There are many ways to use the Volume Profile. There’s one major difference: Volume Profile displays volume traded at each price level, which makes it easy to see what price was traded most. The Volume Profile indicator is a similar study that’s available on the thinkorswim ® platform from TD Ameritrade. These observations inspired various studies of how futures volume (or lack of it) at certain price levels reveals whether buyers or sellers are in control of the market, and how this might be used to help estimate the direction of price movement. For example, members of the old Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) observed patterns of price and volume in the 1980s that became a popular model called Market Profile. Such unpolluted technical action can lead to patterns that repeat often and may become actionable. That’s what makes futures different from other financial markets. No earnings calls, no share dilution, and no accounting assumptions. That’s about all there is to the price of a futures contract-it’s price discovery in the purest sense.
