YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → How I Read Stacked Imbalances on a Footprint

How I Read Stacked Imbalances on a Footprint — Transcript

by Christopher Creamer | Orderflow Trader · 3,267 words · 468 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00So, this right here is a stacked
0:02imbalance, and it's one of the clearest
0:04signals on a footprint chart that one
0:06side is completely overpowering the
0:07other. Now, most traders either scroll
0:09right past it, or they see it, and they
0:11read it the wrong way. So, in this
0:13video, I'm going to show you exactly
0:14what it is, how to read it, and what
0:16it's actually telling you. So, I've been
0:18trading futures with order flow for a
0:20few years, and imbalances, or seeing
0:22imbalances on a footprint chart, is how
0:25I like to confirm almost every setup
0:27that I take. But, here's the thing that
0:29we need to talk about before we go any
0:31further. A stacked imbalance by itself
0:33is not a trade. If you're going to enter
0:35in just because you see a stacked
0:37imbalance, you're going to get run over.
0:39So, we're going to make a quick video
0:41talking about stacked imbalances, and by
0:42the end of this video, you'll know what
0:44it actually means, how to read it
0:46diagonally, the way it's supposed to be
0:48read, and what it's telling you about
0:49who's actually being aggressive. So,
0:51what's up? It's Thrax. We're going to go
0:52over a very quick video about stacked
0:54imbalances. I'm going to start putting a
0:56little bit more of these on my channel
0:58about some of the common things when it
1:00comes to footprint charts, and hopefully
1:01it helps you guys out. So, stacked
1:03imbalances are a very clear read on who
1:07is truly being aggressive, but it's also
1:09important to note that it's not the same
1:11as who's actually winning the battle, or
1:13the auction. A stacked imbalance is one
1:16side stacking aggression through
1:17multiple price levels in a single
1:20candle, and it's only showing up when
1:22almost nothing is fighting back on the
1:25other side. So, it shows you who is
1:27being aggressive, but aggression is not
1:30the same as winning. So, let's break
1:32down how to actually read it, and how to
1:34not get faked out. Now, I want to take a
1:36quick break to talk about the sponsor of
1:38this video, Goat Funded Futures. Right
1:40now, they're currently running a 50% off
1:43on their sprint accounts, their flex
1:45accounts, and their instant plans using
1:47code Thrax. They have paid out millions
1:50of dollars to traders, and actually over
1:52$25 million across their brand to the
1:55traders using their platform. You can
1:57trade them with deep charts, with ATAS.
2:00They have different plans. Some of them
2:02do allow a one-day pass as well. And the
2:04cool thing about Goat Funded Futures is
2:06you can even complete tasks inside of
2:09their dashboard to claim rewards. So,
2:11you can complete any of these tasks and
2:13you get points that you can claim for
2:15rewards and those rewards go anywhere
2:17from discounts to even free accounts.
2:19And the last thing that they do that
2:21I've really never heard any other firm
2:22do is they will pay you $500
2:25if it takes them longer than two
2:26business days to send you your payout.
2:29Now, in our community, the Never Flat
2:30community, we've had traders get paid
2:32out with Goat Funded Futures. So, if you
2:34want to check them out, use code Thrax
2:36or click the link below. Now, let's get
2:37back into the video. So, the first
2:39things first is we need to understand
2:42what we're looking at here. Now, when
2:45we're looking at a bid by ask footprint
2:47chart, which is what I'm going to show
2:48you on the charts here in a moment, on
2:50the left side, you have the bid. On the
2:52right side, you have the ask. Now, on
2:55the bid, you're looking at aggressive
2:57sellers hitting into the bid. On the
2:59ask, you're looking at aggressive buyers
3:02lifting the ask. Now, when you're
3:03looking at these charts or you're
3:05looking at a footprint chart or a bid by
3:06ask footprint, you're looking at volume
3:08that has already been transacted. It's
3:10already done. When you compare the bid
3:13to the ask, you're comparing the bid on
3:15one row to the ask on the diagonal row
3:18above it. And the way that I look at
3:19imbalances is I use a 400% imbalance
3:23filter, meaning four times or more
3:26between buyers and sellers or sellers
3:28and buyers. Now, in this case, let's say
3:30we were looking at this example on a
3:32footprint chart. Now, you see 140
3:35contracts executed on the bid and on the
3:38row above it diagonal to the right on
3:40the ask, we see 20. Now, this is a 700%
3:43imbalance. This is a sell-side imbalance
3:46and ATAS will typically highlight these
3:48for you automatically if you set up your
3:50chart to do that. Now, if you don't know
3:52how to do that, I have templates you
3:54guys can use. You just join the free
3:56community and then you can download
3:58them. So, if you want, go check them out
4:00in the free community. But, when we're
4:01looking at these, once those actually
4:04start to stack on top of each other, now
4:07we're looking at stacked imbalances, not
4:08just a single imbalance. Now, when those
4:10imbalances line up across consecutive
4:13levels back-to-back, it's telling us
4:15that one side is overpowering the other
4:18the whole way down in this case. You
4:20have four selling balances in a row.
