The same vocabulary shown when you hover over any technical term inside the platform (Term.tsx component), gathered here.
- Balance vs. Trend
- Atlas's most basic read: if price keeps rotating inside/near the IB, the day is a balance day (rotational). If it extends beyond the IB without coming back, the day is a trend day.
- Base Rate
- The simple historical frequency of an event: how many times something happened out of all cases, with no opinion or prediction.
- Bid/Ask Spread
- The difference between the best buy price (bid) and sell price (ask) at a given moment -- it measures real liquidity. A wide spread means market makers are not willing to commit size; moves in that context are more fragile.
- COT (Commitment of Traders)
- The CFTC's weekly report on large-trader positioning -- the contrarian/macro read on who is positioned where.
- Day Type
- Atlas's classification of the session's character (trend, normal, normal variation, double distribution, neutral) based on how the profile developed.
- Excess (rejection tails)
- Two or more consecutive TPO periods with a single touch (single print) at the session extreme -- a sign that the market tested a price, was strongly rejected, and did not return. A long tail = strong rejection.
- Gap
- The difference between yesterday's close and today's open. A large unfilled gap suggests imbalance; one that fills quickly suggests the market has already "corrected" the opening mismatch.
- Half Back
- The midpoint (50%) of the overnight session range (Asia+London). Río uses it as the first structural level New York tests: if it rejects it and keeps going against the overnight bias, longer-term money does not agree with that bias.
- Initial Balance (IB)
- The price range (high-low) of the first hour of the RTH session (9:30-10:30 ET). Atlas uses it as the day's reference for balance vs. imbalance.
- Market Generated Information
- Atlas's central concept: the market itself (via TPO, volume, rotation) generates the information a trader needs -- there is no need to predict, you have to READ what price is already showing about balance, acceptance and rejection.
- n (sample size)
- How many observations back the percentage shown. An 80% with n=5 is noise; an 80% with n=200 is a real base rate.
- NWOG (New Week Opening Gap)
- The gap between last week's close and this week's open -- the weekly version of the daily gap fill.
- Open Interest (OI)
- The total number of open (unclosed) contracts at the end of the day for the front-month contract. Crossed with price direction it gives the classic read: price up + OI up = trend confirmed with new money; price up + OI down = short covering (more fragile).
- ORB (Opening Range Breakout)
- The price range of the first N minutes (15 by default) after the RTH open -- a shorter version of the Initial Balance.
- Outstanding Level
- A high, low, settle or Half Back from a previous session that price has not yet touched. Río teaches that these levels are not "forgotten" -- the market tends to come back for them sooner or later.
- POC (Point of Control)
- The price with the MOST time/TPOs in the session -- where the market spent the most time trading. It is the day's "center of gravity", not necessarily the closing price.
- Profile Shape (P/b/D/double distribution)
- P-shape: short and wide on top, narrow tail below (bullish close/short covering). b-shape: the opposite (bearish close/liquidation). D-shape: symmetric bell (balanced day). Double distribution: two value areas separated by a valley -- the day "broke" between two distinct ranges.
- RTH (Regular Trading Hours)
- The regular CME index futures session: 9:30am-4:00pm New York time, distinct from Globex's near-24h range.
- Score (Discovery)
- edge_magnitude x sample_confidence -- how far the percentage is from 50/50, multiplied by how reliable the sample size is (linear ramp up to n=30).
- Seasonality
- The statistical pattern of average return by month or day of the month over years of history -- base rate applied to the calendar.
- Single Prints
- Price levels touched by exactly ONE TPO period (30 min by default) -- they form when price moves quickly through a zone without spending time there. Many single prints in a row = directional movement, not rotational.
- TPO (Time Price Opportunity)
- The basic unit of Atlas's Market Profile: each time interval marks the prices it touched, building the session's profile.
- VAH (Value Area High)
- The upper edge of the Value Area -- the top limit of where 70% of the volume/time occurred. Crossing it with force suggests the day is becoming directional, not rotational.
- VAL (Value Area Low)
- The lower edge of the Value Area -- the bottom limit of the session's 70% of volume/time. The mirror image of VAH, on the downside.
- Value Area
- The price range where 70% of the session's volume/time occurred -- the "fair value" zone according to Market Profile.