The volume profile has become a popular and fundamental tool among order flow traders. Volume profile illustrates trading activity over a given time period at specific price levels the vertical way, indicating dominant and less dominant levels.

The volume profile illustrates trading activity over a given time period at specific price levels the vertical way, indicating dominant and less dominant levels. It is subdivided into the value area, which represents the area where 70% of the total volume has been traded, the value area high (VAH) which represents the upper border of the value area and the value area low (VAL) representing the lower border of the value area. Between the VAH and the VAL is the volume point of control (VPOC). In range phases prices above the VAH can be considered as expensive and below the VAL as cheap. The VPOC is the level where most of the volume has been traded and, thus, illustrates the fair market value. The volume profile and their parameters are created in real-time and, consequently, change in the course of a trading day. Areas where a lot of volume has been traded are called high-volume nodes (HVN) or high-volume areas; the counterpart are low-volume nodes (LVN) or low-volume areas.