Volume Profile User Guide
Volume Profile is a horizontal histogram that provides a detailed view of certain information such as, Traded Volume, Bid & Ask Volume, Delta (different between Ask Volume and Bid Volume) or a combination thereof, at each price level aggregated over a period of time. This enhanced view into what occurred enables traders to see and identify potential high liquidity zones based on the distribution of transacted volume, in an effort to identify potential support and resistance levels.
Indicator Highlights
- Ability to select from multiple pre-configured timeframes:
- Current Swing Leg
- Current RTH and ETH sessions
- Current Week or Month
- Since a specified time
- During a specified time span
- Rolling number of Minutes, Days or Weeks
- Entire chart
- Chart visible range
- Custom range using visual selection tool
- Ability to choose Volume by Price, Delta by Price or both on the same chart
- Highly customizable Volume by Price and Delta by Price profiles
- Great flexibility in layout, placement, orientation and sizing of Volume and Delta profiles
- Ability to show Value Area (VAH, VAL, VPOC) with Volume by Price
- Tick compression
- Ability to hide chart bars
- Streamlined User Interface and intuitive grouping of Indicator Properties
- Does not require NinjaTrader’s Lifetime license
- Does not require Tick Replay
Adding and Removing Indicators
To learn how to add or remove indicators on your charts, please refer to NinjaTrader’s Working with Indicators documentation.
After installing the Orderflow package, the Volume Profile indicator will appear under T3000/Orderflow folder in NinjaTrader’s Indicators menu.
User Guide
The following list of options and menus are available in this indicator and will be discussed in detail in the following sections.
Settings:
The contents of this menu are context sensitive. The inputs shown in this menu will depend on selected options.
Profile Timeframe: This input selects the timeframe for which the profile is calculated. The following profile timeframes are available. Each selection may contain additional input parameters that correspond to the chosen Profile Timeframe.
- Current Swing Leg (1): Shows the profile for the most current swing (as determined using ZigZag).
- Current RTH Session (2): Shows the profile for the current Regular Trading Hours (RTH) session.
- Current ETH Session: Shows the profile for the current Extended Trading Hours (ETH) session.
- Current Week: Shows the profile for the current Week. Starting time for this profile is the opening time for the first Globex session of the most recent week (generally Sunday Globex open).
- Current Month: Shows the profile for the current Month. Starting time for this profile is the opening time for the first Globex session of the most recent month.
- Start Time (3): Shows the profile for all available data on the chart starting from the specified time to current time. Start Time must be within the range of available data on the chart.
- Time Span (4): Shows the profile for all available data on the chart between specified Start and End times. Start Time must be within the range of available data on the chart. If End Time is set to a future time, the profile will be calculated between Start Time and current time and will continue to update until End Time is exceeded.
- Number of Minutes (5): Shows the profile for a rolling number of minutes as selected by the Number of Minutes input.
- Number of Days (5): Shows the profile for a rolling number of days (full ETH sessions) as selected by the Number of Days input.
- Number of Weeks (5): Shows the profile for a rolling number of weeks as selected by the Number of Weeks input. Starting time for this profile is the opening time for the first Globex session (Sunday) of the first week in the group of weeks.
- Entire Chart: Shows the profile for all data that has been loaded on the chart.
- Chart Visible Range: Shows the profile only for data that is currently visible on the chart panel. As the chart panel is moved, compressed or expanded, the display will adjust in real time to show the profile corresponding to all visible data on the chart panel.
- Selected Range (6): Shows the profile for data within the two edges of a manually drawn Region Highlight X drawing object. As the Region Highlight X drawing object is drawn or updated, the profile will adjust in real time to reflect data that falls within the Region Highlight X drawing object. Only one Region Highlight X drawing object may be on the chart at any given time.
(1) If Profile Timeframe is set to “Current Swing Leg”, the following settings will be available: view image
- Rotation Size (points): Defines the Deviation Value for the ZigZag routine which determines how swings are calculated and when they reverse. This value is in the units of points for the selected instrument.
- Show Current Swing Start Point: Enabling this option will place a marker on the chart that visually identifies the starting time of the most recent swing that is being used to calculate the displayed profile.
- Highlight Current Swing: Enabling this option will highlight price bars in the current swing leg to visually identify which price bars are used to calculate the displayed profile.
- Start Point: Settings in this input group define the visual characteristics of the marker used to show the current swing start point.
- Highlight: Settings in this input group define the visual characteristics of the highlighted region that marks the current swing.
- RTH Session Template: This input selects the Regular Trading Hours session template which determines RTH session start and end times. Detailed instructions on how to use this input are available here.
- Overlay Profile on Chart: If this option is selected, the profile will be overlaid on the chart. If this option is not selected, the profile will be drawn on the right or left side of the chart panel as configured in the Profile Configuration section. view image
- Highlight Settings: Settings in this input group customize the appearance of the manually drawn Region Highlight X drawing object used to mark the start and end points of the range that determines the profile duration.
Profile Configuration:
This menu includes various settings that define the Profile characteristics.
