Futures Price/Open Interest Trend Strength Classifier

Enter Today's Numbers

Use the settlement-to-settlement change in price and open interest for the same contract and session.

Price change (%)

Positive for up, negative for down. Under 0.05% either way counts as flat.

Open interest change (%)

Positive for a rising open interest, negative for a falling one. Under 0.5% counts as flat.

Volume versus its own recent average

Volume does not change which of the four categories a move falls into, it changes how much weight to put on the reading.

What This Combination Usually Means

Classification

Enter numbers to classify

The four classic price/open-interest combinations each say something different about who is actually behind the move.

The four combinations this classifies

Price	Open Interest	Reading
Up	Up	New longs entering, the strongest form of a genuine bullish trend
Up	Down	Short covering, the rally is shorts buying back, not new buyers committing
Down	Up	New shorts entering, the strongest form of a genuine bearish trend
Down	Down	Long liquidation, the decline is longs bailing out, not new sellers committing

How this is calculated

Price and open interest are each classified as up, down, or flat first (flat bands are ±0.05% on price and ±0.5% on open interest, since open interest usually moves in smaller daily percentages than price).
When both are flat, or one is flat and the other isn't, the tool reports it as accumulation (open interest rising while price goes nowhere) or unwinding (open interest falling while price goes nowhere), the two flat-price cases that still say something useful.
Volume above or below its own recent average does not change the classification, it only changes the conviction tag: strong volume behind a directional combination gets a strong-conviction tag, and any combination on below-average volume gets a weak-conviction tag regardless of which quadrant it falls into.
This tool classifies one session's change. A single day's reading is a data point, not a trend by itself, the classic use of this table is watching it repeat across several sessions in the same direction.

Risk & liability disclaimer: This tool applies a fixed classification rule to the numbers you enter. It does not source live price, open interest, or volume data for any contract, and it does not predict future price movement. Nothing it displays is a trading signal or a recommendation to take any specific trade. Trading Habits is not a broker-dealer, futures commission merchant, registered investment adviser, or tax professional, and is not affiliated with any broker, exchange, or data provider. We do not guarantee this tool is error-free or suitable for your situation. Always verify results independently and consult a licensed professional before making any trading or financial decision. You could lose some or all of the capital you trade with.

Is this futures move backed by fresh positions, or is it just the other side giving up?

Enter Today's Numbers

What This Combination Usually Means

Enter numbers to classify

The four combinations this classifies

How this is calculated

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