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Overview

ScalperIQ is a suite of technical indicators designed for analyzing intraday order flow dynamics. The suite consists of the ScalperIQ Tick Engine and three studies — Delta Flow, Phantom, and Impact — each offering a unique perspective on market microstructure.

The Tick Engine processes raw tick data and provides it to each study. Delta Flow highlights changes in buying and selling pressure through candle coloring, delta pivot markers, and adaptive zone overlays. Phantom detects breakout escapes by tracking the largest individual trades on each bar. Impact identifies size imbalances using adaptive thresholds and marks levels where unusually large trades occurred.

This suite is currently available for use on MotiveWave, EdgeProX, and NinjaTrader platforms.

Release Notes

Detailed release notes can be found here

• 3/01/26: V1.0.0 Beta
• 3/12/26: V1.0.1 Beta
• 05/22/26: V2.0.0 (Latest Version)

What Is Delta?

Delta measures the difference between aggressive market orders executed at the ask and bid prices. When more orders are executed at the ask, delta is positive, indicating buying pressure. Conversely, when more orders are executed at the bid, delta is negative, reflecting selling pressure. Delta analysis can help identify short-term imbalances and shifts in control between buyers and sellers.

How It Works

ScalperIQ processes tick-level data through the Tick Engine, which aggregates raw tick information into per-bar metrics including delta, max trade sizes, and volume by price. Each study reads this shared data and applies its own analysis.

Delta Flow calculates bar-level delta values and visualizes them through candle coloring, delta pivot markers, and adaptive zone overlays. Phantom tracks the largest individual trades per bar and detects breakout escapes — moments where an unusually large trade pushes price beyond a key level. Impact identifies size imbalances using adaptive thresholds and marks levels where aggressive participation was significantly above normal.

All components are configurable to suit various styles of trading, with options to optimize both performance and visual clarity.

Video Walkthroughs

Watch a step-by-step install guide covering portal setup, file placement, and getting ScalperIQ running on your chart.

ScalperIQ Portal

The ScalperIQ Portal is where users manage everything related to their ScalperIQ installation and license. You'll use it to download the latest version of the app, retrieve your license key, or move your license to a new device. You can access it anytime at portal.scalperiq.com or from the Portal link on the ScalperIQ website.

The portal provides a fast, self-service way to manage licenses and devices, ensuring users stay up and running with minimal friction.

How To Access The Portal

• Go to the Portal: Visit portal.scalperiq.com/portal or click the "Portal" link on the ScalperIQ website.
• Enter Your Email: Type your email address into the field and click "Send Link." You'll receive a secure, one-time sign-in link that expires after 10 minutes.
• Open the Secure Link: Check your inbox for an email from ScalperIQ titled "Your secure link to the ScalperIQ Portal." Click Open Portal to sign in instantly — no password required.
• Manage Your Account: Once inside, your personalized dashboard will display several options: Download ScalperIQ, Download License, Move License, Contact Support.

Moving Your License

Your ScalperIQ license is node-locked, meaning it can only be active on one computer at a time. Once activated, the license automatically binds to that specific device. To activate on another computer:

1. Close NinjaTrader on all machines.
2. Copy your license file to the NinjaTrader 8 folder on both computers, or download it on the other machine from the portal.
3. Go to the ScalperIQ Portal and click Move License — this unbinds your license from its current machine.
4. Open NinjaTrader on the new computer — the license will automatically bind to that device, and the previous machine will be signed out.

You can move your license up to twice every 24 hours. This system ensures flexibility while maintaining security and personal device binding.

Installation

Follow the steps below to install ScalperIQ for NinjaTrader 8.

1. Access the Portal: Visit portal.scalperiq.com/portal and sign in using your email to receive a one-time secure link.
2. Download Your Files: Once inside the portal, download your ScalperIQ license file and the ScalperIQ zip file.
3. Place your .license file: Move your .license file from your downloads folder to the NinjaTrader 8 folder typically located in C:\Users\"Your User Name"\Documents\NinjaTrader 8

Chrome or other browsers may show a warning that the file "isn't commonly downloaded and it may be dangerous." Open your downloads, click the file, and choose "Download suspicious file" — this is expected and safe.

