TradeFlow™ Charts, Studies and the E-mini S&P 500
At the CQG Web site, there are a series of articles by me detailing TradeFlow, TradeFlow Studies, and my customs studies. In addition, a Component Pac is available that will install my two custom studies into CQG.
TradeFlow is CQG’s innovative charting style that uses color-coded bars to track traded volume at the ask price versus bid price. The high and the low of the TradeFlow bar is the best bid and ask prices. The TradeFlow bar is colored green for the percentage of volume at the ask price (buying) and red for the percentage of volume of trades at the bid price (selling). This chart style can be applied to any electronically traded market.
The width of the bar and the brightness of the color are based upon the current bars volume reading relative to the range of volume readings in the look back period. High volume bars are wide and brightly colored. Low volume bars are thin and dark.
The standard CQG studies for TradeFlow are TradeFlow VolumeTM (TFVol) and the TradeFlow On Balance VolumeTM Line (TFOBV).
TradeFlow VolumeTM (TFVol) separates the executed volume into trades going off at the ask price (buying) as green histogram bars, and trades executed into the bid price as red histogram bars.
TradeFlow On Balance VolumeTM line is the net difference between ask and bid volume.
TradeFlow bars can be aggregated or combined. In this example, the TradeFlow bars are set to be aggregated at a 5-ticks range. To form an aggregated TradeFlow chart, type in a comma and the number, such as ,5. Right click on the TradeFlow bar, and modify the bar, and select Tick under Aggregation. You need CQG 7.4.
TradeFlow elements can be used as a custom study. The study shown in the aggregated example is the TradeFlow Volume Cross study (TF5VCrs). This study plots a 5-bar running sum of the trades at the ask price (the green line) versus the 5-bar running sum of the trades into the bid price (the red line). In other words, it tracks the buying and selling by traders. Watch for crossovers of the buy and sell line to signal changes in market direction.
The next study calculates the difference between the buy and sell line of the TradeFlow volume Cross study. It is called the is the TradeFlow Up minus TradeFlow Down Volume study (TF5Um5D). This study is plotted as a histogram. Watch for peaks and troughs in the histogram bars to indicate subtle shifts in who is dominating the buying or selling in the market.


November 8th, 2006 at 11:13 pm
where can I get the custom studies for Tradeflow charts ? Thanks.
November 9th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Thank you for your interest in my work. There will be an article detailing the design of the two customs studies posted at www.cqg.com within the next few days at the Download page. The basic formulas are two lines for the TF5VCrs:
TF5VCrs:
TFVolBuy (green line)= Sum( TFAskVol(@),5)
TFVolSell (red line) = Sum( TFBidVol(@),5)
and the TF5Um5D:
Sum( TFAskVol(@),5) - Sum( TFBidVol(@),5)
I can send you a PAC.
January 3rd, 2007 at 10:38 am
[…] The gold market is testing a resistance zone, but has not entered it, yet. The RSI is turning down from below 62, which indicates a trading range. RSI peak and low readings between 62 and 38 indicate a trading range. […]
January 4th, 2007 at 9:52 am
[…] The gold market has formed a resistance zone and a support zone, but the price is right in the middle. The RSI readings, which I use to indicate the trend, are turning down from below 62 and up from above 38, which indicate a trading range. […]
January 4th, 2007 at 11:14 am
[…] So far today, the TradeFlow chart shows that the price action tested a support zone, buyers came in as indicated by the buy volume line (green) of the TradeFlow Volume Cross Study edged above the sell volume line (red). Right now, the market is stalling out at a resistance zone established yesterday. […]
January 5th, 2007 at 9:33 am
[…] The morning view at the TradeFlow Chart for the EURUSD shows the price action in a trading range between a resistance zone and a support zone. At the moment, the TF5VCrs buy volume line (green) is above the sell volume line (red) and is indicating buying at these levels. […]
January 5th, 2007 at 11:43 am
[…] So far, today, the TradeFlow chart shows that the price action gapped down and tried to fill the gap, but met sellers in the resistance zone. Then the market broke down and took out yesterday’s low. The market has recovered and has moved above a lower resistance zone. Right now, there appears to be some buying going on based on the buy volume line (green) of the TradeFlow Volume Cross Study edging above the sell volume line (red). […]
January 7th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
[…] I will be using TradeFlow charts for my examples because TradeFlow charts give you such good insight into what is happening in the market right now. Three of the order routing interfaces allow you to trade right from a TradeFlow chart. Using TradeFlow charts, you easily identify support and resistance levels, and intraday trends. You can see who the aggressors are, the buyers or the sellers. […]
January 8th, 2007 at 9:08 am
[…] The morning view at the TradeFlow Chart for the EURUSD shows the price action has just edged through resistance zone A. There is a sign that buyers are coming in as the TF5VCrs buy volume line (green) is above the sell volume line (red). It looks like the high of the day (resistance zone B) will be tested. […]
January 8th, 2007 at 9:48 am
[…] The TradeFlow chart of the crude oil traded on the Globex shows that sellers are dominating based on the sell volume line (red) of the TradeFlow Cross Study dominating the buy volume line. […]
January 8th, 2007 at 10:45 am
[…] This morning, the TradeFlow chart shows a sideways trend. We can see that the price climbed into a resistance zone, but the buy volume line (green) of the TradeFlow Volume Cross Study made a much lower high. This indicated buyers were not likely to bid the market through resistance. […]