Let’s settle this: Is Volume Profile a waste of time?
Because it’s popping up all over my feed, and I’m sure you’re seeing the same tweets as me.
Everywhere you look, people are posting charts with POCs, LVNs, HVNs, composite profiles, microcomposites…
As if these levels alone are going to tell you what to do.
The truth is…
Volume Profile is useful.
But only if you understand what type of volume it’s showing you.
Hold up. Let me explain.
Where Volume Profile Actually Helps
Volume Profile is good for one thing:
➡️ Identifying where business was previously done.
A high-volume node = “many contracts were transacted here.”
A low-volume node = “few contracts were transacted here.”
And in some environments, that matters.
Here are two examples:
1. In slow, balanced markets
When the market is doing nothing… value areas matter.
The rotations respect:
→ POC
→ Value lows
→ Value highs
Because the market isn’t emotional, it’s auctioning. In those conditions, VP is genuinely helpful.
Where Volume Profile Is Almost Useless
Here’s the thing.
In fast, emotional, news-driven markets, Volume Profile becomes less relevant. Because it reflects past agreement → not current intent.
For example:
• A sweep of overnight low with massive absorption? Volume Profile won’t show it. You’ll just see high volume.
• Buyers stepping in aggressively after hitting liquidity? VP won’t show that either.
• A huge burst of market orders shifting control? Also invisible on VP.
That’s why those traders relying solely on VP get chopped.
The problem with traders nowadays…
They use VP as:
❌ A prediction tool
❌ A signal tool
❌ An “entry finder”
But VP is none of those. Volume Profile tells you where a fight was, not where a fight is.
If you want to see the fight live, you NEED:
• Absorption.
• Aggression flow.
• Shifts in rotation.
• Volume imbalances.
• Failed follow-through.
• Actual buyers/sellers showing up.
And unfortunately, Volume Profile alone can’t give you that.
So is Volume Profile “good” or “bad”?
Neither. Think of it like this:
Volume Profile is a map.
Order flow is the live weather.
The map is helpful, but you don’t fly the plane based on last week’s weather, right?
When markets are balanced → VP is useful.
When markets are emotional → VP is noise.
If you’re going to take anything from this email, I want you to remember,
Use VP to understand context, not to make decisions.
The decision-making comes from what buyers and sellers are doing in real time… not what they did two sessions ago.
