# Reading the Echo Map

> The four layers of the Echo Map - pressure heatmap, volume profile, gamma force lines, and CVD - plus read order, IF/THEN cheat sheet, and the patterns that matter.

Source: https://tradeecho.com/docs/features/futures/echo-map-guide (updated 2026-09-27)

The Echo Map answers one question: **where did traders commit, and are they still committed?** Four layers stack on one price axis - heatmap in the center, volume profile on the left, gamma force lines on the right, CVD along the bottom. The **bias ribbon** (thesis bar above the map) summarizes the default regime; treat it as a caption, not an entry button. When flow and the ribbon disagree, **CVD wins**.

Not financial advice.

## Layout at a Glance

| Layer | Where | What it tells you |
|-------|--------|-------------------|
| **Heatmap** | Center grid | Who aggressed when - green = buyers lifting; red = sellers hitting |
| **Volume Profile** | Left gutter | Where the market accepted volume - POC and value area |
| **Gamma force lines** | Right labels | Dealer magnets - walls, anchor, flip, prior, overnight high/low |
| **CVD** | Bottom strip | Running buy vs sell aggression on the same time axis |

## Read Order

Work top to bottom and outside in before you trade the fusion:

1. **Levels (right)** - mark POC on the profile, then the nearest gamma lines (Call Wall, Put Wall, Anchor, Flip, Prior, ON High / ON Low).
2. **POC (left)** - is price inside value, above it, or pressing a wall?
3. **Last heatmap columns** - do the newest 3-5 columns show initiative green/red climbing toward a labeled level?
4. **CVD** - does flow confirm or diverge from what price is doing?
5. **Bias ribbon (caption)** - does the thesis line match the picture? If not, trust CVD over text.

## Layer 1: The Pressure Heatmap

Every cell is one price bucket during one time bucket. The color is the **net delta** of trades in that cell - green when buyers were the aggressors, red when sellers were. Brightness scales with how one-sided the trading was.

How to read it:

- **A column of bright green climbing** - buyers lifted offers through multiple prices. Initiative buying.
- **Bright red cells at the highs** - sellers hit bids as price probed higher. Supply is active there.
- **Dim, mixed cells** - two-way rotation. Nobody in control; treat levels as mean-reversion targets.
- **Bright cells that price later revisits** - old battlegrounds tend to matter again. Volume memory is the whole premise of the map.

The right edge of the newest column pulses gently - that is the live edge, where the current bar is still forming.

## Layer 2: Volume Profile (the left gutter)

The horizontal bars show total volume at each price for the window you are viewing. Each bar is split green/red by aggressor side.

- **POC (Point of Control)** - the amber bar, the single price with the most volume. It acts as a magnet in balanced conditions.
- **Value Area** - the dashed band holding roughly the middle 70% of volume. The market's zone of agreement.

The two setups that matter:

1. **Acceptance**: price moves above the value area and *stays* there, building new volume. The market has repriced. Pullbacks to the top of the old value area are buyable in that context.
2. **Rejection**: price pokes above the value area, prints thin volume, and falls back inside. Expect rotation back toward the POC.

## Layer 3: Gamma Force Lines (the right rail)

SPX/NDX dealer positioning from Dealer Edge, projected onto the futures price axis via the live index basis. These are the levels dealers defend - the same math as the GEX heatmap, drawn where futures traders can act on it. Gamma appears on equity-index contracts only (ES, NQ, MES, MNQ, RTY, YM).

| Level | Role |
|-------|------|
| **Call Wall** | Resistance above price - dealers sell into strength |
| **Put Wall** | Support below price - dealers buy weakness |
| **Anchor** | Strongest magnet on the map - pin-day gravity into the close |
| **Gamma Flip** (dashed) | Regime boundary - above it dealers dampen moves; below it they amplify |
| **Prior** | Prior settle / reference shelf from the previous session |
| **ON High / ON Low** | Overnight range extremes - first structural magnets before and after the cash open |

On a down day, upside magnets often ladder **POC → Call Wall / Anchor → Flip → ON High**. On an up day, flip the order for downside targets.

See [Gamma on Futures](https://tradeecho.com/docs/features/futures/gamma-on-futures) for projection mechanics and a session playbook.

## Layer 4: CVD (the strip below)

**Cumulative Volume Delta** sums buyer-initiated minus seller-initiated volume across the session, on the *same time axis* as the map. It is the truth-teller for the other layers.

- **Price up + CVD up** - flow confirms the move. Trend behavior.
- **Price making highs + CVD flat or falling** - **absorption**. Someone is selling into the push without price breaking yet. The Echo Map badges this state explicitly ("Absorption - sellers hold highs vs price"). It usually resolves with a rotation back down.
- **Price flat + CVD climbing** - buyers are accumulating without lifting price. Watch for the break.
- **CVD divergence at a gamma level** - the highest-quality fade signal on the map. Flow failing exactly where dealers defend is confluence.

## IF / THEN Cheat Sheet

Mark **POC + nearest wall** first. Then check the last 3-5 heatmap columns and CVD.

| IF | THEN |
|----|------|
| Price at a **wall** and **CVD diverges** | Fade toward POC |
| **CVD confirms** and heatmap green/red is **climbing** | Run to the **next wall** on the ladder |
| **Chop inside value** | Fade extremes back to POC |
| **Flip breaks with CVD** | Stop fading; follow the break |

**Magnet ladder (up):** Put Wall → POC → Call Wall → Flip (reverse for downside).

**CVD wins** over the bias ribbon when they disagree.

## Example: ES Close Pop

One session pattern worth recognizing: sellers own the day, then a sharp pop into the bell runs the magnet ladder to **Call Wall / Anchor** and stalls.

- **Mid-session:** Price below POC, red heatmap on rallies, CVD weak or flat - downside regime. Magnets **above** (POC, Put Wall, Call Wall) are bounce targets if shorts cover.
- **Late session:** Price lifts from the **ON Low** area; bright green columns climb on the right edge - initiative buying toward labeled levels.
- **Into 16:00:** CVD **spikes green** while price lifts - real closing flow, not just a wick. Without that CVD turn, a green blip into Call Wall is often a fade, not a follow.
- **Magnet hit:** Price tags **Call Wall / Anchor** and stalls - move done for now unless tomorrow opens above with CVD still rising.
- **Not reached without acceptance:** Flip and ON High stay the next ceiling if bulls keep control through the wall.

One-line read: *Sellers owned the day; buyers stepped in at the lows; CVD confirmed the close pop; price ran to Call Wall/Anchor and stopped where the map said it would.*

## The Four Patterns, In Order of Reliability

1. **Fade at a wall with divergence** - price presses into the Call Wall (or Put Wall), CVD diverges, heatmap shows red cells at the highs. Fade back toward the POC or Anchor.
2. **Value-area acceptance** - price accepts above value with CVD confirming. Trade pullbacks in the direction of acceptance, targeting the next gamma level.
3. **POC magnet rotation** - inside the value area on a high-gamma day, fade the edges of value back to the POC. The regime chip in the thesis bar tells you when the day is pin/mean-revert.
4. **Flip break** - price loses the Gamma Flip with CVD confirming. Character change - stop fading, start following.

## Live Feel: Auto Live, Lenses, Share

- **Auto Live** - when on, the map streams live ticks and refreshes the forming column; when off, overlays freeze so you can study a moment without drift. Toggle from the status bar.
- **Session lenses** - **24h** (overnight + cash on one map), **RTH** (cash session only). Match the lens to how you trade.
- **Levels layer** - draws the session levels from the right panel's **Key Levels** card (VWAP bands, overnight, initial balance, opening range, prior day, settlement, profile) on the map. Click a level in the card to highlight it. See [Key Levels, Time & Sales and CVD](https://tradeecho.com/docs/features/futures/trade-plan-and-replay#right-panel).
- **Chart controls** - fit/autoscale the Y axis from the map controls, and a right-click menu with **Reset chart view** and **Copy price**.
- **Share / copy image** - export the current map (layers and levels included) from the toolbar for journals, Discord, or coaching.

For a simpler candle chart with GEX and flow overlays, see [Pulse Quick Start](https://tradeecho.com/docs/features/pulse/quick-start).

## Interval and Lens Choices

- **1m-5m** with the **RTH** lens for day trading the cash session
- **15m-1H** with **24h** for swing context and overnight structure
- **1D** for the position-trader view of where multi-day volume lives
- **24h** lens before the open: the overnight high/low and where value built overnight still render as levels - your first reference levels of the day

Every layer can be toggled off. When learning, run one layer at a time for a week each - heatmap first, then profile, then gamma, then CVD - before trading the fusion.