Profile Layout: Selects the Profile layout from a list of available options. All combinations of Delta by Price, Volume by Price, or both are offered along with every possible combination of alignments and orientations. The parenthesis characters at the beginning of the layout name indicate the orientation of Volume and Delta profiles. For example, in the image shown above, the Profile will include Delta and Volume profiles side by side. Delta profile will be on the left and Volume profile will be on the right with both profiles pointing to the left as indicated by the parenthesis.
Placement: Determines whether the Profile is placed at the Right or Left edge of the chart panel.
Width (pixels): Determines the total width of the profile in pixels.
Edge Offset: Determines the distance between profile edge and chart panel edge in pixels. view image
Tick Compression (ticks): Determines the number of price levels (in ticks) that are aggregated together per each step of the Profile.
Value Text Font: Customizes the font used to show Profile values.
Auto Adjust Right Side Margin: Enabling this option will automatically expand the chart’s right side margin in such a way that price bars cannot enter the Profile drawing area. If this option is disabled, the right side margin can be adjusted manually as needed from Chart Properties menu. This option is only present if the Placement settings is set to Right.
Important: Please note that if multiple instances of this indicator are placed on the same chart, care must be taken to ensure only one instance of the indicator has this option set, otherwise multiple indicators will attempt to adjust the right side margin which may lead to unpredictable behavior.
Additional Right Side Margin (pixels): If Auto Adjust Right Side Margin is enabled and additional space is required on the right side margin, this input will add the specified number of pixels to provide the extra margin.
Delta Profile:
This menu is only present if the selected Profile Layout includes Delta by Price. It includes various settings that apply to Delta by Price portion of the Profile. This menu is context sensitive. The inputs shown in this menu will depend on selected options.
Show Maximum Delta (POC): Enabling this option will highlight the Delta Profile level corresponding to delta with the largest absolute value (Point of Control). This value may be positive or negative. You may customize the appearance of the POC by updating the Maximum Delta Color value below in the same section.
Show Values: Enabling this option will show values at each price level. If price scale is too compressed and there isn’t enough space to display values on the Profile, values will not be displayed. Expand the price scale until Profile values appear. Settings in the Value Settings section can be used to customize the appearance of Profile value text.
- Value Type: Determines if the value shown is Delta or Bid/Ask volume.
- Bid/Ask Delimiter: If Value Type is set to Bid/Ask, this value will be used as separator between Bid and Ask volume values.
- Positive and Negative Colors: These settings determine the text color for positive and negative Delta values.
Volume Profile:
This menu is only present if the selected Profile Layout includes Volume by Price. It includes various settings that apply to Volume by Price portion of the Profile. This menu is context sensitive. The inputs shown in this menu will depend on selected options.
Show Maximum Volume (POC): Enabling this option will highlight the Volume Profile level corresponding to the largest volume value (Point of Control). You may customize the appearance of POC by updating the Maximum Volume Color value below in the same section.
Show Value Area: Enabling this option will show the Volume Profile as a Value Area. When this option is selected, the Value Area Settings input group will become visible in the Volume Profile menu which can be used to update various parameters related to Value Area. view image
If Show Value Area isn’t selected, a simple Volume Profile will be shown. Color and Opacity values in the Volume Profile Color section can be used to customize the Profile appearance. view image
Show Values: Enabling this option will show values at each price level. If price scale is too compressed and there isn’t enough space to display values on the Profile, values will not be displayed. Expand the price scale until Profile values appear. Value Text Color can be used to customize the appearance of Profile value text.
Maximum Volume Color: Customizes the appearance of the Maximum Volume value or Volume Point of Control (VPOC). This setting is only available when Show Maximum Volume (POC) option is enabled.
Value Area Settings: Settings in this section are used to customize the appearance of Volume Profile’s Value Area. This input group is only present when Show Value Area is selected. The following settings are available: view image
- Value Area (%): Percentage of trading volume used for Value Area Calculations.
- Profile Color & Opacity: Customizes the color for Volume Profile.
- Value Area Color & Opacity: Customizes the color for Value Area
- Show Value Area Lines: Draws lines at Value Area High (VAH) and Value Area Low (VAL) of Volume Profile.
- Extend Value Area Lines: Enabling this option will extend Value Area lines to the opposite edge of chart panel.
- Show Value Area Labels: Draws price labels at Value Area High (VAH) and Value Area Low (VAL) of Volume Profile.
- Value Area Line: Line characteristics for lines used to draw VAH and VAL.
- POC Line: Line characteristics for line used to draw VPOC.
- Label Font: Used to customize the font used to show VAH, VAL and VPOC price levels.
Understanding ZigZag:
The current developing ZigZag leg will extend as price continues to move in the same direction, or it can reverse if price moves sufficiently in the opposite direction to form a new swing. As one leg is solidified and a new leg is formed, the profile can get recalculated and redrawn to reflect the new swing point. This is normal behavior. The following excerpt is provided to further expand on ZigZag’s behavior.
Note from NinjaTrader ZigZag document: