What Is Market Imbalance?

Market Imbalance, also known as “IPA” or Improper Price Action, is when price moves so fast it only trades in one direction with no orders on the other side of the market to mitigate the price movement. Market Imbalances can be both Bullish or Bearish. We all know the Big Banks, or “Smart Money”, can move the market by placing huge orders which in turn moves price significantly. They can do this because Big Banks are the top 10 traders in the Forex market trading trillions of dollars daily. But like any trader, the Big Banks cannot leave these orders in drawdown and must mitigate these orders to continue to move the market in their direction. Hence this is why Smart Money seeks out the retail trader’s stop losses (figuratively known as stop-hunting) to capture liquidity in order to move the market back to where they need it to go in order to mitigate those large orders

You, the retail trader, can use this information in your trading by knowing that these imbalances must eventually be filled and mitigated. These “Imbalances” may take a few minutes or a few weeks or months, depending on the timeframe you trade. Trades can be entered when Market Imbalances are formed and/or when they are filled. These Market Imbalances are seen on every timeframe, from 1 minute charts up to Monthly charts, and on every instrument, including Indices, Metals, Stocks, and even Crypto currencies. Now you can use this information along with you own trading strategy and style to bank serious profits in the market. 

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Inputs  (Default values in parentheses)

• Bars to count- Number of bars back to draw lines. For viewing the lines on a larger timeframe, like Weekly or Monthly, you may need to lower the bar count to around 250-500 bars. (2000)
• Minimum Pip Size For Imbalance- When ATR Input is False, This will be the Minimum pip size for displaying imbalances. (5000)
• Enable to use ATR as Pipsize Filter- When True, the ATR value inputted will be used. When False, use “Minimum Pip Size for Imbalance” above to determine the value. (True)
• ATR Period to be used- This is the ATR (Average True Range) value. (144)
• ATR Multiplier for Pipsize filter- Multiplies the current ATR value. The higher the value, the less imbalance lines you will see. (1.0)
• Minimum Bars For Imbalance- This is the minimum number of bars need to show a blocked or “filled” imbalance. If set to 5 for example, any imbalances filled in less than 5 bars will not be shown on the chart. If set to “0”, all imbalances will be drawn on the chart. (2)
• Line Thickness- Thickness of Imbalance line. (2)
• Mainline Style- Style of Mainline drawn. (Solid)
• 2nd Line Style- 2nd Line Style. See “HideSecondaryLine” input for description.(Dot)
• HideCandleColors- When False, all candles that form an imbalance, whether filled or still open, will be color to match the imbalance line drawn. (True)
• HideBlockedLine- When True, all imbalances that were filled will not be shown on the chart. (False)
• HideSecondaryLine- When False, a secondary line is drawn to show how much of the imbalance has been mitigated or filled. The distance between this line and the main line is open imbalance in the market. (True)
• alertsOn- Turns all alerts on or off. (False)
• alertsOnCurrentBar- Alerts when an Imbalance line has been drawn on the chart at the close of the current candle. (False)
• alertsMessage- Provides a pop up alert on your screen. (False)
• alertsNotification- Provides a Push Notification to MT4 mobile platform. Push notifications must be set up on MT4 to use this feature. (False)
• alertsSound- Provides a sound when an alert pops up on the screen. (False)
• alertsEmail- Provides an email notification. Email must be set up on MT4 to use this feature. (False)

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