Point of Control (POC)
The price with the most volume over your chosen profile window. The market's best estimate of fair value for that period. Price has a tendency to return to the POC when initiative buying or selling fails to push price further — sometimes called the POC magnet effect. On balanced days, POC is often the gravitational centre of the session.
Value Area (VA) — VAH and VAL
The price range containing ~70% of all traded volume for the session. Value Area High (VAH) and Value Area Low (VAL) are the key boundaries. Price at VAH or VAL is testing the limits of accepted fair value. A close back inside the VA after testing an edge signals rejection — rotation toward POC is likely.
High Volume Node (HVN)
A price cluster with substantially above-average volume. HVNs represent areas of prior acceptance — the market transacted heavily here. In future sessions, HVNs tend to act as support and resistance. Price entering an HVN typically slows down — it takes time to absorb the two-way interest. Do not expect clean, fast moves through a well-established HVN.
Low Volume Node (LVN)
A price level or shelf with thin volume — participants did not want to transact here. LVNs represent prior rejection. When price enters an LVN, it tends to move quickly until it finds the next HVN. This is the statistical basis for the traverse trade — the market spends less time in areas where few trades historically occurred.
Naked POC (nPOC)
A prior session's POC that has not been revisited in subsequent sessions. Naked POCs act like magnets — the market tends to test them eventually. When price approaches and rejects a naked POC, it signals that old fair value is acting as a current floor or ceiling. A clean rejection off an nPOC is a tradable signal in the direction of the rejection.
LVN Traverse
Movement through a thin area of the profile — typically between two HVNs on a "B"-shaped or bimodal composite profile. Price moves fast through LVNs until the next accepted zone interrupts it. The LVN traverse setup is lower quality than rotation trades, but expected time to profit is shorter. It often looks like longing the top or shorting the bottom of the range.