Definition
Aggression
Market orders demanding immediate execution. The force that moves price.
Full Explanation
Aggression is the active side of every transaction. A market order does not name a price — it accepts whatever is available right now. A market buy executes at the ask, consuming sell-side liquidity. A market sell executes at the bid, consuming buy-side liquidity. Aggression is what causes price to move. Without aggression arriving to consume resting orders, price stays where it is. The relationship between the size of incoming aggression and the depth of available liquidity determines whether price relocates and how far.
In the Book
1 chapter
2
Chapter 2 · The Mechanics
Liquidity and Aggression
From the Blog
2 posts
Why "Buyers vs. Sellers" Is the Wrong Frame
Every transaction has both a buyer and a seller. That's not insight — it's arithmetic. The question that actually matters is different, and until you're asking it, you're working with the wrong map.
What Is Aggression, Exactly
The word "aggression" gets used constantly. The concept behind it almost never gets examined. That gap is costing you.
Videos
2 videos
Stop Saying "Buyers and Sellers" — Start Saying Liquidity and Aggression
Two people can both be buyers and be doing completely different things in the market . The key is not buyers vs sellers, it is understanding liquidity and aggression.
Why does price actually move?
When aggressive market orders arrive at a price, exactly one of two things happens: the resting liquidity at that price absorbs them and price stays put, or the liquidity is insufficient and price relocates to the next available price.