Time-weighted profile (TPO)
Volume Profile Analysis glossary · Auction Theory & Market Profile (TPO)
Definition
An alternative to volume-weighted profile that counts the number of time intervals (e.g., 30-minute blocks) price spent at each level, rather than cumulative volume. Produces similar shapes but different interpretations.
Time-weighted profile (TPO) in plain English
A profile chart shows how much attention price got at each level, but there are two ways to measure 'attention.' A volume profile counts how many contracts actually traded at each price, while a time-weighted profile (TPO) instead counts how much TIME price spent there — chopping the day into blocks (say, 30 minutes each) and tallying which prices got visited in each block. They usually produce similar-looking shapes, but the meaning differs: one tells you where the most business happened, the other where price lingered longest. It's like judging a party's most popular room — you could count how many people passed through (volume) or how long people hung around (time), and each answer highlights something a little different.
Also called: TPO
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