Module 1 · The Heatmap
What a Liquidity Heatmap Is
The order book, recorded and painted over time.
In this lesson you'll
- Define a liquidity heatmap (time × price × resting size)
- Understand the historical-replay idea
- Read the color scale
A normal DOM shows only the order book right now. The heatmap's breakthrough is that it records the order book frame by frame and paints its history across the screen. The right edge is “now”; everything to the left is the replayed past. You can finally see how liquidity built, held, or vanished over time.
Color encodes size. In the common (Bookmap) scheme, brighter / hotter (toward red) = more resting liquidity; colder / darker (toward blue) = thinner liquidity. A bright horizontal band is a large stack of resting orders — a wall.
Key takeaways
- A heatmap = time × price × resting-order size (color).
- It records the order book over time — the right edge is 'now', left is history.
- Bright/hot = large resting liquidity (a wall); cold/dark = thin liquidity.
- Heatmap = resting liquidity; footprint = executed trades.
Check your understanding
Pick an answer to reveal instant feedback. Answer every question to complete the lesson.
Why that's off: Executed volume is the footprint/volume profile; the heatmap shows resting orders.
Why that's off: It shows liquidity, not a directional forecast.
Why that's off: It encodes order size, not a headcount.
The heatmap paints the order book over time; color encodes the size of resting limit orders at each price and moment. Bright = large resting liquidity (a wall).
Why that's off: Showing only 'now' is the DOM's limitation; the heatmap adds history.
Why that's off: Executed trades are the footprint; the heatmap shows resting liquidity.
Why that's off: They differ precisely in the time dimension.
A DOM shows only the present book. The heatmap's innovation is painting the book's history across time, revealing whether liquidity persisted or was pulled.
Educational content only. Nothing here is financial or trading advice. Order-flow and options patterns shift probabilities; they never guarantee outcomes.