A group of charts that provide price and volume activity together on one data point over a specified time frame. Footprint charts, provided by MarketDelta, attempt to provide traders with increased price transparency and a clearer picture of market activity, similar to that of a level II quote or depth-of-market order book.
There are several types of Footprint charts:
Footprint Profile - Shows traders the volume at each price through a vertical histogram, in addition to the regular Footprint bars. The Footprint Profile allows traders to see at what prices liquidity is pooling.
Bid/Ask Footprint - Adds color to the real-time volume for easier visualization of buyers and sellers probing the bid or ask. Using the Bid/Ask Footprint, traders can see whether it is the buyers or the sellers influencing a price move.
Delta Footprint - Displays the net difference between volume initiated by buyers and volume initiated by sellers at each price. The Delta Footprint is used by traders to help confirm that a price trend has started and will continue.
Volume Footprint - Different from a volume histogram on traditional charts, the Volume Footprint segments volume not only by time, but by price as well. This chart is meant to help traders determine points of capitulation.
The goal of the Footprint charts is to provide both volume and price data to the trader in one data point so that the eyes need to focus in only one place. It also allows traders to see "within" the price bar to provide more transparency over a traditional chart.
Footprint charts are available through monthly subscriptions with MarketDelta in addition to requiring a data feed from a participating vendor.
