Time at price, in letters
Market profile, developed by Peter Steidlmayer at the CBOT, splits the session into time brackets and stamps a letter (A, B, C…) at every price touched in that bracket. Stack the brackets and a bell-shaped profile emerges: prices touched in many brackets build a fat middle (acceptance); prices touched briefly form thin tails (rejection). It is a map of where the market spent its time.
Auction Market Theory
The idea underneath is that a market is a continuous two-way auction searching for value. The value area is where ~70% of the session’s time-price activity occurred; the point of control is the longest TPO row; the initial balance is the range of the first hour, the opening auction. Reading whether the market accepts or rejects prices outside value is the core skill.
vyx does not render TPO profiles — it is a real-time cross-market scanner, not a session-auction tool. But the two complement each other: market profile frames where value is on one chart; vyx shows where pressure and flow are firing across the whole venue. One gives structure, the other gives the live event.
Further reading
- James Dalton — Mind Over Markets
- Peter Steidlmayer — Markets and Market Logic
- Volume Profile, Explained
Related
FAQ
What is TPO in market profile?
TPO stands for time-price opportunity. Each TPO is a letter placed at a price that traded during a given time bracket. Stacking TPOs across the session builds the profile shape that shows where the market spent the most time.
What is the difference between market profile and volume profile?
Market profile measures time spent at each price (via TPO letters); volume profile measures volume traded at each price. Time-based profiling highlights acceptance and auction structure; volume-based profiling highlights where real size changed hands.
What is the initial balance in market profile?
The initial balance is the price range established in the first hour of the session — the opening auction. Whether later trade extends beyond the initial balance (range extension) or stays inside it is a core market-profile read on the day’s conviction.
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