Trading terminology.

The process by which a market finds fair value. Buyers and sellers interact at different prices until one side is satisfied and the other moves price further to seek more participants.

The price area where both buyers and sellers are comfortable transacting — where volume is highest and price tends to spend the most time.

A state where buyers and sellers are in equilibrium. Price moves within a range. No dominant party. Often characterized by overlapping value areas across sessions.

A state where one side (buyers or sellers) is dominant and price is being moved directionally. Typically characterized by a value area that doesn't overlap with the previous session's.

Trades that create price movement — aggressive buyers driving price higher, or aggressive sellers driving it lower. They are seeking value elsewhere.

Trades that reject price movement — buyers stepping in because price is perceived as too cheap, or sellers fading because price is too expensive relative to value.

The overall character of the session — trend day, normal variation, normal, or neutral. Recognizing it early changes how you approach entries and exits for the rest of the day.

How price behaves at the open relative to the previous session's range and value area. The four main types — OD, OTDR, ORR, OA — each signal different probabilities for the day.

Point of Control — the price level where the most volume traded during a given period. Acts as a magnet. Price tends to gravitate back toward it in ranging conditions.

The price range containing 70% of the session's volume. The upper boundary is VAH (Value Area High), the lower is VAL (Value Area Low).

High Volume Node — a price level with significantly higher volume than surrounding levels. Acts as a magnet — price tends to slow and consolidate at HVNs.

Low Volume Node — a price level with significantly lower volume than surrounding levels. Acts as an accelerant — price tends to move quickly through LVNs.

A volume profile built over multiple sessions (days, weeks, months) rather than a single session. Shows institutional-level value areas and POCs that shorter-term profiles don't reveal.

Time Price Opportunity — the building block of market profile. Each letter represents a 30-minute period when price traded at a given level. The distribution of TPOs shows where time was spent.

The price range established in the first hour of the regular session (first two TPO periods). Extension beyond IB high or low carries directional significance.

Price levels where only one TPO letter appears — indicating rapid price movement with minimal time acceptance. These are structural gaps that price often returns to "fill."

A session high or low formed by multiple TPOs — indicating the market ran out of time rather than finding genuine rejection. These are weak extremes and often revisited.

A chart that displays bid volume and ask volume at every price level within each candle — showing exactly how aggression was distributed, not just the OHLC summary.

Ask volume minus bid volume. Positive delta means more aggressive buying than selling in a period. Negative means more aggressive selling. The single most useful number on the footprint.

The running total of delta across candles. Used to spot divergences — e.g., price making new highs while cumulative delta falls, suggesting the move is losing buying pressure.

When aggressive order flow hits a price level and doesn't move price. Sellers absorbing buy orders (or buyers absorbing sell orders). The clearest signal of institutional defense of a level.

A climactic spike in volume at an extreme — often the final push of a move. Characterized by high delta in the direction of the trend, followed by rejection and reversal.

Multiple consecutive footprint cells showing the same type of imbalance (all bid-side or all ask-side). Marks levels where aggressive flow was particularly one-sided — often defended on revisit.

Depth of Market — also called the order book or ladder. Shows resting limit orders at each price level on the bid and ask sides in real time.

The gap between the best (highest) bid and the best (lowest) ask. The minimum cost of a round-trip market order. In liquid futures like ES, typically one tick.

A large order that only shows a portion of its size on the book at any time. As visible size is filled, more is automatically replenished. Used by institutions to hide actual size.

Placing large orders on the book with no intention of filling them — to influence perception of supply or demand — and pulling them before price reaches them. Illegal, and still common.

A cluster of large resting buy orders building below market. May represent genuine support, or a spoof wall designed to attract buyers before the orders are pulled.

A way to express profit and loss in terms of risk. If you risk $100 and make $300, that's a 3R trade. Lets you compare outcomes regardless of position size.

The ratio of potential profit to potential loss on a trade. A trade risking $100 to make $200 is 1:2 R:R. Not the same as win rate — both matter for expectancy.

The average profit per trade over time: (win rate × avg win) – (loss rate × avg loss). Positive expectancy means the strategy makes money in the long run.

The decline from a peak account value to a subsequent trough. Maximum drawdown is the largest peak-to-trough decline over a period. A critical measure of risk.

How easily a market can absorb orders without moving price significantly. High liquidity = tight spreads and large book depth. Low liquidity = wider spreads, more slippage.

The difference between expected fill price and actual fill price. Higher in thin markets, fast-moving conditions, or on large market orders that eat through the book.

An order to buy or sell immediately at the best available price. Guarantees execution, not price. Takes liquidity from the book.

An order to buy or sell at a specific price or better. Adds liquidity to the book. May not fill if price doesn't reach the specified level.

An order that triggers when price reaches a specified level, then executes as a market order. Used to exit losing trades or enter breakouts. Can gap through in volatile conditions.