4:22Sellers hitting through level after
4:25level and it's creating a stacked
4:26imbalance. You have an imbalance,
4:28imbalance, imbalance, imbalance. They
4:30are on top of each other, consecutive
4:32levels. Now, it is a stacked imbalance.
4:35Now, what is this actually telling you?
4:38The first thing it's telling you is
4:39who's being aggressive. It shows which
4:41side is stacking real aggression through
4:44the level, not necessarily who has won
4:46yet, but it's showing the aggression.
4:48The second thing is that it's showing
4:49the level to watch for. Now, oftentimes,
4:52not all the time, when price returns to
4:55a stacked imbalance, it could act as
4:57support or resistance. And so, it's
4:59typically marked or if you're using
5:01stacked imbalance indicators, they'll
5:03usually mark it out for you. Now, just
5:05because there's a stacked imbalance,
5:07doesn't mean it's going to be a support
5:08or resistance because there's a lot more
5:10that comes to a trade idea than just
5:13looking at a stacked imbalance. But, the
5:15third thing it's telling you is the
5:17quality of a gap. Now,
5:19everyone probably has heard of a fair
5:21value gap, ICT's version of a fair value
5:23gap, which is a three-candle pattern
5:26with a gap in the middle between the
5:28wicks of candle one and candle three.
5:30When we're talking about a real fair
5:32value gap or a real gap of fair value,
5:34typically what you'll see inside of the
5:36candles, you'll see thin volume or low
5:38volume node, and you'll see stacked
5:39imbalances inside of that low volume
5:41node in the displacement candle. And
5:44what that's creating is a genuinely
5:46inefficient gap of value or fair value
5:49gap. Now, the catch to this is
5:51aggression doesn't equal winning, and we
5:55know that if we understand absorption,
5:57right? Now, a stacked imbalance can show
6:00up mid-candle. Let's say we're looking
6:02at a 5-minute candle. Anytime between,
6:05you know, the 5 minutes that this candle
6:07is forming, you may see stacked
6:09imbalances show up and then disappear.
6:12If price trades back through the zone
6:14before the candle closes, then both
6:16sides are transacting here, and then the
6:18imbalance fills, and at the close of it,
6:21you may see price traded through this
6:23area, it was two-sided, and there was no
6:25imbalance. So, when you're looking to
6:28use stacked imbalances or use them for
6:31information, it's really important that
6:34you wait for the candle to close. So,
6:35here's an example of the one that I
6:37showed you on the chart, right? We come
6:39down, we have stacked imbalances on the
6:42bid, meaning this is aggressive selling.
6:44You have low volume in this area, and we
6:47have five levels stacked of imbalances.
6:49Now, price later comes up into this area
6:52and then continues in the direction to
6:53the downside. Now, something to note is
6:56on ATAS, there is this indicator, it's a
6:58stacked imbalance indicator, and it's a
7:00part of my template that I share with
7:01you guys, and it shows up as a red box
7:03as seller stacked imbalances and a blue
7:05box for, you know, buyer stacked
7:07imbalances. Now, if we were to be
7:09looking at this, right? Let's say that
7:11we take this, what's happening in here,
7:12and we look at it on here. You have 34
7:15to 2, 32 to 0, 33 to 1, 42 to 6, 72 to
7:206. These are all larger than what I'm
7:23looking for in terms of a 400%
7:26imbalance. Now, you don't necessarily
7:28have to go and read all these numbers.
7:30You don't have to do that, right? That's
7:31why we use visual indications such as
7:34bold numbers or even an indicator. So,
7:37don't worry, you don't have to read
7:39these numbers. You don't have to do the
7:40math yourself. So, then how do we
7:42actually use it? Well, of course,
7:45everything else needs to align. Of
7:46course, you're looking at context,
7:48you're looking for location, and then
7:50you're looking for confirmation. The
7:52stacked imbalance only matters when it's
7:54fired off at a level that I care about,
7:56and only after that candle closes in
7:58most cases, because there are other
8:00times where we're looking for failed
8:02aggression. Now, if you're seeing
8:04stacked imbalances pop up in the candle,
8:06mid candle, and we're looking for that
8:09aggression to fail, well, it can be a
8:11very good indication of failure or even
8:15absorption sometimes. But, it's always
8:17important to never just trade a stacked
8:19imbalance because it's there, right?
