Indicators = story fragments.

• The general colour/shape (session aggregate) gives you bias.
• The individual candles / spikes / deltas give you the execution story (who’s hitting whom right now).
  You must read both together, and always combine price action + footprint + volume + OI to infer whether moves are initiations, covers, or absorption.

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Core concepts (short, exact)

1. Open Interest (OI)
   • Up = more positions opened (new longs or new shorts).
   • Down = positions closed (longs or shorts being closed/covered).
   • Combine OI change with price change to infer which side:
     • Price ↑ + OI ↑ → new longs (buyers initiating).
     • Price ↑ + OI ↓ → shorts covering (rally on cover).
     • Price ↓ + OI ↑ → new shorts (sellers initiating).
     • Price ↓ + OI ↓ → longs closing / stop-hunts (liquidation/covering).
2. CVD / Delta / DBars (net aggressive taker flow)
   • Measures aggressive trades (market takers). Positive delta = buyers aggressive; negative = sellers aggressive.
   • Spikes in delta show bursts of taker aggression — those are the “who pressed the button” moments.
3. Footprint / Volume profile
   • Shows where volume and delta happened at price levels. Use it to detect absorption: lots of buy volume at a price that doesn’t push price higher → sellers absorbing.
4. Session aggregates vs individual bars
   • Session aggregate (green/red zone) = bias for that session.
   • Individual bars & spikes = micro-structure / immediate intent.

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How to read OI + Price + DBars together — 8 practical scenarios (and what to do)

I’ll use short labels: P = price, OI = open interest, Δ = delta/DBars.

1. P ↑ / OI ↑ / Δ ↑
   • Interpretation: Real buying demand — new longs. Trend likely genuine.
   • Action: Don’t fade; look for long continuation or wait for pullback to join.
2. P ↑ / OI ↓ / Δ ↑ (or flat)
   • Interpretation: Price rally largely on short covering (Δ may still show buys if buyers step in). Weak structural demand.
   • Action: Be cautious to buy — this is a cover-rally, likely to fail unless follow-through.
3. P ↓ / OI ↑ / Δ ↓
   • Interpretation: Initiation of new shorts — sellers are aggressive. Good structural short scenario.
   • Action: Look to join shorts on confirmation; stops above recent high / liquidity.
4. P ↓ / OI ↓ / Δ ↓ (or flat)
   • Interpretation: Longs being closed or stops getting taken — not necessarily aggressive new shorts. Could be profit taking or liquidation.
   • Action: If you’re short, don’t assume new strong sellers — price may chop or reverse. Watch for absorption bars.
5. Delta spike negative while price holds / OI flat or rising
   • Interpretation: Aggressive selling met by passive bids = absorption (sellers hitting bids, but buyers absorbing). That’s often a bottoming sign.
   • Action: Wait for follow-through; fading selling can be profitable if confirmed with footprint showing big bid-side resting volume.
6. Delta spike positive while price stalls / OI flat or rising
   • Interpretation: Aggressive buying being absorbed — sellers defending a level (potential fake breakout).
   • Action: Don’t trust the move until footprint / volume clears — it can be a trap.
7. OI jumps but Δ small / price flat
   • Interpretation: Options/futures large position add or passive limits added — could be institutionally hedging / opening big positions without immediate market impact. Watch the level.
   • Action: Mark the level — it’s likely defended later.
8. At session open: Δ flips green but cumulative OI from prior session still high to the side
   • Interpretation: Session open can show fresh delta but yesterday’s positions still exist; new session aggregation can mask residual pressure.
   • Action: Anchor previous session’s OI/CVD — don’t treat session-reset as positions evaporating.

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Individual candles/spikes vs general colour — when to trust each

• Trust spikes/individual bars when:
  • They are large relative to recent average volume/delta (i.e., meaningful participation).
  • They occur at a clear structural level (POC, VWAP, profile extreme, sell/buy tail).
  • Footprint shows imbalanced trades (one side executed far more).
• Trust the general colour / session aggregate when:
  • It’s persistent across many bars (shows sustained flow).
  • You want the bias for longer intraday trades (trend direction).

Rule of thumb: If session bias and a high-impact spike agree → high-confidence trade. If they disagree → wait, reduce size, or use partial entries and tight manage.

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Detecting absorption vs initiation (practical footprint cues)

• Absorption (buyers absorbing sells):
  • Large negative delta spikes on lower ticks but price fails to move down or quickly recovers.
  • Footprint shows high traded volume on the bid side at that price level.
  • OI may not increase much (because the aggressors are being matched by passive liquidity).
• Initiation (sellers initiating):
  • Negative delta spike and price moves lower with follow-through and OI increases.
  • Footprint shows aggressive taker prints removing resting bids.

