Volume Profile

Volume Profile is a charting tool that plots traded volume horizontally against price, rather than the more familiar vertical-volume-versus-time display at the bottom of standard charts. The profile reveals which price levels attracted the most activity and which were traversed quickly with little participation, the former act as support/resistance, the latter as vacuum zones price can move through rapidly.

Key reference levels derived from the profile: Point of Control (POC) at highest volume, Value Area High (VAH) and Value Area Low (VAL) bounding the 70% high-volume region, and Low Volume Nodes (LVNs) at thin-volume gaps. Profiles are most useful on higher timeframes where enough volume accumulates to produce meaningful shape, Session, Weekly, and Monthly profiles are standard. The tool originated in futures markets (particularly CBOT's Market Profile), but applies to any liquid, centralized-exchange instrument.