TPO / Market Profile — free live chart

How to read a Market Profile

TPO

Time Price Opportunity — one letter each time a 30-minute period trades at a price. More letters means the market accepted that price for longer.

POC

Point of Control — the price with the most letters, the session's fairest price. Ties go to the row nearest the middle of the range.

Value area (VAH / VAL)

The band around the POC holding 70% of all letters, built two rows at a time (the CBOT method). Trading outside it means price is being rejected or discovered.

Initial balance (IB)

The range of the first hour (first two letters). A break of the IB shows which side took control after the open.

Single prints & tails

Prices touched by only one letter — fast, one-sided moves. At the session extremes they form tails (excess); inside the profile they are gaps price often returns to.

Poor high / low

An extreme touched by two or more letters with no tail — the auction did not finish, so the level is often revisited.

Naked POC

A prior session's POC that later price has not traded back through yet — a common magnet.

Frequently asked questions