8:21That's not the goal. So, a quick recap
8:23before we go look at the chart really
8:25quick. So, one imbalance on my charts is
8:28one side with four times the aggression,
8:30and we're reading it diagonally on the
8:32bid by ask footprint chart. A stacked
8:34imbalance is when you're going to have
8:35one side being aggressive through
8:36multiple levels, and they're right on
8:38top of each other. Now, it's not
8:40necessarily proof that they're winning
8:41in terms of price progression, because
8:44we don't know until the candle closes.
8:46If the candle comes back up and it fills
8:48in with two-sided volume by the close,
8:51then it's no longer an imbalance or a
8:53stacked imbalance, it just got traded
8:55through. Now, thin volume in a candle or
8:58a low volume node with stacked
9:00imbalances
9:02create a real gap of fair value, a fair
9:05value gap. Keep in mind, this is not a
9:07signal generator. Don't just look at a
9:10stacked imbalance and then try and
9:11blindly send it. It's a confirmation on
9:14top of context and location. We just
9:17we're looking at them to understand
9:20aggression and whether that aggression
9:22is actually resulting in follow through
9:23or not. So, we took a look at this
9:25example on the chart, right? We have us
9:27beginning to come down aggressively, we
9:30create a stacked imbalance on the bid.
9:32So, we have aggressive sellers
9:34overpowering buyers in this case, and
9:37price comes back up into this stacked
9:39imbalance, and then we continue in the
9:40direction downwards.
9:42Now, some people may look at this and
9:44they say, "Well, Chris, there this is a
9:45fair value gap."
9:47Okay, you know, and I'll I'll side with
9:50you on that. Yeah, we got the three
9:52candle pattern here. You got candle one
9:54wick,
9:55gap, candle three wick. Creates a fair
9:58value gap, right? Per ICT. Now, when
10:01you're looking at it just like this,
10:03okay,
10:04when we're not looking at what's going
10:05on, and you're just viewing it this way,
10:07you can make the assumption that's a
10:09true area that we can call a fair value
10:12gap. But, if we're looking at footprint,
10:14well, we can verify it. So, let's go
10:16take a look at some other examples on
10:17the chart so you guys get an idea. Now,
10:19let's look at this for example. Now,
10:21this is not necessarily a ICT version of
10:25a fair value gap, right? But, when we
10:27are trending to the upside, and we start
10:30to pull back a little bit on these
10:315-minute candles, we start seeing
10:33aggression from the buyers stepping back
10:35in. Now, we see a stacked imbalance of
10:38buyers. They're lifting the ask, and we
10:40have a decently strong close, or we have
10:43a strong close on this 5-minute candle.
10:45Later on, we end up coming back down
10:48into this area where buyers stepped in
10:50aggressively, and we hold this area
10:52almost like a support before we end up
10:54continuing in the direction of the
10:56trend. Now, in this example, we have low
10:59volume. We're kind of tapering off in
11:02volume. This is later in the day, and
11:03then finally, we start having true
11:05aggression. Volume begins to build.
11:07Buyers start to become aggressive, and
11:09we start actually getting price
11:10progression towards the upside. Now, in
11:13this case, well, what do we see? Now, we
11:16see stacked imbalances. We also see a
11:17large buyer here, but let's just focus
11:19on the imbalances for now. You have a
11:22low volume node. You have stacked
11:24imbalances of buyers.
11:26Now, let's say, you know, you wanted to
11:28mark this out. This is is example
11:30because let's say we were looking at the
11:33candles like this. Okay, let's say we
11:35were looking at candles like this.
11:37Let's say we're on a 5-minute and you're
11:39thinking to yourself, okay, well, this
11:41is a unfilled fair value gap, right? Do
11:44we look at it like this? What about are
11:46we going to use that fair value gap or
11:47are we going to use this fair value gap?
11:49Which one is the right one to use?
11:52Well, if we're looking at it on a
11:53footprint chart, there is a very large
11:55difference between what's going on here
11:59and what's going on here. Now, if you're
12:01looking at this area, well, then you can
12:03see that this is two-sided volume here.
12:06You have no imbalances. You have buyers
12:09and sellers transacting inside of this
12:11candle pretty efficiently. So, we're not
12:13going to use that one. We're looking at
12:14this one, right? You have low volume
12:16node, volume becomes thin. You have
12:19large amounts of buyers over sellers. If
12:22we were to go look at this
12:24zoomed in, what do we see here? 0 to 81,
12:270 to 127, 0 to 96, 0 to 83. In this
12:32area, there were no aggressive selling
12:35activity that was hitting the bid. None.
