Difference between revisions of "Volume Profile"

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===Understanding Volume Profile===
 
===Understanding Volume Profile===
  
Volume Profile tracks trading activity volume across different price levels and varying time length. It is an advanced chart attribute providing traders the opportunity to see most traded volume areas, how much volume was traded on particular price levels lately or within a specified time period and divides total traded volume into BUY traded volume and SELL traded volume.
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Volume Profile tracks trading activity volume across different price levels and varying time lengths. It is an advanced chart attribute providing traders the opportunity to see the most traded volume areas, how much volume was traded on particular price levels recently or within a specified time period and divides total traded volume into BUY traded volume and SELL traded volume.
  
 
===Using Volume Profile===
 
===Using Volume Profile===

Revision as of 14:02, 7 May 2013

Understanding Volume Profile

Volume Profile tracks trading activity volume across different price levels and varying time lengths. It is an advanced chart attribute providing traders the opportunity to see the most traded volume areas, how much volume was traded on particular price levels recently or within a specified time period and divides total traded volume into BUY traded volume and SELL traded volume.

Using Volume Profile

Volume Profile can be turned on/off from the Format Instruments window:

  1. Open the Format Instruments window.

    To open the Format Instruments window, click the Format Instruments Format Instrument.png icon on the main toolbar;
    if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.

    The Format Instruments window can also be opened by one of the following methods:
      - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; double-click once the Pointer Pointer.png changes into a Hand Hand.png;
      - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; once the Pointer Pointer.png changes into a Hand Hand.png right-click and then click Format Symbol Name;
      - Right-click on an empty area of the chart and then click Format Instruments; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button;
      - Select Format in the main menu and click Instrument; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.

