During one of the most anticipated TED Talks of the year, the founder of Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital delivered a compelling message that cut through decades of trading mythology:
Markets are not driven by indicators — they are driven by order flow.
Plazo’s talk focused on how understanding who is buying, who is selling, and why allows traders to see the market the way institutions do. In an era dominated by artificial intelligence trading, he argued, order flow is no longer optional — it is the foundation.
“Price is the headline,” Plazo stated. “Order flow is the story behind it.”
The Institutional Truth About Markets
According to Joseph Plazo, most retail traders fail in forex trading because they rely on lagging signals while institutions trade transactional intent.
Banks and funds focus on:
Aggressive buyers vs aggressive sellers
Absorption at key price levels
Imbalances between bid and ask
Liquidity consumption and replenishment
Execution footprints left by large players
Plazo explained that every candle is the result of thousands of decisions, and order flow reveals who won the battle inside that candle.
“Indicators summarize the past,” Plazo explained.
This philosophy underpins the research models developed at Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital, where AI systems are trained to interpret real-time order behavior rather than static price patterns.
Cumulative Volume Delta and Market Pressure
Plazo then introduced Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) as one of the most powerful — and misunderstood — order flow tools.
While price may rise, CVD can reveal whether that move is driven by genuine buying or artificial price lifting. Likewise, falling prices with rising delta often signal stealth accumulation.
He showed how institutions use CVD to:
Detect false breakouts
Identify hidden accumulation
Spot distribution before reversals
Measure true directional conviction
“Delta exposes intent.”
In artificial intelligence trading, these divergences are gold — providing machine-readable signals that precede major market moves.
The Mechanics Behind Volatility
Plazo emphasized that volatility in forex trading is often misunderstood. Large players don’t chase price; get more info they seek liquidity.
Liquidity resides:
Above obvious highs
Below obvious lows
Around news-driven spikes
Inside retail stop clusters
Institutions push price into these zones to fill large orders efficiently. Retail traders interpret this as chaos. Institutions see opportunity.
“Liquidity is where the business gets done,” Plazo said.
This liquidity-first approach is a core principle at Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital, where order flow data feeds directly into AI-driven execution models.
How Artificial Intelligence Enhances Human Skill
Plazo concluded by explaining how artificial intelligence trading magnifies order flow mastery.
AI does not replace traders — it enhances perception:
Processing millions of transactions instantly
Detecting patterns humans miss
Quantifying pressure objectively
Removing emotional bias from execution
“The future belongs to traders who combine human judgment with machine precision.”
From Guessing to Knowing
Plazo summarized his TED Talk with a simple institutional framework:
Understand pressure first
Trade where institutions trade
Use AI as a lens, not a crutch
As the audience erupted in applause, one conclusion stood out:
Order flow is the language of markets — and Joseph Plazo just taught the world how to read it.