What delta measures

Delta is the difference between aggressive buying and aggressive selling in a period — the volume that hit the ask (market buys) minus the volume that hit the bid (market sells). Positive delta means buyers were the aggressors; negative delta means sellers were. It captures intent in a way raw volume cannot, because raw volume does not tell you which side was lifting the market.

Delta, CVD, and the running total

Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) is the running sum of delta over time. Where delta describes one candle, CVD traces the ongoing tug-of-war between aggressive buyers and sellers as a single line. Reading the two together is the foundation of order-flow analysis on RSI Monitor.

What divergence reveals: absorption

Delta divergence happens when price and delta disagree. The classic case: price grinds to a new high, but delta or CVD makes a lower high. Buyers are still pressing aggressively, yet price is barely advancing — meaning passive limit sellers are absorbing all that buying. When the aggressive buyers exhaust themselves against that wall, price often reverses sharply.

Bullish and bearish cases

  • Bearish delta divergence: price makes a higher high while CVD makes a lower high. Aggressive buying is being absorbed near a top — a warning for longs.
  • Bullish delta divergence: price makes a lower low while CVD makes a higher low. Aggressive selling is being absorbed near a bottom — a warning for shorts.

How to use it without overtrading

Delta divergence is a clue about hidden positioning, not a standalone trigger. It is strongest at a meaningful level — a prior high or low, a VWAP, a support or resistance zone — and stronger still when momentum agrees. A bearish delta divergence into resistance that lines up with an overbought RSI reading on RSI Monitor is order flow, structure, and momentum all flagging the same exhaustion.