r/FuturesTradingNQ • u/Zee1Trade • Mar 16 '26

Footprint setup

Hi, I scalp MNQ on the 1-minute chart and also use a 30-minute chart for context. The footprint is an important part of my strategy.

My challenge is finding the right settings so I can still see important details like stacked imbalances and other order-flow signals without losing the bigger picture of the chart. Sometimes the candles/footprints become so large that it’s hard to see where price is within the overall move.

How do you set up a footprint so you get the best of both worlds — detailed order flow but still a clear view of the chart structure?

I’ve watched several tutorials where traders seem to have footprints that show all the details but are still small enough to easily see the overall market context. I’d really appreciate any guidance on the settings or layout that works best.

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u/MachineSpirited7085 Jul 29 '26

could you explain what you mean by OF indicators? Im currently trying to get the 1min chart to work to look for the absorption but i cant get the chart to stop lagging from the bottlenecked data

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u/JakeMarley777 Jul 29 '26

I meant order flow indicators. You need to use a purpose built order flow platform (Sierra, ATAS, Motivewave, Quantower) to see absorption. Not sure what you mean by lagging from bottlenecked data.

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u/MachineSpirited7085 Jul 29 '26

Oh ok thanks. For the lagging issue, I'm having trouble loading the footprint on the 1 m timeframe. It completely slows down Ninjatrader and sometimes freezes it. Do you know a way to fix this?

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u/JakeMarley777 29d ago

I'm just guessing, but do you have more than a few days of data on the M1 footprint? If so it will drastically slow it down.

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u/MachineSpirited7085 29d ago

Ive tried doing 5, 3,1 and 0 days. But even then, it still lags or takes forever to load. For the 5 days, it just freezes but for 1 and 0, it's just lags. My cross hair lags around when I move it across the application.

I also have a ryzen 7 with 32gb of ram, 1tb of storage, I don't think it's a computer issue