LessonsIndicator atlasFlow: who is aggressive
Imbalances, zones and unfinished auctions
Places where one side clearly dominated, and candle extremes where the auction did not finish.
How we compute it
Diagonal imbalance: buying at a level at least 3× the selling one level below (selling: 3× the buying one level above), above a value threshold. Zone: a run of at least 3 such rows, extended to the right until price trades through it. Unfinished auction: a candle high or low with trading on both sides, until price returns.
How to read it
- A run of imbalances shows where aggression went through several levels at once.
- An unfinished auction is a level the market often returns to in order to “finish” the trade.
Traps
- An imbalance zone is not guaranteed support (see the footprint exercise).
- In our tests imbalances and their runs on their own gave no edge after costs.
Combine with
- With open interest and location: a zone at a value edge with rising OI is stronger context than a zone in the middle of the range.
In Charts
Indicators → Imbalance zones, Unfinished auctions; threshold in the footprint settings