Volume & Order Flow

Tick Delta

Tick-level delta analysis for granular buyer/seller pressure

Analyzes delta at the tick level for a granular view of buyer vs. seller pressure within each bar. Provides a more detailed picture of order flow than standard bar-level delta calculations.

Tick Delta on a Sierra Chart

The Concept

Tick Delta analyzes order flow at the finest granularity available — individual ticks. By tracking cumulative tick-level delta, it reveals buyer versus seller pressure within each bar at a resolution that standard bar-level delta can miss. The tick average line provides a smoothed baseline for identifying when pressure shifts.

How to Read It

Colored bars and an average line are displayed in a separate chart region.

  • Green bars (positive cumulative tick count) indicate net buying pressure within the bar
  • Red bars (negative cumulative tick count) indicate net selling pressure within the bar
  • The Tick Average line shows the smoothed trend — white when positive, yellow when negative
  • Divergence between tick delta and price often provides early warning of reversals

Practical Tips

Requires tick-level data (Additional Chart Data Arrays) enabled on the chart. The Length input controls the smoothing of the tick average — shorter periods are more responsive. Display in a separate chart region for clarity. Tick Delta is especially useful for catching subtle shifts in participation that bar-level delta smooths over.

Requirements

  • Displayed in a separate chart region
  • Requires tick-level data (Additional Chart Data Arrays)

Input & Settings

1Length

Number of bars used for the tick average calculation. Min: 2. Default: 15.

Subgraphs

1Cumulative Trend Tick Count

Default: Bar. Displays the cumulative tick delta as colored bars — green when positive (buyer pressure), red when negative (seller pressure).

2Tick Average

Default: Ignore. Stores the calculated tick average value. Can be enabled to display.

3Tick Average +/-

Default: Line. Displays the tick average as a line — white when positive, yellow when negative.

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