On cumulative delta (order aggression; bid/ask):
A common misunderstanding is that delta tells a trader how bullish or bearish participants are in an instrument. Delta does NOT convey intent, it merely informs one as to how traders are choosing to execute their orders... (1/4)

...with true demand vs supply (of buy/sell intent) actually dictating the eventual price movement. This confuses a lot of traders when they see rising prices and falling delta or vice versa. This is why context matters greatly and why good traders often say "it depends". (2/4)

So is there usually a correlation btwn execution method (delta: passive/agg) & direction? Yes admittedly, but not always. And the instrument ( #ES_F #CL_F etc) one is looking at can have different methods of preferred execution depending on liquidity/vola/spread profile etc. (3/4)

This is why what I call "localized delta", or the immediate bid/offer aggressiveness in the orderflow, is a lot more informative than cumulative delta. OF is short-lived and by consequence delta can be as well, so rarely can much info be gleaned beyond the immediate event. (4/4)