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Session resets — how to prevent being “fooled” (practical setup & rules)

1. Always run a continuous / multi-session OI & CVD alongside session-based versions.
   • If your platform lets you set “aggregate across days” or “rolling”, enable that. If not, duplicate indicators and anchor one manually to yesterday’s close.
2. Mark yesterday’s extremes and the location of big OI / big delta activity (horizontal lines) — those are future liquidity magnets.
3. At session open behavior rule:
   • If yesterday showed heavy seller initiation (price down + OI up + negative CVD), treat new-session green deltas with suspicion for at least the first 10–30 minutes — wait for two confirming bars before flipping bias.
4. If indicators “flip” exactly at session open, check the continuous OI/CVD: if the continuous view still shows yesterday’s accumulation, bias remains.

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Live trade decision checklist (use this before entering or exiting)

1. Price location: structural level? (POC, VPOC, VWAP, tail)
2. Price vs OI: which of the 4 combos above? (map it)
3. Delta/DBars: are there aggressive spikes? absorption?
4. Footprint: who is on the tape at that price level? (bid/ask imbalance)
5. Session context: is the session aggregate backing your read?
6. Risk controls: worst-case stop, partial size if indicators conflict.
7. Journal tag: record which signal forced your entry/exit (for later review).

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Practical management rules for conflicting signals

• Conflict at entry time: halve the size or wait for a 2-bar confirmation.
• If you’re already in and indicators flip: trim size (take off half), move stop to break-even, wait for a re-confirmation.
• If OI increases strongly against your position while delta supports that increase (e.g., you shorted, OI rises and price rises) — reduce exposure immediately; that’s new participants opening against you.

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Quick mastery drills (do these daily for 2–4 weeks)

1. Replay sessions: pick 10 sessions, label every big move with (price change, OI change, Δ change) and write the interpretation.
2. Journal trades: every trade, log the 7-point checklist above. After a week, categorize misses by the combo that fooled you.
3. Spot absorption: find 5 bars where a spike was absorbed — mark footprints and learn the visual signature.
4. Backtest patterns: take the 8 scenarios above — measure how often price followed through within 15/30/60 mins.

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Quick cheat-sheet

1. Price ↑ / OI ↑ = new longs (follow)
2. Price ↑ / OI ↓ = short cover (fade)
3. Price ↓ / OI ↑ = new shorts (follow)
4. Price ↓ / OI ↓ = longs closing/liquidation (cautious)
5. Delta spike + price stall = absorption (flip probability ↑)
6. Session open flip w/out continuous confirmation = wait

SIMPLE WORKFLOW TO TRADE

1. Your Anchor: RektV

• ✅ You already noticed it → RektV is your sharpest reversal/pullback signal (because it shows real liquidations).
• Rule: Never fade RektV alone. Always check if OI/CVD/DBars agree.

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2. What each tool is really good for (keep it simple)

• OI (Open Interest) = tells you if new positions are being built or old ones closed.
• CVD line = shows aggressive takers → momentum.
• DBars:
  • Session reset = intraday bias only.
  • Full data mode = long-term sentiment (yes! you’ll see if across multiple sessions the pressure is mostly buyers or sellers).

👉 So yes, running DBars on full data = big-picture sentiment (bullish/bearish bias). Running DBars on session mode = intraday flow.

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3. Why multiple liquidations happen before a real reversal

That’s normal.

• Liquidations = stops being run.
• Market often clears multiple liquidity pockets before reversing.
• Your edge is: don’t call the first liquidation a reversal → wait for confirmation in OI/CVD/DBars.

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4. Simplest 3-Step Workflow for You

Here’s the exact loop I’d suggest:

1. Bias (use full data DBars + OI trend):
   • DBars full data → overall buyers vs sellers.
   • OI trend (growing = active positioning, falling = closing).
   • Mark bullish or bearish bias for the day.
2. Trigger (use RektV + CVD spikes):
   • Watch RektV liquidations.
   • Check if CVD spike agrees (aggressive buying/selling after the liquidations).
3. Confirm (mini-checklist before entry):
   • Is OI moving in the same direction as price? (new positioning, not just a squeeze)
   • Is DBars session color aligned with your bias?
   • If yes → take the trade.
   • If no → pass, or reduce size.

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5. Rule for liquidations & reversals

• First liquidation = caution. Could be just clearing weak hands.
• Second/third liquidation with absorption (price not breaking lower/higher) = that’s your real reversal zone.
• Confirmation: CVD slows or flips + OI flat = positions washed out, reversal likely.

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6. Timeframe for each tool (so you don’t overthink)

• RektV = use on your entry timeframe (3m).
• OI & DBars (session) = intraday guide.
• OI & DBars (full data) = higher timeframe sentiment (bullish or bearish mood).
• CVD line = quick pulse check → who’s pushing right now.