Long/Short Ratio + Top Trader Ratio

How to read the six numbers

Long/short ratio is a counter-intuitive indicator. "Most retail accounts are long" tends to print near bull-market tops — everyone is already loaded, so there's no incremental buying pressure and the next move is often a reversal. "Most retail accounts are short" tends to print near capitulation bottoms, and is usually followed by a relief rally. The platform-wide ratio is therefore frequently read as a contrarian signal.

The Top Trader ratios run the other way. Professional positioning is closer to "institutional read" of the market. When Top Trader account ratio and position ratio both lean long, and platform-wide accounts lean short, that's a reasonably clean bullish setup. The reverse signature is the bearish version.

Working thresholds we treat as informal benchmarks: platform-wide account ratio above 2.5 has often marked local tops, below 0.4 has marked local bottoms; Top Trader position ratio above 1.5 or below 0.6 is already a meaningful skew. These are heuristics, not mechanical triggers.

Trend matters more than the snapshot

Single-point values bounce. What carries actual information is the slope across 30 points. If the Top Trader position ratio drifted from 1.1 to 1.7 over the last two hours — even though the absolute level isn't extreme yet — the trend tells you "professional accounts are stacking longs". The directional read often precedes a price move.

Conversely, when a ratio sits flat near 1.0 for hours, longs and shorts are balanced — nothing actionable. Pin this page in a tab next to your candle chart and watch the two together.