Value Area (VA)

The Value Area is a Market Profile concept.

This is an area demarcated by 2 prices which bound the "most traded in" part of a time period.

Technically the value area is 1 standard deviation away from the most traded at price which is the price which has the highest number of TPO's. This price is also known as the Point of Control (POC).

Each time that the market trades at a price during a half hour bracket a letter is added to that price (one per half hour) and a vertically aligned bell curve is created. The middle chunk of that chart is the Value Area.

Typically, the upper and lower prices of the Value Area, know as Value Area High (VAH and Value Area Low (VAL) are seen as support and resistance lines - in their simplest terms.

1287.50 G 1287.25 G 1287.00 EFG 1286.75 EFGH 1286.50 EFGH 1286.25 EFGH 1286.00 EFGH 1285.75 EFGH 1285.50 EFGHL 1285.25 EFGHL 1285.00 EFGHL 1284.75 EFGHIL 1284.50 EFGHIL 1284.25 EFHIL 1284.00 DEFHIKL 1283.75 DEHIJKL 1283.50 DEHIJKLMQ 1283.25 DEIJKLMQR 1283.00 DEIJKLMQR 1282.75 DEIJKLMQR 1282.50 DEIJKMPQR 1282.25 DEIJMPQR 1282.00 DEIJMPQR 1281.75 DIJMNPQR 1281.50 DIMNPQR 1281.25 DIMNPQ 1281.00 DIMNPQ 1280.75 DNPQ 1280.50 DNPQ 1280.25 DNP 1280.00 NP 1279.75 NP 1279.50 N

Generally, the top of the value area provides intraday resistance while the bottom of the value area intraday support. This is more likely to happen when the market opens inside the value area.