The Components
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| POC (Point of Control) | The single price level with the highest traded volume. The profile’s centre of gravity. |
| Value Area (VA) | The price band containing a set share of total volume, conventionally 70%. |
| VAH / VAL | Value Area High and Low, the upper and lower bounds of that band. |
| HVN (High Volume Node) | A local peak in the histogram. Price spent time and volume here. |
| LVN (Low Volume Node) | A trough. Price passed through quickly with little transaction. |
How the Nodes Are Read
The core asymmetry is that HVNs attract and LVNs repel:
- High volume nodes act as magnets and as support or resistance. Many positions were opened there, so the price is broadly agreed upon and tends to be revisited and defended.
- Low volume nodes act as fast-travel zones. Little business was done there, so few participants have reason to defend it. Price often moves through an LVN quickly, which makes LVNs useful as breakout targets and as stop placement boundaries.
- The POC often behaves as a mean. Price extended far from the POC frequently reverts toward it, absent new information.
Profile Shapes
The silhouette of the histogram summarises what kind of session or period it was:
- D-shape (normal) — fat middle, thin extremes. A balanced, rotational, mean-reverting market. Fade the edges.
- P-shape — heavy volume at the top, thin tail below. Typically a short-covering rally or accumulation that stalled. Bullish that becomes neutral once the bulge is built.
- b-shape — heavy volume at the bottom, thin tail above. Long liquidation. Bearish, then neutral.
- B-shape (double distribution) — two separate bulges with an LVN between them. The market found two distinct areas of agreement; the thin middle is often where price moves fastest.
Profile Ranges
- Session / daily profile — one profile per trading day. Used for intraday levels.
- Fixed range — user-selected start and end, useful for profiling a specific swing or consolidation.
- Visible range (VPVR) — recalculates for whatever is on screen. Convenient but changes as you scroll, so levels are not stable.
- Composite — spans many sessions, giving the structural levels that matter on higher timeframes.
Common Uses
- Locate support and resistance from HVNs, rather than from trendlines drawn by eye.
- Trade value-area rotation: in balance, price tends to move between VAL and VAH, with the POC as a midpoint.
- Trade value-area breaks: acceptance outside the value area, meaning price holds there and builds volume, suggests a move to the next HVN.
- Place stops beyond an LVN rather than at a round number, since an LVN is where price is least likely to linger.