Video lesson · ChartTPO: how to read and use it
Market profile by time: where price spent the most time. The lesson takes 2:25; its full text is below the video.
Narrated in Russian. English subtitles are on by default.
TPO in short
What does TPO show?
A TPO profile for each session: every 30-minute period marks the prices it visited. Period colors go from blue to purple through the session, and letters appear when zoomed in. The amber bar on the left is the first hour's initial balance. The POC and value area are marked.
How to read TPO?
- Wide parts of the profile are prices where the market spent more time.
- Narrow parts are prices it moved through quickly.
- The initial balance shows the range of the session's first hour.
How to use TPO?
- Watch price leaving the initial balance: it shows which way the market extends the day's range.
- Compare with Session Volume Profile: time and volume don't always agree.
- On timeframes above 30 minutes each candle counts as one period.
What do you often see on TPO?
- A break of the initial balance often shows which way the market is extending the day's range.
- A thin tail of single prints at the edge of the profile often stays untouched — price was rejected there.
- Where thick TPO areas line up with thick volume-profile areas, the level usually stands out more.
- It does not predict direction on its own: it shows where the market spent its time.
Where can I find TPO?
In the Liqwall terminal: the Indicators button, the Chart section, TPO. The “Open in the terminal” button on this page opens the chart with it already added.
Lesson text
0:00What TPO is
Where the market spent its time, it agrees with the price. TPO is a market profile by time. It shows the prices where the market lingered during a day or a week.
0:12How to add TPO to the chart
Open the indicator list, go to the Chart section and select TPO. The profile is built right on the price chart.
0:20How to read TPO
Every session has its own. Every half hour leaves a mark at the prices where trading took place. The marks change color from blue to purple over the course of the day, and when zoomed in you can see the period letters. Wide areas are prices where the market lingered.
Narrow areas are prices that were passed quickly. The amber line on the left is the range of the first hour, the day's initial balance. The time-based POC and the value area are marked too.
0:52TPO settings
In the settings, choose Session — a day or a week — Rows — the detail of the profile, Value Area — the width of the value area. The profile reads best on a 30-minute chart or smaller.
1:04An example on a real chart
An example — October 15. In the first hour the day stood between 81,300 and 81,800. Then the price moved lower, and for most of the day the market argued around 81 thousand, that is the widest part of the profile. At half past four in the afternoon the shadow reached 79 thousand 700, and only single marks were left down there — the market rejected those prices.
At half past five the price moved above the initial balance and until the end of the day every half-hour candle closed above it. In the evening a second wide area grew at 82,300, and between the two parts a narrow bridge was left at 81,900. The market passed through those prices quickly.
1:53What to pair TPO with
Compare TPO with Session Volume Profile. Time and money sometimes sit in different places, and where they coincide, the level is stronger. Sessions will show which exchange session built the wide part of the day, and Key Levels — where the initial balance sits relative to the day's open.
2:14The takeaway
TPO shows where the market was arguing and where it had already agreed. Find it in the Liqwall terminal, in the Chart section.
Add the indicator to the chart and look at it on your own coin.Free account — no card needed.