Order flow: Absorption and Icebergs
Where aggression gets "absorbed", and where reloading orders hide.
Two complementary tools that read what happens against the large passive orders resting in the book.
Absorption
Marks a level where a lot of aggressive volume arrives but price fails to break through: the aggression is “absorbed” by resting orders and pushed back.
- What it is for: identifying likely high-conviction supports/resistances, where the move stalled.
- How to read it: a marker appears on the absorbed level.
Iceberg
Flags hidden orders that reload: on screen they show a small size, but the executed amount is far greater than what was displayed (like an iceberg, the part below is bigger).
- What it is for: recognising large players defending a price without showing their whole hand.
- How to read it: a marker highlights the iceberg level; the calculation is done server-side and is also annotated on the DOM ladder and the heatmap.
The key difference: absorption is aggression hitting a wall and stopping; an iceberg is hidden size that keeps reloading.