Prep NinjaTrader for ScalperIQ

IMPORTANT. ScalperIQ has the ability to pull a vast amount of historical data. Before installing, we highly recommend the following settings as a starting place to check stability and load times on your system before requesting more historical data.

1. Import ScalperIQ by navigating to Tools > Import > NinjaScript Add-On on the Control Center and selecting the downloaded zip file.

A third-party add-on warning appears; click OK to proceed.

2. Right-click the chart and select Indicators. Locate ScalperIQ Tick Engine in the left menu and double-click to add it. Then add your desired studies — Delta Flow, Phantom, or Impact. Click Apply and OK to complete installation.

How To Install Updated Version

Navigate to Tools > Remove NinjaScript Assembly in the NinjaTrader Control Panel. Select the outdated ScalperIQ version and click Remove. Wait for confirmation of successful removal, then restart NinjaTrader and follow the fresh installation instructions.

Getting Started

The ScalperIQ Tick Engine is the foundation of the ScalperIQ suite. It processes raw tick data and makes it available to each study on your chart. You must add the Tick Engine to your chart before adding any other ScalperIQ study.

Step 1: Add the Tick Engine

Right-click your chart and select Indicators. Locate ScalperIQ Tick Engine in the indicator list and double-click to add it. Click Apply and OK. The engine will begin loading historical tick data.

Step 2: Add Your Studies

Once the Tick Engine is loaded, add one or more studies from the same Indicators menu:

• ScalperIQ Delta Flow — Candle coloring, delta zones, pivots, and exhaustion markers
• ScalperIQ Phantom — Breakout escape detection via max trade size tracking
• ScalperIQ Impact — Size imbalance detection with adaptive thresholds

Each study automatically connects to the Tick Engine on the same chart. If you add a study without the Tick Engine present, it will display a message asking you to add the engine first.

Step 3: Configure

The Tick Engine controls global settings like the color theme, RTH mode, and the Quick Settings Panel. Each study has its own settings for its specific visual outputs. See the individual study sections below for details.

Tick Engine

The ScalperIQ Tick Engine is the core data source for all ScalperIQ studies. It processes every tick on the chart and aggregates key metrics for each bar — including delta, maximum buy/sell trade sizes, and volume by price.

The Tick Engine must be added to your chart before any other ScalperIQ study. It also handles:

• License validation — Your license is checked once by the engine. If valid, all studies are automatically authorized.
• Environment validation — The engine verifies you're on a supported futures instrument with a timeframe of 30 minutes or less.
• Color theme management — When a custom theme is enabled on the engine, it overrides the color settings on all studies. If no theme is enabled, each study uses its own local color settings.
• Quick Settings Panel — The engine provides an on-chart settings panel for adjusting visual settings without reloading data.

Settings

• Use Custom Theme: Enables a predefined color theme applied across all ScalperIQ studies on the chart.
• Theme: Selects the active theme (Vector, Classic, Ember, Pulse, Polar, Thermal, or Obsidian).
• Show Quick Settings Panel: Enable to see the ScalperIQ Quick Settings panel on your chart for adjusting visual settings without reloading historic data.
• RTH Only (All Studies): Restricts analysis to Regular Trading Hours across all studies when enabled.

Quick Settings Panel

The Quick Settings Panel appears on your chart and provides quick access to the global theme, RTH toggle, and per-study settings without opening the indicators dialog.

Delta Flow

ScalperIQ Delta Flow visualizes changes in buying and selling pressure through candle coloring, delta pivot markers, exhaustion markers, and adaptive zone overlays. It reads bar-level delta data from the Tick Engine and applies its own analysis to highlight shifts in market control.

Candle Colors & Averaging Period

These parameters configure the core logic of delta measurement and visualization.

