OF Part A: Institutional + Unwind + Absorption

identifies 6 high-probability institutional order flow setups in real time using Delta, Open Interest, and Volume Imbalance. Designed for Footprint/Cluster charts on any index or futures instrument.

## What This Indicator Does

This indicator reads raw order flow data — Delta, Buy/Sell Volume, and Open Interest — to classify institutional activity into 6 clearly labelled signals directly on your candles. No lagging moving averages. No price-derived indicators. Pure order flow logic.

It is Part A of a two-part institutional flow suite. Part B covers Exhaustion, Delta Divergence, and Delta Flips.

## The 6 Signals

### 🟢 INST BUY — Institutional Buying

**Color: Green arrow below bar**

Strong positive delta (aggressive buying) + price closes up + Open Interest is rising. Rising OI confirms fresh long positions are entering — this is not short covering or noise, it is new institutional money going long.

**Best use:** Look for this at key support levels, VWAP reclaims, or after a consolidation. When OI rises with positive delta and a green close, smart money is accumulating.

### 🔴 INST SELL — Institutional Selling

**Color: Red arrow above bar**

Strong negative delta (aggressive selling) + price closes down + Open Interest is rising. Rising OI with negative delta confirms fresh short positions entering — institutions are initiating short positions, not just exiting longs.

**Best use:** Look for this at resistance zones, failed breakouts, or distribution areas. The combination of OI rising and negative delta is one of the most reliable bearish footprints.

### 🩵 SHORT COVER — Short Covering

**Color: Teal arrow below bar**

Price closes up + positive delta + Open Interest is falling. OI falling means existing positions are being closed. Combined with positive delta and an up close, this signals shorts buying back to exit — not new longs entering.

**Best use:** Short covering often creates sharp but unsustainable rallies. Use it as a warning that an up move may be a relief rally rather than genuine bullish momentum. Do not chase these moves blindly.

### ⚫ LONG UNWIND — Long Unwinding

**Color: Gray arrow above bar**

Price closes down + negative delta + Open Interest is falling. OI falling with selling pressure means longs are exiting their positions — not new shorts entering. This often happens at the end of a trend.

**Best use:** Long unwinding near highs or after an extended rally is an early warning of trend exhaustion. When longs exit and OI drops, the fuel driving the rally is being removed.

### 🔵 ABSORB BUY — Bull Absorption

**Color: Navy blue arrow below bar**

Sell volume dominates (bearish imbalance) but price still closes up or flat, with a visible rejection wick. Sellers are aggressively attacking but passive buyers at limit orders are absorbing every sell — price cannot fall.

**Logic:** SellVolume > BuyVolume × 1.3 AND close ≥ open AND bar has a significant wick (body < 50% of range).

**Best use:** Look for this at support levels or value areas. When sellers dominate volume but price refuses to drop, it signals a strong buyer defending a level. This is the core concept from Trader Dale's absorption methodology.

### 🟤 ABSORB SELL — Bear Absorption

**Color: Maroon arrow above bar**

Buy volume dominates (bullish imbalance) but price still closes down or flat, with a visible rejection wick. Buyers are aggressively attacking but passive sellers at limit orders are absorbing every buy — price cannot rise.

**Logic:** BuyVolume > SellVolume × 1.3 AND close ≤ open AND bar has a significant wick.

*Best use:** Look for this at resistance levels, prior highs, or supply zones. When buyers dominate volume but price refuses to rise, it signals a strong seller defending a level. High-probability reversal signal.

## Inputs / Settings

| Parameter | Default | Description |

|---|---|---|

| Delta Threshold | 40,000 | Minimum delta for INST BUY/SELL signals. Adjust based on instrument — Nifty Futures 30m typically sees deltas of 50K–300K. Lower to 5,000–10,000 for 5m charts or lower-volume instruments. |

| Bid/Ask Imbalance Ratio | 1.3 | Minimum ratio of sell-to-buy (or buy-to-sell) volume for Absorption signals. 1.3 = 30% more aggressive volume on one side. Raise to 1.5–2.0 to filter only extreme imbalances. |

| OI Lookback bars | 1 | How many bars back to compare OI for rising/falling detection. Default 1 = previous bar. Increase to 3–5 for smoother OI trend detection on noisy data. |

## How to Use

**Chart Type:** Footprint / Cluster chart (required for delta and volume split data)

**Recommended Timeframes:** 5m, 15m, 30m on Nifty Futures, Bank Nifty, Crude Oil, or any high-liquidity futures instrument

**Alert Setup:**

1. Apply the indicator to your chart

2. Click **Alert** → select **"OF Part A: Institutional + Unwind + Absorption"**

3. Set condition to **"Any alert() function call"**

4. Choose notification method (Push / Email / Webhook)

5. One alert catches all 6 signal types with full details in the alert message

## Signal Hierarchy for Trading

Use these signals in context, not in isolation:

1. **INST BUY + INST SELL** → Highest conviction. Fresh institutional money with OI confirmation.

2. **ABSORB BUY + ABSORB SELL** → Strong level identification. Best used at known S/R.

3. **SHORT COVER + LONG UNWIND** → Trend exhaustion warning. OI falling means the move has less backing.

**Pro tip:** When INST BUY and ABSORB BUY appear within 2–3 bars of each other at the same level, it is a very high-conviction long setup — institutional buying confirmed both by new long entries AND by rejection of sellers at that level.

## Companion Indicator

**OF Part B: Exhaustion + Divergence + Flip** — covers Buyer/Seller Exhaustion, Delta Divergence (Lesson 4 methodology), and Delta Flip signals. Apply both together for complete institutional flow coverage across all 12 signal types.

*This indicator is for educational and informational purposes. All trading involves risk. Past signals do not guarantee future results.*