  2. Select the Volume Profile tab.
  3. Check the Show Volume Profile check box to turn Volume Profile on/off. The Show Volume Profile check box is unchecked by default.
  4. Select one of the available Profiles:
    • Tick Count. If this profile is selected, volume provided by data source is not taken into account. Each tick volume equals to 1. Each line demonstrates the number of ticks traded on a specific price level colored in blue (by default). The following components are available for this volume profile style:
      • Volume Bar Color. Identical to Total Volume, shows total ASK + BID ticks traded on each price level. Default color is blue, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 100, it can be decreased. Default style is Volume Shading, it can be changed to Solid Blocks, HollowGram or Invisible.
      • Up OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as green bar if the openning price of the profile is lower than its closing price. Default color is dark green, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • Down OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as red bar if the openning price of the profile is higher than its closing price. Default color is red, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • POC. Shows the price level with largest amount of traded volume. Default color is pale pink, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased up to 100. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading, HollowGram or Invisible.
      • Value Area. It is the area (specified in %) of most traded volume of the profile (100%).
        Example 1: Assume there are 5 price levels in volume profile. Total volume of level 1 is 400; total volume of level 2 is 600; total volume of level 3 is 1000; total volume of level 4 is 500; total volume of level 5 is 300. The total volume of the whole volume profile is 2800. Default Value are is 70%; 70% of 2800 = 1960. It always starts with POC, that is the level 3 with 1000 total volume. 1960 - 1000 (POC) = 960. Check closest levels: 2 and 4; each of these levels total volume is less than 960. Total volume of level 2 is higher then total volume of level 4. 960 - 600 (level 2) = 360. Check closest levels: 1 and 4; only level 1 total volume (400) is enough to cover 360.
        Example 2: Assume there are 5 price levels in volume profile. Total volume of level 1 is 200; total volume of level 2 is 600; total volume of level 3 is 1000; total volume of level 4 is 200; total volume of level 5 is 300. The total volume of the whole volume profile is 2300. Default Value are is 70%; 70% of 2300 = 1610. It always starts with POC, that is the level 3 with 1000 total volume. 1610 - 1000 (POC) = 610. Check closest levels: 2 and 4; each of these levels total volume is less than 610. Total volume of level 2 is higher then total volume of level 4. 610 - 600 (level 2) = 10. Check closest levels: 1 and 4; each of these levels total volume is more than 10. Both levels are identical (200 and 200 total volume), in this case the rest 10 volume goes to the level then is lower, in this example it is the level 4.
      • Display Text. Shows numeric values for each price level. Default color is white, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 100, it can be decreased. Default style is Total Ticks, it can be changed to Invisible or to POC.
      • Outline. Frames traded volume on specified price levels. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to All Blocks or POC.
      • Price Range. Shows highest and lowest price levels of traded volume per profile. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased. Default style is Extended, it can be changed to Volume Shading or Invisible.
    • Total Volume. If this profile is selected, it displays ask + bid volume provided by a data source for every tick. Each line demonstrates total volume traded on a specific price level and colored in blue (by default). The following components are available for this style of volume profile:
      • Total Volume. Shows total ASK + BID volume traded on each price level. Default color is blue, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 100, it can be decreased. Default style is Volume Shading, it can be changed to Solid Blocks, HollowGram, Invisible.
      • Up OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as green bar if the openning price of the profile is lower than its closing price. Default color is dark green, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • Down OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as red bar if the openning price of the profile is higher than its closing price. Default color is red, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • POC. Shows the price level with largest amount of traded volume. Default color is pale pink, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased up to 100. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading, HollowGram or Invisible.
      • Value Area. It is the area (specified in %) of most traded volume of the profile (100%). See the example above.
      • Display Text. Shows numeric values for each price level. Default color is white, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 100, it can be decreased. Default style is Total Volume, it can be changed to Invisible or POC.
      • Outline. Frames traded volume on specified price levels. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to All Blocks or POC.
      • Price Range. Shows highest and lowest price levels of traded volume per profile. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased. Default style is Extended, it can be changed to Volume Shading or Invisible.
    • Buy x Sell Volume. If this profile is selected, it displays ask x bid volume provided by a data source for every tick. Depending on the ask and bid volume amounts each line is colored in green and red (by default) proportionally.
      Example: If the ASK volume is 3000 and BID volume is 2000, the displayed value is 3000 x 2000.
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      • Buy Volume. Shows ASK volume traded on each price level.
      • Sell Volume. Shows BID volume traded on each price level.
      • Up OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as green bar if the openning price of the profile is lower than its closing price. Default color is dark green, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • Down OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as red bar if the openning price of the profile is higher than its closing price. Default color is red, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • POC. Shows the price level with largest amount of traded volume. Default color is pale pink, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased up to 100. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading, HollowGram or Invisible.
      • Value Area. It is the area (specified in %) of most traded volume of the profile (100%). See the example above.
      • Display Text. Shows numeric values for each price level. Default color is white, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 100, it can be decreased. Default style is Total Volume, it can be changed to Invisible, POC, Buy x Sell Volume or Delta.
      • Outline. Frames traded volume on specified price levels. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to All Blocks or POC.
      • Price Range. Shows highest and lowest price levels of traded volume per profile. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased. Default style is Extended, it can be changed to Volume Shading or Invisible.
    • Delta. If this profile is selected, it displays total volume value and ask - bid result as a part of the total volume in each line. If the ASK - BID result value is negative, it is colored in red, if the value is positive it is colored in green (by default).
      Example: If the ASK volume is 3000 and BID volume is 2000, their delta is 1000, so the 4/5 of the line is colored in blue and 1/5 of the line is green, meanwhile the displayed value is 5000 (Total Volume).
      The following components are available for this style of volume profile:
      • Total Volume. Shows total ASK + BID volume traded on each price level. Default color is blue, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 100, it can be decreased. Default style is Volume Shading, it can be changed to Solid Blocks, HollowGram, Invisible.
      • Buy Volume. Shows ASK volume traded on each price level.
      • Sell Volume. Shows BID volume traded on each price level.