• IQBoost: Enhances signal responsiveness by weighting price movement with delta intensity. This provides faster, more adaptive reactions to market shifts — though results may vary slightly between users due to local calculation differences.
• Positive Delta Color: Defines the color used when delta is positive. This color represents buying aggression and may be overridden by the selected custom theme.
• Negative Delta Color: Defines the color used when delta is negative. This represents selling aggression and may be overridden by the selected custom theme.
• Enable Candle Coloring: When enabled, candles are color-coded based on the bar's delta value. This highlights whether the bar exhibited net buying or selling aggression.
• Averaging Period (Bars): Sets the number of bars used to calculate an average of delta. Short periods are more responsive, while longer periods reduce noise.
• Delta Threshold: Influences how aggressively candles are colored. Candles are always rendered with some degree of color, but higher thresholds emphasize stronger delta values, while lower thresholds produce less of a gradient and a sharper split between buying and selling colors.

Zone Settings

Controls the rendering of delta zones — areas where notable buying or selling pressure has occurred.

• Enable Zone Drawing: Toggles the display of delta zones on the chart.
• Zone Opacity: Adjusts the transparency of the drawn zones.

Delta Pivot Settings

Delta pivots indicate locations where buying and selling aggression has flipped with intensity. These are not trade signals, but rather objective markers showing potential shifts in control.

• Draw Delta Pivots: Enables the display of delta pivot markers.
• Minimum Delta Pivot Intensity: Sets the minimum delta deviation required to qualify a pivot.
• Delta Pivot Color (Buying -> Selling): Color used to mark transitions from buying to selling aggression.
• Delta Pivot Color (Selling -> Buying): Color used to mark transitions from selling to buying aggression.
• Delta Pivot Marker Size: Controls the size of the pivot marker symbol.

Exhaustion Marker Settings

Exhaustion Markers act as early warning signals for potential trend reversals or pauses. They identify moments where a strong, high-momentum directional move (a sequence of "hot" bars) loses steam and enters a cooldown phase, suggesting that the aggressive buying or selling pressure driving the move has temporarily dried up.

• Draw Exhaustion Markers: Toggles the visibility of the exhaustion indicators on your chart.
• Exhaustion Marker Size: Adjusts the visual size of the exhaustion marker icon on the chart.
• Buyer Exhaustion Color: Selects the color for markers indicating that buying pressure has exhausted (typically at a potential high).
• Seller Exhaustion Color: Selects the color for markers indicating that selling pressure has exhausted (typically at a potential low).
• Min Hot Bars Before Exhaustion: Defines the minimum number of consecutive high-momentum bars required to validate a trend before checking for exhaustion.
• Cooldown Bars Before Marker: Sets how many lower-momentum bars must follow the trend to confirm the exhaustion event.

Usage: These markers are designed to spot "burnout" points where a price trend may be overextended. By highlighting where aggressive order flow momentum suddenly drops off after a sustained run, they help traders anticipate potential reversals or consolidation periods, avoiding the trap of chasing a move that is already running out of fuel.

Cooldown Bars Before Marker can be set to 0, which will make them print as soon as the "Hot Bar Sequence" is over for maximum responsiveness. This extra responsiveness comes at the expense of potential fake outs or false signals.

Session Limits

• Max # of Delta Zones: Caps zones per session.
• Max # of Delta Pivots: Upper limit per session.
• Max # of Exhaustion Markers: Caps markers per session.

Session Time Settings

• Use RTH Data Only: Restricts analysis to RTH if enabled; includes full-session data when disabled.

Custom Themes

• Use Custom Color Theme: Enables a predefined color theme.
• Bar Color Theme: Selects the theme. When enabled, overrides individual color settings.

Advanced Settings

• Invert Zone Colors: Invert your zone colors so that buy zones appear as a sell color and sell colors a buy. This is a visual change only — the zones are still created by aggressive buying or selling.
• Extend Zones Across Sessions: Allows delta zones to persist beyond the session in which they were formed.
• First Session to Extend: Increasing this number will show you previous zones extended into the current session starting with zones from 1 (previous session).
• Last Session to Extend: Increasing this number will cut out previous session zones. Matching First Session To Extend will only extend zones from that session. I.e. a setting of 3 in both will only extend zones from 3 sessions ago.
• Show Quick Settings Panel: Enable to show the Delta Flow Quick Settings panel on your chart for adjusting visual settings without reloading historic data. Disable to hide the panel.

