Volume Profile Ranges, Interpolated Trade Counts, and Market Levels
Summary
The document explains a MetaTrader volume profile indicator that groups trade counts or reported volume by price over chart intervals or a user-selected range. Users can choose range boundaries, data source timeframe, histogram style, and which reference lines to display. The profile’s peaks, median, maximum, and VWAP can help describe where activity clustered; the author suggests examining profiles over selected chart segments and treating prominent modes as possible support or resistance areas.
Calculations use the most detailed available terminal data, typically minute bars, and estimate trades within each bar by interpolating price movement. The document reports that distributions from this approach look similar across brokers and are comparable to those from more accurate data, but supplies no test design or quantitative results. Accuracy depends on quote history, broker data, and interpolation assumptions; gaps can also shift range boundaries. Real-volume profiles require brokers to supply real volume, while tick-based data and supported timeframes vary by platform.
Key ideas
- The indicator groups tick counts or real volume by price across equal-time intervals or a selected chart range.
- Range boundaries can be set with chart lines or time-based settings, and profiles can be displayed in several histogram styles.
- The calculation estimates intrabar trades by interpolating price movement from minute or other selected timeframe bars.
- Profile modes may suggest support or resistance, but nearby clusters can obscure peaks and require chart inspection.
- Results depend on available broker history, volume data, and interpolation, so the displayed distribution is an estimate.
Tags
This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.