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POC (Point of Control)

Dominant level of a profile: the price with the most volume in Volume Profile or the most TPOs in Market Profile. The two versions need not coincide.

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Who this is for — Anyone encountering the POC label in a Market Profile or Volume Profile who needs to know which distribution was measured.

The POC (Point of Control) is the price level with the highest count in the selected profile:

  • Volume POC: the price with the greatest quantity traded;
  • TPO POC: the price present in the greatest number of time brackets.

The two versions use different data and can be located on different rows.

In plain terms — “The POC is at 100” is incomplete. Add whether the POC was calculated from volume or TPOs, for which session, and with what price aggregation.

POC: specify which profile is being measured Two profiles over the same prices show a TPO POC and a Volume POC on different rows. POC: specify which profile is being measured POC is the row with the highest count in the selected profile. TPO POC Most time brackets 104 103 102 POC 101 100 Volume POC Most quantity traded 104 103 102 101 POC 100 TPO POC and Volume POC need not coincide. Declare: type · session · row size · tie-break · profile state Cyclepedia diagram · Emiciclo
The POC is the row with the highest count in the declared profile. TPO POC and Volume POC can be at different prices.

TPO POC

In the 1996 CBOT manual, the fairest price in the profile is the one traded in the greatest number of time brackets. If several rows have the same count, the row closest to the midpoint of the entire range is selected.

Example — Two prices each have eight TPOs. The first is two ticks from the session midpoint and the second is five ticks away: under the CBOT rule, the first is the reference.

Volume POC

In Volume Profile, the POC is the row with the greatest aggregated volume. The result depends on the feed, session, and width of the price rows. A POC calculated over regular trading hours is not necessarily the same as one calculated over a full session.

What it does not demonstrate

The POC describes a maximum in the observed distribution. By itself, it does not prove:

  • that the level is “controlled” by buyers or sellers;
  • that price will return to it;
  • that it acts as support or resistance;
  • that crossing it predicts the next direction.

Typical mistake — Treating every contact with the POC as a mean-reversion trade. In a distribution that is still forming, the POC can migrate; during a directional move, price might not return to the level.

To make the POC reproducible

  • Type: TPO or volume.
  • Scope: instrument, venue, and session.
  • Aggregation: row size and tie-break algorithm.
  • State: completed or developing profile.

Sources

  • Chicago Board of Trade, CBOT Market Profile®, Part I: Reading the Market Profile Graphic, 1996, p. 44 — the price present in the greatest number of time brackets and the tie-break toward the midpoint of the range.
  • Chicago Board of Trade, same work, p. 33 — explicit distinction between the volume area and the TPO area.
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