Phantom

ScalperIQ Phantom identifies potential failed breakouts by detecting moments where price pushes to new extremes without order flow confirmation. When price extends beyond its range but delta does not support the move, Phantom marks it with a bubble — a visual cue that the breakout may lack conviction and a reversal could follow.

• Upper escapes (bubble above bar): Price pushed to a new extreme high, but buying pressure did not confirm the move
• Lower escapes (bubble below bar): Price pushed to a new extreme low, but selling pressure did not confirm the move

Settings

• Max Markers Per Session: Limits the number of escape bubbles displayed per session.
• Min Spacing (Minutes): Minimum time between escape markers to prevent clustering.
• Marker Opacity (%): Controls the transparency of escape bubbles on the chart.
• Upper Escape Color: Color of bubbles drawn above bars for upper breakout escapes.
• Lower Escape Color: Color of bubbles drawn below bars for lower breakout escapes.
• Dynamic Dot Sizing: When enabled, bubble size scales with the magnitude of the escape.
• Fixed Dot Size: The base size of escape bubbles when dynamic sizing is disabled.
• Min Dot Size: The minimum bubble size rendered, preventing bubbles from becoming too small.
• Dot Offset (px): Controls the vertical distance between the bubble and the bar.
• Use RTH Data Only: When enabled, Phantom only tracks escapes during Regular Trading Hours.

Impact

ScalperIQ Impact marks price levels where unusually large trades occurred relative to normal session activity. When detected, Impact draws a dashed horizontal line at that price, giving you a visual reference for where significant participation entered the market.

• Buy imbalance levels mark where an outsized buy trade occurred
• Sell imbalance levels mark where an outsized sell trade occurred

These levels can act as reference points for potential support, resistance, or areas of interest.

Settings

• Max Levels on Chart: Limits the number of imbalance levels displayed at once.
• Level at Trade Price: When enabled, draws the level at the exact price where the outsized trade occurred.
• Line Width: Controls the thickness of imbalance level lines.
• Buy Imbalance Color: Color of levels drawn for large buy trade imbalances.
• Sell Imbalance Color: Color of levels drawn for large sell trade imbalances.
• Extend Across Sessions: Allows imbalance levels to persist beyond the session in which they were formed.
• Nearest Session (1 = Most Recent): Sets the most recent session from which to extend levels.
• Furthest Session: Sets the oldest session from which to extend levels.
• Use RTH Data Only: When enabled, Impact only tracks imbalances during Regular Trading Hours.

Custom Themes

Custom themes apply a consistent color scheme to candle and marker rendering across all ScalperIQ studies. When enabled, manual customization of individual color parameters is disabled. Themes are set on the Tick Engine. When enabled, the theme overrides individual color settings on all studies. If no theme is enabled, each study uses its own local color settings.

• Use Custom Color Theme: Enables use of a predefined theme.

• Bar Color Theme: Selects a theme from available options:

• Vector - Neon Green & Purple

• Classic - Green & Red

• Ember - Orange & Pink

• Pulse - Blue & Orange

• Polar - Blue & Pink

• Thermal - Purple & Orange

• Obsidian (for light colored chart backgrounds) - Blue & Red

How To Interpret Signals

ScalperIQ highlights delta shifts and order flow dynamics that reflect underlying changes in market microstructure. The following signals provide visual cues for changes in buying and selling pressure across the ScalperIQ suite.

Candle Colors

Candles are colored based on delta pressure values. This allows for quick visual assessment of whether a bar was dominated by buyers or sellers.

• Positive Delta Candles: Reflect net buying pressure.
• Negative Delta Candles: Reflect net selling pressure.

Delta Pivots

Delta pivots identify moments where aggressive market control changes hands. These are not entry or exit signals, but rather context markers to help traders assess the underlying order flow activity.

• Buying to Selling Pivots: Indicates a dramatic shift from net buying to selling.
• Selling to Buying Pivots: Indicates a dramatic shift from net selling to buying.

Delta Zones

Zones are drawn where delta intensity has reached a significant threshold. These zones often serve as areas of interest for potential support, resistance, or price reversion.

It is important to note that when a zone formed from aggressive selling is later reclaimed by buyers (i.e., price moves above the zone), it may subsequently act as support, and vice versa for a buy zone reclaimed by sellers.

These contextual shifts can offer additional insight into the evolving balance of market pressure.

Exhaustion Markers

Exhaustion Markers act as early warning signals for potential trend reversals or pauses. They identify moments where a strong, high-momentum directional move (a sequence of "hot" bars) loses steam and enters a cooldown phase, suggesting that the aggressive buying or selling pressure driving the move has temporarily dried up.

Exhaustion Markers are contextual signals, not trade triggers on their own. Their primary role is to alert you that a strong directional move may be losing participation, increasing the likelihood of a pause, pullback, or rotation rather than immediate continuation.

Used in context with other levels a marker suggests that aggressive buyers or sellers are no longer pressing, and that continuation through the level may be less likely without consolidation or a reset in momentum or that a potential reversal may be imminent.

Impact Levels

Impact levels mark prices where outsized trade activity occurred. Similar to delta zones, these levels can act as areas of interest for potential support or resistance. When a sell imbalance level is reclaimed by buyers, it may act as support — and vice versa for buy imbalance levels reclaimed by sellers.

Phantom Escapes

Phantom bubbles appear when price pushes to new extremes without delta confirmation — meaning the breakout lacks order flow conviction. These escape signals are often early indicators that a reversal could be in store, as the move has extended beyond its range without the buying or selling pressure to sustain it.

Supported Bar Types

ScalperIQ is designed to work with the following bar types:

• Tick
• Linear (up to 30 min time frame)**
• Constant Volume
• Range
• Renko
• Hybrid Renko
• NT Renko
• Point & Figure
• Reversal

**Note that loading times for linear charts may be long. We recommend reducing the # of bars on your chart when using linear bars.

Use Cases

ScalperIQ supports a variety of short-term and intraday strategies. The suite is best used in conjunction with other price action or volume-based tools.

Trend Confirmation: Persistent delta alignment with price movement helps confirm trend direction. Strong positive delta in a rising market suggests sustained buyer control.

Reversal Awareness: Aggressive shifts in delta (e.g., through pivots) may precede price reversals. Exhaustion markers can show where extreme moves are cooling off. Phantom escape bubbles flag moments where price pushed to extremes without order flow confirmation — early indicators that a breakout is failing and a reversal may follow.

Entry Timing for Scalping: Scalpers may use delta pivots, high-intensity delta zones, and Impact levels to identify precise moments of temporary imbalance that provide edge for short-duration trades.

Breakout Validation: Breakouts supported by strong directional delta are generally more reliable. Phantom bubbles at price extremes can signal that a breakout lacks conviction — price extended without order flow support, suggesting the move may fail and a reversal could follow. Weak delta on a breakout may indicate a potential fake out.

Support/Resistance Refinement: Delta zones and Impact levels provide refined intraday support and resistance based on aggressive order activity rather than static levels. Impact levels highlight where outsized trades occurred, while delta zones reflect areas of cumulative pressure.

Platform Support

ScalperIQ is currently available for use on the MotiveWave, EdgeProX, and NinjaTrader platforms. If you have platform-specific questions regarding installation, chart settings, or general usage unrelated to ScalperIQ, please refer to the respective platform documentation:

• MotiveWave Official Website: https://motivewave.com/
• MotiveWave Documentation: https://docs.motivewave.com/
• EdgeProX Official Website: https://edgeclear.com/
• NinjaTrader Official Website: https://ninjatrader.com/
• NinjaTrader Documentation: https://ninjatrader.com/support/helpguides/nt8/

FAQs & Troubleshooting

I see "Waiting for ScalperIQ Tick Engine..." — what does this mean?

