Oyticker
LIVE
Indicators · Volume

TPO (Market Profile)

The TPO (time price opportunity) profile, the Market Profile developed by J. Peter Steidlmayer at the Chicago Board of Trade, shows how much time the market spent at each price during a session. Each 30-minute period gets a letter, written in every price row it traded through.

What it's for
  • See how much time the market spent at each price during a session.
  • Read the session's structure: point of control, value area, initial balance, single prints.
Plus and Pro toolTry it in Analyze
Pane
Price chart, 1D view
Plan
Plus and Pro
Settings
Period (15, 30, 60 min), value area %
Shows
Letters, POC, VAH/VAL, IB, single prints

Construction

  • The session's range is divided into about 40 price rows with a round step (1, 2, 2.5 or 5 times a power of ten).
  • Period A is the first 30 minutes, B the next, and so on; each period writes its letter in every row between its high and low.
  • POC: the row with the most letters (the longest); among equal rows, the one closest to the middle of the profile.
  • Value area: 70% of all letters, built from the POC by pairs of rows, as in the CBOT method.
  • Initial balance (IB): the range of the first two periods (the first hour), shown by the cyan bar.
  • Single prints: rows inside the profile touched by a single period, the trace of a fast move.
TPO profile of a balanced session with letters A to M, the POC near the middle, the value area and the initial balance
A balanced session: 13 half-hour periods (A to M). Periods A and B set a wide initial balance; the rest of the day rotates inside it, building a fat profile with its POC near the middle.

How to read it

  • A wide initial balance that holds all day describes a balanced, rotational session; a narrow one that is extended in one direction describes a trend day.
  • The value area of a session is the reference for the next one: opening inside it suggests balance, opening outside and being accepted there suggests a new value.
  • Single prints and poor highs or lows (several letters at the extreme) are often revisited.

Limits

The TPO needs intraday bars: it is available on the 1D view of 1-minute candles. Letters are assigned by clock periods aligned on the half hour.

Charts in this guide use simulated prices generated for illustration; levels and outcomes shown are examples, not observations of a real market. Educational content only, not investment advice.

Related guides

Volume Profile (visible range)PlusHow the visible range volume profile distributes the volume of the bars on screen by price, and how to read its point of control, value area and volume nodes.VWAPHow the VWAP is calculated, why institutions use it as a benchmark, how its session to year anchors work, and how to read its standard deviation bands.Pivot PointsPlusHow daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly pivot points are calculated from the previous period, with the exact formulas of the six types Oyticker supports.