Understanding market readings¶
| Reading | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Price | The direction, size and sequence of observed moves—not just the difference between two endpoints |
| Volume | How much traded in the reported candles; base-asset volume and dollar volume are different units |
| Open interest | The value or count of outstanding derivatives positions in the reported units and venues |
| Funding | The reported carrying cost of perpetual exposure; positive rates conventionally mean longs pay shorts |
| Liquidations | Reported forced closures, separated into long and short flows |
| Bid/ask depth | The displayed orders available within a sampled price band |
| Spread | The gap between the best buying and selling quotes |
| Account positioning | The reported distribution of accounts or positions within a defined venue or cohort |
| Observed return variation | The size of hourly return variation on a 4-hour, 1-day or 7-day horizon; not annualised and not directional |
| Regime state | A model classification of observed hourly variation; separate from volatility magnitude and percentile |
| RSI | The balance of recent smoothed gains and losses on the study's calculation interval |
| ADX | Directional strength, not whether the direction is up or down |
| ATR | The scale of recent candle ranges, not their direction |
| Moving averages | A smoothed price baseline over the stated calculation window |
For example, an RSI moving below 50 means smoothed losses have come to outweigh gains on that study's clock. That adds context beyond saying price fell: it distinguishes upward momentum cooling from the measured balance turning negative. It does not predict the next move.
A fall in USD open interest can partly reflect a lower underlying price. It is not automatically evidence that traders closed positions. Similarly, more positive funding does not prove every venue became more bullish.
Observed return variation and regime states follow their own hourly clock, independent of the price-candle interval. An unchanged regime colour while the volatility reading moves is valid. Read the combined guide.
For a multi-day selection, the important advance or sell-off should lead the reading. A small final retreat should not erase a prominent rally from the description. Supporting indicators belong to the relevant move and their original observation times.
Market-board order¶
The board preserves the published Signal Book ranking. That is an editorial attention order, not a forecast of the largest future gain, a portfolio weighting or a buy list. Individual board metrics can have different clocks.
Range selection¶
The chart window ends exclusively. A/B interpretation instead includes the whole B candle, using the original interval selected. Flow totals are meaningful only over the observed, distinct source intervals; incomplete totals must remain labelled as observed.