential to learn more quickly. On the other hand, an intra-day position trader looking for a handful of opportunities each day, being far more choosy about trades, wont be seeing patterns at potential entry and exit points nearly as often as a scalper. Therefore, this trader will of necessity require relatively more time to fully embrace what the Footprint has to offer. Liberal use of playback study will obviously help here. Be very cautious about becoming too xated on the Footprint. Sure, while learning the elements described in this document, youll need to focus for extended periods on the Footprint. However, when used as a decision support tool, think about those comments from earlier in this document: WHERE to trade and WHEN to trade. If the Footprint is used to help in timing, its probably best not to even look at it when youre nowhere near the WHERE to trade. These pages represent merely an introduction to practical application of the Footprint charts. After youve made progress with the material contained herein, the next suggested step in the training process is the MarketDelta Strategy Manual. The Strategy Manual offers insight on the next level of sophistication in use of the Footprint. Using the Footprint in trending markets, consolidating markets, dealing with specic market contexts, and much more is covered in this manual. For additional information on how you can obtain the manual, please visit MarketDelta.com/Education. Further training can be obtained by attending a live seminar hosted by MarketDelta and invited trainers. These will prove to solidify your understanding and put you on the right path to growing as a trader!
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