# TPO Profile TPO Profile is an indicator on [Vela](https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart), our next-generation charting platform, written in Pine Script®. TPO Profile stacks letter-based time-price distributions per anchor period (30-minute letters over daily sessions by default), marking the TPO point of control, a 70% value area and a two-period initial balance. Prior-session POC and value area edges extend forward as reference levels, with alerts on range extensions and level crosses. - Indicator in the LuxAlgo Library, by LuxAlgo, published Mar 20, 2026. - Access: free. - Concepts: [TPO Profile](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/tpo-profile/) (primary), [Auction Market Theory](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/auction-market-theory/) - Open on Vela: https://vela.luxalgo.com/chart?pineScriptCodeId=z4euok7jjohnhlzraoozaj6p - Page: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/tpo-profile/ **TPO Profile** builds the letter-stacked distributions of a [TPO profile](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/tpo-profile/) on the chart: each anchor period splits into TPO periods, each period takes a letter, and every price row its range touched prints that letter once. The longest row is the TPO point of control, the band holding the configured share of letters the value area, and the opening periods set an initial balance drawn across the session. Prior-session POC and value area edges optionally carry forward as the working level map. ## How to Trade the TPO Profile? - **Range extension**: the first push beyond the completed initial balance shows participation past the opening auction; both sides fire alerts. - **Prior POC and value area tests**: carried-forward levels where responsive or initiative trade tends to appear; crossing alerts cover all three. - **Profile shape**: a symmetric distribution reads as a session balancing around accepted value, while elongated or lopsided shapes show one side still pressing the auction. The developing session redraws live; completed profiles freeze in place up to the configured count. ## TPO Profile Settings - **Profile Anchor** (default D): span each profile covers; weekly or monthly anchors merge sessions into a composite. - **TPO Period** (default 30): duration of one letter; must not be below the chart timeframe. - **Price Rows** (default 25): rows the profile range divides into. - **Value Area %** (default 70): share of all TPOs held, expanded outward from the POC. - **Initial Balance** (default enabled) with its opening period count (default 2). - **Extend Prior POC & Value Area** (default enabled): projects the prior session's references forward. - **Profiles Shown** (default 5): profiles kept on the chart, including the developing one. - Style options cover the display mode (default Blocks + Letters), letter size, profile width, count gradient and colors. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How does a TPO profile differ from a volume-based profile? TPOs count time, not size: a price collects letters for every period that touched it, so a level can look prominent on thin volume. The two usually agree at major nodes but diverge in the tails, a reason many traders run both. ### What happens to a session's levels after it closes? The finished profile freezes, and its POC and value area edges extend across the next session. [Naked POC](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/naked-poc/) specializes in the longer-horizon bookkeeping of untested points of control. ### Which anchor and period should I use? The defaults (daily profiles from 30-minute letters) follow the traditional construction. Raising the anchor builds composites of the larger bracket; shortening the TPO period adds resolution but demands a lower chart timeframe. ## Related indicators - [Balance vs Imbalance](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/balance-vs-imbalance/) (Auction Market Theory): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/balance-vs-imbalance.md - [Value Migration](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/value-migration/) (Auction Market Theory): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/value-migration.md - [Initial Balance Breakout Signals](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/initial-balance-breakout-signals/) (Initial Balance): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/initial-balance-breakout-signals.md - [Profile Shape Taxonomy](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/profile-shape-taxonomy/) (Auction Market Theory): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/profile-shape-taxonomy.md - [80% Rule](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/80-percent-rule/) (Volume & Order Flow): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/80-percent-rule.md - [Auction Failure](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/auction-failure/) (Volume & Order Flow): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/auction-failure.md - [One-timeframing](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/one-timeframing/) (Volume & Order Flow): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/one-timeframing.md - [Initial Balance Volume Deficit](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/initial-balance-volume-deficit/) (Initial Balance): markdown at https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/initial-balance-volume-deficit.md --- Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/indicator/tpo-profile/ (LuxAlgo Library). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/