      • Up OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as green bar if the openning price of the profile is lower than its closing price. Default color is dark green, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • Down OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as red bar if the openning price of the profile is higher than its closing price. Default color is red, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • POC. Shows the price level with largest amount of traded volume. Default color is pale pink, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased. up to 100. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading, HollowGram or Invisible.
      • Value Area. It is the area (specified in %) of most traded volume of the profile (100%). See the example above.
      • Display Text. Shows numeric values for each price level. Default color is white, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 100, it can be decreased. Default style is Total Volume, it can be changed to Invisible, POC, Buy x Sell Volume or Delta.
      • Outline. Frames traded volume on specified price levels. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to All Blocks or POC.
      • Price Range. Shows highest and lowest price levels of traded volume per profile. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased. Default style is Extended, it can be changed to Volume Shading or Invisible.
    • Buy vs Sell Volume. If this profile is selected, it displays total volume value in each line and the line is colored in green/red (by default) depending on whether the ask volume is greater or smaller than bid volume.
      Example: If the ASK volume is 3000 and BID volume is 2000, the ASK volume is greater than BID volume, the line is colored in green, however the displayed value is 5000 (Total Volume).
      The following components are available for this style of volume profile:
      • Buy Volume. Shows ASK volume traded on each price level.
      • Sell Volume. Shows BID volume traded on each price level.
      • Up OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as green bar if the openning price of the profile is lower than its closing price. Default color is dark green, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • Down OC. Shows price movement within volume profile at its end as red bar if the openning price of the profile is higher than its closing price. Default color is red, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading.
      • POC. Shows the price level with largest amount of traded volume. Default color is pale pink, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased up to 100. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to Volume Shading, HollowGram or Invisible.
      • Value Area. It is the area (specified in %) of most traded volume of the profile (100%). See the example above.
      • Display Text. Shows numeric values for each price level. Default color is white, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 100, it can be decreased. Default style is Total Volume, it can be changed to Invisible, POC, Buy x Sell Volume or Delta.
      • Outline. Frames traded volume on specified price levels. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size can be decreased or increased. Default style is Invisible, it can be changed to All Blocks or POC.
      • Price Range. Shows highest and lowest price levels of traded volume per profile. Default color is yellow, it can be changed to any other color. Default size is 10, it can be decreased or increased. Default style is Extended, it can be changed to Volume Shading or Invisible.
  5. Select Breakdown by:
    • Up Ticks vs Down Ticks method:
      • If the current tick price is higher than the previous tick price, the volume of the current tick goes to BUY volume.
      • If the current tick price is lower than the previous tick price, the volume of the current tick goes to SELL volume.
      • If the current tick price is the same as the previous tick price, the volume is recorded either to BUY or to SELL volume depending on what was the last recorded volume.
        Example: If a new tick comes with higher than previous price and volume is recorded as BUY volume, and then another tick comes with the same as previous price, the volume is recorded also to BUY volume.
      • If a tick is first one in the series, its volume goes to BUY volume.
    Note: When you plot Volume Delta chart, take into account that it doesn't matter what resolution is selected, additionally MultiCharts will request historical tick trade data from your data source for the specified in chart settings data range, if Up Ticks vs Down Ticks is selected.
    • Ask Traded vs Bid Traded method:
      • If the current tick price is higher or equals current ASK tick price, the volume of the current tick goes to BUY volume.
      • If the current tick price is lower or equals current BID tick price, the volume of the current tick goes to SELL volume.
      • If the current tick price is between ASK and BID prices, than the volume is recorded either to BUY or to SELL volume depending on what was the last recorded volume.
        Example: If a new tick comes with a price higher or equals current ASK tick price and its volume is recorded as BUY volume, and then another tick comes with a price that is between ASK and BID prices, the volume is recorded also to BUY volume.
    Note: When you plot Volume Delta chart, take into account that it doesn't matter what resolution is selected, additionally MultiCharts will request historical tick ask and bid data from your data source for the specified in chart settings data range, if Ask Traded vs Bid Traded is selected.
  6. Adjust Ticks per Row value (set to 1 by default) to change the the amount of minimum price increments (set in QuoteManager by Price Scale and Min. Movement covered by each line of Volume Profile.
  7. Select 1 of 3 available Time parameters for the Volume Profile to be shown:
    • If Last option is selected, it shows Volume Profile for a specified:
      • Number of last Bars;
      • Number of last Sessions.
        Note: In comparison to Every, the starting point for Last is the current/latest bar on chart. Volume profile will not cover a period more than the specified Data Range in chart settings.
    • If Every option is selected, it shows Volume Profile for a specified:
      • Number of every Bars;
      • Number of every Sessions.
        Note: In comparison to Last, the starting point for Every is the first bar on chart. Volume profile will not cover a period more than the specified Data Range in chart settings.
    • If Start ... End ... option is selected, it shows Volume Profile for a specified period of time according to your regional settings.
      Example: Show volume Profile from dd/mm/yy hh:mm:ss to dd/mm/yy hh:mm:ss.
  8. Two Alignment modes are available:
    • To show Volume Profile from the Right;
    • To show Volume Profile from the Left.
  9. It is possible to adjust the Transparency of the Volume Profile.
    Note: Though the Volume Profile transparency can be set to 100%, one can see the bars of plotted chart symbol. This is because be default Volume Profile is shown in the background and the data series is on the foreground.
  10. It is possible to adjust the Width of the Volume Profile.
    • If Last is selected in Time section, the 100% of Width is 100% of visual chart space.
    • If Every is selected in Time section, the 100% of Width is 100% of space allocated for specified number of bars/sessions.
    • If Start ... End ... is selected in Time section, the 100% of Width is 100% of space allocated for specified time period.
  11. It is possible to adjust the Value Area of the Volume Profile. Value Area is the area (specified in %) of most traded volume of the profile (100%).
  12. Check Use As Default box to use your custom settings of volume profile as default ones.
  13. Check Display Above Price Bars to put volume profile in front and the bars in the background. By default the volume profile is in the background.


Displaying Multiple Volume Profiles

Volume profile is a tool that can be enabled or disabled for a particular data series. 1 data series can have only 1 Volume Profile displayed, however it is possible to see multiple different Volume Profiles for the same instrument on 1 chart:

  1. Create a chart with Volume Profile,
  2. Make a right-click on this chart and select Insert Instruments...,
  3. Do not change anything in settings of the new data series, except for the following fields:
    • The data should be shown on SubChart #1 in Settings tab,
    • The chart Style should be Invisible Bars,
    • Volume Profile can be set differently to the first one.
  4. Click Ok to load second data series with another volume profile.

All the rest settings should be 100% identical to the original data series.