ScalperIQ studies (Delta Flow, Phantom, Impact) require the Tick Engine to be on the same chart. Right-click your chart, select Indicators, and add ScalperIQ Tick Engine first. Once the engine is loaded, your studies will automatically connect and begin displaying data.

I added the Tick Engine but my study still isn't showing data.

The Tick Engine needs a moment to process historical tick data after being added. Wait for the engine's loading message to clear. If the issue persists, try removing and re-adding the study. Make sure both the engine and the study are on the same chart with the same instrument and bar type.

Why do positive delta candles sometimes appear in a downtrend, or negative delta candles in an uptrend?

This is due to the Averaging Period setting. A higher averaging period smooths out fluctuations, making delta values more stable but slower to react to changes. This can result in positive delta appearing even as price declines, or negative delta showing up as price rises. In contrast, a lower averaging period reacts more quickly to recent order flow changes but may introduce more noise. Traders should adjust this setting based on their preference for signal stability versus sensitivity and their chosen trading time frame.

I placed my .license file, but none of my candles are colored, and I don't see any markers or zones.

If the study is not displaying any visual elements after placing your .license file, try the following troubleshooting steps:

1. Toggle a Setting: Adjust any setting within the study's configuration panel and apply the changes to see if it resolves the issue.
2. Remove and Reapply the Study: Delete the study from your chart and reapply it.
3. Verify Your License Key: Double-check that the license key was placed into the NinjaTrader 8 folder in your C:\Users\"Your Username"\Documents\NinjaTrader 8 folder.
4. Restart the Platform: If the issue persists, restart NinjaTrader and reload the study.
5. Contact Us: If you're still having trouble please email us at info@scalperIQ.com with "Troubleshooting" in the subject line.

Why do delta zones and delta pivots change position when I modify the averaging period?

Changes to the averaging period setting affect how delta values are processed and visualized. Modifying this input alters the context used to evaluate what qualifies as a significant delta shift. As a result, the placement or presence of delta zones and pivots will adjust accordingly. This is expected behavior and reflects the recalculation of data under the new configuration.

I see less zones/delta pivots than in my max settings. Why?

The setting specifies the maximum number of pivots/zones that may be displayed. If fewer pivots/zones appear, it means fewer qualifying areas were detected than the max setting.

Why aren't my candles changing color?

Ensure "Enable Candle Coloring" is active and that delta values exceed the threshold. If a custom theme is selected, individual color overrides will be disabled.

Why don't I see delta pivots?

Confirm that "Draw Delta Pivots" is enabled.

Why is the indicator running slowly?

ScalperIQ runs tick level calculations which can be intensive. To feel more responsive, right-click the chart and select "Data Series..." to reduce the number of days/weeks loaded for your time frame.

Can I use this during pre-market or extended hours?

Yes. To include all trading hours, uncheck "Use RTH Data Only."

When I turn RTH Data Only on or off, my markers and zones change positions. Why?

This occurs because the calculation for delta zones and pivots is based on the data available. When "Use RTH Data Only" is enabled, calculations are performed using only regular trading hours, excluding pre-market and after-hours data. When disabled, the full session is included, which can impact where zones and pivots appear.

Why do I see different signals than another user on the same asset and timeframe?

Tick data is inherently noisy and can vary slightly between users due to differences in data feed timing or how local data is stored. Complete synchronization between users may not always be possible, especially if one user's chart has been running longer than another's.

However, differences in alignment do not reduce the accuracy of signals. The indicator is designed to adapt to incoming data consistently, meaning that even if two users see slight variations, the signals themselves remain reliable and relevant for each user's setup.

Do I still need to enable Tick Replay?

No. As of version 2.0.0, ScalperIQ no longer requires Tick Replay to be enabled. The Tick Engine handles historical tick data processing automatically. If you previously enabled Tick Replay, we recommend disabling it as it can slow down chart loading times.

For all other questions please email info@scalperIQ.com