Short lessons on reading the auction: where the market agreed on value, who was aggressive, and where their push failed. Each idea is explained first, then shown on the chart. New videos go up on @orderflowtalks.
Market Profile shows how long the market traded at each price, so you can see where buyers and sellers agreed on value and where price was rejected. For a trader it turns a busy chart into the few levels that matter - the value area, the point of control and the initial balance - places to plan around instead of chasing every candle.
Read: TPO chart · Value area · Initial balance
A TPO chart builds the day's auction as it happens: the first thirty minutes set the opening range, the value area and point of control show where the market agrees, and moves away from them show who is pushing. Read in order through the day, it tells a trader before each trade whether to chase a move, wait for price to come back to value, or stay out.
Read: TPO chart · Value area
When an auction stops without finding the other side - a poor high, a single print, a low with no tail - it leaves unfinished business, and markets often come back to it. Knowing where those areas are gives a trader levels to watch for a revisit, and an explanation for moves that otherwise look random.
An imbalance is a price where one side traded far more than the other: buyers or sellers in a hurry. It shows a trader who is pushing and where. But the same imbalance can be fresh aggression or traders rushing for the exit, so where it appears matters as much as the imbalance itself.
Absorption is heavy aggression that fails to move price: someone patient on the other side takes all of it. Exhaustion is aggression that simply runs out. Both often appear before a reversal shows on the candles - an early warning, and a clear level for a trader to lean against.
Read: Absorption
Large players cannot hide their size completely. It shows up on the footprint as heavy volume, stacked imbalances and absorption at key prices. Learning to spot that trail helps a trader see who is likely behind a move, instead of reacting to the candle after it has closed.
Read: Footprint chart
The opening minutes often set the tone for the session. Reading order flow at the open - who is aggressive, whether delta backs the move, how price behaves around the opening range - helps a trader form a view of the day early, and decide whether to trade with the move or wait.
A delta divergence is price and delta disagreeing: price pushes to a new high or holds at resistance while cumulative delta stays flat, falls, or rises without moving it. It shows the aggressive side is tiring or being absorbed by patient orders - often before a breakout fails. For a trader it is a warning against chasing the move, and with a clear location, confirmation and exit, a setup in itself.
Read: Delta and cumulative delta · Absorption
Every video is on the channel.
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