Order Flow Widgets
CVD, depth heatmaps, order flow analysis, and market structure visualization.
Order Flow Overview
Order flow analysis examines the actual trades and order book dynamics that drive price movement. While most technical analysis focuses on price and volume after the fact, order flow data reveals the buying and selling pressure as it happens. Thrive's Order Flow widgets decode this real-time information into actionable visual formats.
Order flow data is sourced from perpetual futures order books and trade tapes across major exchanges. The widgets in this category require Pro+ access due to the high-frequency data infrastructure required to aggregate and normalize cross-exchange order book data in real time.
Pro+ exclusive
Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD)
Cumulative Volume Delta measures the net difference between market-buy volume and market-sell volume over time. Each trade executed at the ask price is classified as a buy; each trade executed at the bid price is classified as a sell. CVD is the running sum of (buy volume - sell volume) and provides a continuous picture of whether aggressive buyers or sellers are dominating.
CVD Interpretation
The raw CVD value matters less than its direction and its relationship to price. The most tradable signals come from CVD/price divergences.
| Price up + CVD up | Confirmed bullish. Aggressive market buyers are lifting offers and driving price higher. The move has genuine buying pressure behind it. |
| Price up + CVD flat/down | Bearish divergence. Price is rising but aggressive buying is absent. The rally may be driven by passive limit orders being pulled (thin asks) rather than real demand. Often precedes a reversal. |
| Price down + CVD down | Confirmed bearish. Aggressive sellers are hitting bids and pushing price lower. Genuine selling pressure with conviction. |
| Price down + CVD flat/up | Bullish divergence. Price is falling but aggressive selling is weakening. Sellers are exhausting. This is a potential accumulation signal. |
Timeframe Selection
CVD can be viewed on multiple timeframes from 1-minute to daily. For intraday scalping, the 1m and 5m CVD are most relevant. For swing positioning, the 1h and 4h CVD reveal the macro aggressor balance. The widget also supports a "reset period" setting that zeroes the cumulative sum at configurable intervals, which can make shorter-term divergences easier to spot.
Depth Heatmap
The depth heatmap visualizes the limit order book over time, showing where large resting orders (bids and asks) are concentrated. The horizontal axis is time, the vertical axis is price, and color intensity represents the dollar value of resting orders at each price level. Dense bands of bright color indicate price levels where significant passive liquidity is resting.
Reading the Depth Heatmap
Large limit orders that remain in the book over time. These often act as support (bid walls) or resistance (ask walls). If price approaches and the wall does not retreat, it is likely genuine institutional interest.
Large orders that appear when price approaches but disappear before being filled. These are fake liquidity designed to manipulate market perception. They show up as bright streaks that vanish as price gets close.
Price ranges with very little resting order depth. Price tends to move rapidly through these zones because there is minimal resistance. Identifying voids above and below current price helps predict how far a directional move might extend.
When a price level repeatedly absorbs large volume without the visible resting order depleting, it suggests an iceberg order (large hidden order that refills). This is strong evidence of institutional accumulation or distribution.
Combine with liquidation data
Order Flow Analysis Panel
The order flow analysis panel aggregates several micro-structure metrics into a single view: trade imbalance (ratio of buy vs. sell market orders over a rolling window), absorption analysis (detecting when passive orders absorb aggressive order flow without price movement), and large trade detection (flagging individual trades above a configurable dollar threshold).
Trade Imbalance
Trade imbalance is expressed as a percentage from -100% (all sells) to +100% (all buys) over a configurable rolling window (default: 100 trades). A sustained imbalance above +40% indicates dominant buy pressure; below -40% indicates dominant sell pressure. Sudden flips in imbalance direction, especially after a one-sided run, often mark intraday turning points.
Absorption Detection
Absorption occurs when aggressive order flow hits a price level but price does not move. This means a passive participant is absorbing the incoming flow. The algorithm flags absorption events when the volume traded at a single price level exceeds a threshold without a resulting price change. Absorption at support levels is bullish (a large buyer is defending that level). Absorption at resistance levels is bearish (a large seller is capping price).
Large Trade Detection
Individual trades exceeding a dollar threshold (configurable, default $100,000) are highlighted in the trade tape and plotted on the price chart. Clusters of large trades in a short time window at the same price level often indicate institutional execution. The widget distinguishes between large market orders (aggressive) and large limit order fills (passive), which have different implications for future price direction.
Market Structure Visualization
The market structure widget provides a high-level view of the order book at the current moment: bid depth vs. ask depth at multiple price levels, the bid-ask spread, and the ratio of resting bids to resting asks (the book imbalance). A book heavily skewed toward bids suggests passive buying interest below, while a book skewed toward asks suggests overhead resistance.
| Bid/Ask Imbalance > 1.5 | Significantly more bids than asks. Passive buying interest outweighs selling pressure. Bullish lean in the near term unless the bids are spoofed. |
| Bid/Ask Imbalance < 0.7 | Significantly more asks than bids. Overhead supply outweighs passive demand. Bearish lean. Watch for price to stall at thick ask levels. |
| Imbalance near 1.0 | Balanced book. Neither side has a clear advantage. Price is more likely to be range-bound until new aggressive order flow breaks the equilibrium. |
| Spread widening | Market makers are pulling liquidity. Increased volatility expected. Often occurs just before large moves or during low-liquidity periods. |
Practical Workflows
Order flow data is most useful for intraday and short-term swing traders who need to time entries and exits precisely. Here are two concrete workflows.
CVD Divergence Entry
Identify divergence
Watch for price making a new local low while CVD makes a higher low (bullish divergence), or price making a new high while CVD makes a lower high (bearish divergence).
Check depth heatmap
Verify that a significant passive bid wall sits near the CVD divergence level (for bullish setups). This confirms that an institutional buyer is defending the level.
Confirm with absorption
Look for absorption events at the same price level. If the order flow panel shows high sell volume being absorbed without further price decline, the setup gains conviction.
Enter and manage
Enter with a stop just below the absorption zone. Target the nearest liquidity void above for the first take-profit, and the nearest liquidation cluster for an extended target.
Depth Breakout Trade
Monitor the depth heatmap for large ask walls that have been persistent for several hours. If the wall suddenly gets pulled (disappears from the book) while aggressive buying continues (positive CVD), it signals that the resistance has been intentionally removed, likely by the same entity that placed it, often preceding a breakout. Enter on the wall pull with a stop below the prior accumulation range.
Latency considerations
Next Steps
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