GlossaryAdvanced
Order Flow
The stream of buy and sell orders arriving at a market, whose composition and timing can reveal information about near-term supply and demand.
Order flow is the stream of buy and sell orders arriving at a market over time — its size, direction, and timing can reveal real information about near-term supply and demand pressure, beyond what the current price alone shows.
Studying order flow (for example, through order book depth or trade-by-trade data) is a distinct analytical approach from traditional price-chart technical analysis, focusing directly on the actual buying and selling activity generating price moves, rather than on patterns in the resulting price history itself.
Examples
- A sudden surge in large buy orders arriving at a market is a direct order-flow signal, distinct from any pattern visible in the price chart alone.
- Order flow analysis studies the actual buying and selling activity generating price moves, a different lens than studying patterns in the resulting price history.