12:39Now, this becomes interesting. This is
12:40an area of interest for us. Let's remove
12:43this box, right? That was just there to
12:45tell you, okay, this is a fair value gap
12:47or whatever in terms of a three candle
12:48pattern. So, then what happens once we
12:50actually come back into this area that
12:52had the imbalance of buyers over sellers
12:55that initially started this move to the
12:57upside that resulted in a very large
12:59push. Well, eventually we come back into
13:02this level and what? We come back into
13:04this area and it's treated as a support.
13:07Now, it's not always going to be treated
13:09as a support.
13:10I need to make that very clear.
13:12But when we're using context, when we're
13:14understanding what's going on, when we
13:16see us building value in this area and
13:18we start the move from here to
13:21essentially have very strong buying
13:24aggression and leads us to go create
13:26value to the upside and we later revisit
13:29this area,
13:31well, it's just an area that maybe we
13:32want to pay attention to. Now, here we
13:34are later on in the session, the
13:36market's basically about to close. Let's
13:38say that this is another way we can use
13:41these imbalances. Now, it's a little bit
13:42different than stacked imbalances, but
13:44it is important to note, okay? Let's say
13:47that here we are with a level. Let's
13:49just imagine a level is here, okay? And
13:52we're looking at this footprint chart.
13:54Now, if you notice, you know, there's no
13:56bold numbers in here, meaning there's no
13:57imbalances. What you will see a lot of
14:00the times when the candle is opening and
14:02the candle is forming that you may once
14:05that once aggression actually steps in
14:07that you may start seeing numbers light
14:09up in bold, right? Now, they may go
14:11away, but the point is is that when we
14:14see those, we understand that aggression
14:17is coming in. So, let's say for example,
14:20we're looking at this area. This is a
14:22zone. Let's just treat it as a zone or a
14:24line or whatever. Here we are. The
14:25candle opens up. If this candle begins
14:27to push down aggressively and we start
14:30seeing numbers light up on the bid,
14:32meaning that aggressive sellers are
14:33hitting into the bid into location,
14:36and they're not getting any type of
14:38price progression further, meaning that
14:40potentially we're seeing absorption
14:42happen. We're seeing all this aggression
14:44hitting into this level. It's not
14:46providing any type of price progression
14:48and we begin to shift dominance back to
14:50the upside, meaning let's say
14:53candle opens up, candle drops, numbers
14:56on the bid light up, stall, stall,
14:58stall, and on the way back up when it
15:00starts creating price to the upside, you
15:02start seeing numbers lighting up on the
15:03ask. We're seeing sellers come into an
15:06area of interest, let's just say.
15:08They're pushing, they're getting
15:09aggressive, they're stalling, it's not
15:11resulting in any type of price
15:13progression, and we're starting to see
15:15that dominance shift back to the upside.
15:17We start seeing buyers get aggressive.
15:19It's not just passive buyers. Now, it's
15:21aggressive buyers. And if everything
15:23else aligns, context and location and
15:27proper confirmation, then it can give
15:29you potentially information to make a
15:32decision. That's basically all I wanted
15:34to explain. Now, a lot of people ask me,
15:37"What's going on on your chart? Why are
15:38some of the numbers lighting up?" And I
15:40say they're imbalances, but then why do
15:42I use them, right? The whole point in me
15:45using a footprint chart rather than just
15:47a candlestick chart is I want to
15:50understand within the candle where
15:53there's the aggression, whether it's
15:55providing any type of price progression,
15:58and what's happening following that
16:00aggression. So, I'm always paying
16:02attention to when the numbers light up.
16:04Now, if you watch me trade, right? Let's
16:07say I trade in the mornings on live or
16:09whatever, I'm usually looking at a
16:11footprint chart and it may look like
16:12this. Now, obviously, I'm not going to
16:14be able to read the numbers. Well,
16:17that's the purpose of them lighting up
16:18in bold. I want to see the aggression
16:20and I don't need to read the numbers. I
16:22have ATAS doing it for me automatically.
16:25Now, later on, these levels may be areas
16:27that I look for us to come back up into
16:29and then maybe potentially look to use
16:31it as support or resistance in very rare
16:34cases. Other times, all I want to see is
16:38aggression. Did that aggression result
16:40in price progression or did it not? And
16:43then I use that to make a decision. So,
16:44just a really quick video on stacked
16:46imbalances. What are they? Why does it
16:49basically matter? And hopefully, that
16:51helps out. It's a very quick video. I'll
16:54catch you guys next time I make a video.
16:56We'll probably go over something else.
16:58So, I'll talk to you guys then. Peace.

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of How I Read Stacked Imbalances on a Footprint by Christopher Creamer | Orderflow Trader, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 3,267 words across 468 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.