Open Interest Footprint IQ

The Open Interest Footprint IQ indicator provides a granular, real-time breakdown of open interest changes across different price levels, allowing traders to see how market participation is distributed within each bar. Unlike standard volume footprint charts, this tool focuses on the interaction between price action and open interest (OI) to infer trader positioning and intent.

Usage

The indicator can be used to identify specific trader behaviors and institutional activity. By analyzing the footprint, users can spot where longs or shorts are opening or closing positions, locate stacked imbalances indicative of absorption or exhaustion, and identify Value Area zones based on OI rather than volume.

For each candle, the script classifies behavior into four categories:

• Longs Opening (UU): Price moving up and OI increasing.
• Shorts Closing (UD): Price moving up but OI decreasing.
• Shorts Opening (DU): Price moving down and OI increasing.
• Longs Closing (DD): Price moving down while OI is decreasing.

Details

The script utilizes lower-timeframe data (1-minute, 1-second, or 1-tick) to build the footprint-style visualization. It calculates the delta (net OI change) at each price level and can be set to either reset per bar or track OI cumulatively over a specific timeframe. This cumulative feature is particularly effective for identifying dominant positioning over longer sessions like a day or week.

Settings

Main Settings

• Granularity: Determines the sampling rate (1-Minute, 1-Second, or 1-Tick). 1-Tick offers the highest accuracy.
• Tick Level Distance: Sets the vertical spacing for footprint levels. Set to 0 for automatic calculation based on ATR.
• Cumulative Levels: When enabled, OI activity persists across candlesticks rather than resetting.
• Cumulative Levels Reset TF: Sets the timeframe for resetting the cumulative view.

Delta Box Display

• Show Delta Percentage: Toggles the numerical percentage change display.
• Show Longs/Shorts (Opened/Closed): Toggles specific behaviors on the footprint box.
• Value Area %: Defines the percentage of total OI used to calculate the Value Area High (VAH), Value Area Low (VAL), and Point of Control (POC).

Imbalances

• Imbalance Percentage: The minimum delta % required to trigger a visual imbalance marker.
• Stacked Imbalance Count: Number of consecutive levels required to trigger a stacked imbalance alert.

FAQ

How do I access Open Interest Footprint IQ?

You can get access on the LuxAlgo Library for charting platforms like TradingView, MetaTrader (MT4/MT5), and NinjaTrader for free.

Why is the footprint not appearing on my chart?

This indicator is designed for cryptocurrency tickers that provide Open Interest data. If the footprint is invisible, ensure you are on a crypto pair and try increasing the "Tick Level Distance" in the settings.

What do the different colors represent?

By default, the indicator uses a four-color system: Green for Longs Opening, Purple for Longs Closing, Red for Shorts Opening, and Yellow for Shorts Closing. These can be simplified to a two-color mode in the settings.