Topic 9: The Introduction (The Footprint)

What Are Footprint Charts

• Created by Market Delta company in 2003 (went bankrupt 2020)
• Also known as: Bid/Ask Profile, Cluster Charts, Numbered Bars
• Shows volume traded at a PRECISE price level
• Unlike DOM (shows coming orders), footprint shows ALREADY EXECUTED orders
• Real-time information — stronger than lagging indicators

What Footprint Charts Show

• Buy/Sell Imbalance
• High and Low of the candle
• Candle close and open
• Traded volume on BID
• Traded volume on ASK
• VPOC (Most traded volume in candle)

Key Elements

VPOC (Point of Control Volume)

• Shows where the MOST volume is traded within a single candle
• Marked with a box in the candle
• Can be at top, bottom, or middle of the candle
• Most commonly used setting: Traded Volume

Traded Bid and Traded Ask

• Market works through the limit order book, moved by market orders or triggered stop orders
• When someone buys on the market → trade reflected on footprint when executed
• Market orders work up and down towards order limits
• Shows exactly where most volume is and where it's NOT
• BID = limited buy orders triggered by market SELL orders
• ASK = limited sell orders triggered by market BUY orders

Red or Green Numbers (Imbalances)

• Red and green colored numbers = automatically marked imbalances
• Shows how strong the buying or selling pressure is
• This is the core of what the gold bot needs to read

Application

• Look inside the candle to see what's really happening
• At a Supply zone looking for sells → footprint shows if sellers are actually present
• "It looks more complicated than it actually is"

Images

Software

• Need special software: Sierra Chart, NinjaTrader, ATAS
• Course examples from NinjaTrader (but ATAS works the same)