Video: POC, VAH & VAL Explained in 9 Minutes (Volume Profile Trading)
Creator: Mind Math Money
Original Video: Watch the original video
Difficulty: Beginner
The Big Idea
A volume profile organizes trading activity by price across a selected period. It helps answer where activity concentrated and where comparatively little occurred. Mind Math Money explains its main landmarks: the point of control, value-area boundaries, and high- and low-volume nodes.
The useful distinction is between a map and a trigger. A profile can identify areas worth watching. It cannot tell you, by itself, whether the next visit will reverse, consolidate, or break through.
The Five Terms to Learn First
| Term | Meaning | Practical question |
|---|---|---|
| Point of control (POC) | The highest-volume row in the selected profile | Does price return to this busy area or move away from it? |
| Value area high (VAH) | The upper boundary of the selected value area | Is a move above it being sustained or rejected? |
| Value area low (VAL) | The lower boundary of that area | Is a move below it being sustained or reclaimed? |
| High-volume node (HVN) | A local concentration of volume | Does activity build again when price returns? |
| Low-volume node (LVN) | A relative valley between volume concentrations | Does price cross it quickly, reject it, or build new activity there? |
Read the horizontal length of the profile bars. A longer bar means more volume allocated to that price row. Row height describes the price interval being grouped; it is not a measure of how much traded.
POC: A Busy Area, Not a Promise of Fair Value
The creator describes the POC as an area where buyers and sellers agreed most. That is a helpful shorthand for concentrated transactions, but it does not reveal everyone’s valuation or identify a price the market must revisit.
Every executed trade has both a buyer and a seller. High activity alone does not tell you which side will control the next move. The POC can sit within a balanced range, become a reference during a pullback, or be left far behind during repricing.
Although platforms often display a single line, the POC represents a price row. Treating it as a narrow area can be more useful than demanding a reaction at an exact tick. The POC is also a high-volume node; it is simply the largest concentration in that particular profile.
Value Area: What the 70% Setting Means
The video uses the common 70% value-area setting. This concerns the share of volume within the selected profile, not 70% of prices or a 70% probability that price will remain there. VAH and VAL mark the upper and lower boundaries.
TradingView’s volume-profile documentation (paid link) describes the configurable percentage, price rows, and calculation method. Row size, the measured period, and the available data affect the result. Depending on the instrument, the feed may use traded volume or tick activity. Check what your chart actually measures.
For example, a fictional completed profile might show VAL at 98, POC near 100, and VAH at 103. Those are three different references: the lower boundary, the busiest row, and the upper boundary. The POC does not have to sit halfway between the boundaries, and the value area is not simply a fixed distance around it.
Read the Edges Through Price Action
The source emphasizes that price can become choppy within the value area and that its boundaries can provide clearer decision points. Treat that as a scenario to investigate rather than a rule that all trading inside value is random.
Using the fictional profile, suppose price briefly trades below 98 and then closes back above it. A trader could investigate a rejection scenario, with the POC near 100 as a possible reference ahead. That still requires a separate entry trigger, invalidation, and reward calculation.
If price instead remains below 98, forms a lower high, and continues downward, automatically buying VAL would conflict with the emerging behavior. A former boundary can fail. Likewise, strength above VAH can represent acceptance at higher prices rather than an immediate short opportunity.
Define acceptance and rejection before testing them. A completed close, a specified number of bars outside the area, or a retest that holds are different rules. Switching definitions after seeing the outcome makes the chart appear more predictive than it was.
Volume Nodes: Magnets and Highways?
Mind Math Money uses “magnets” for high-volume areas and “highways” for thin areas between them. These analogies summarize the source’s observation that price sometimes spends time around busy areas and moves more quickly through sparse ones.
A high-volume node is historical activity, not a resting-order book. A low-volume node does not establish that current liquidity is thin, and it does not guarantee a fast move. New trading can fill an old valley, while a strong catalyst can carry price through a formerly busy area.
The video acknowledges selecting a particularly clear example. That example illustrates the idea; it does not establish how often it occurs. To study the highway hypothesis, record all eligible crossings using the same profile settings and measure both traversal time and failures.
Choose the Range Before Judging the Pattern
A profile depends on its start and end. One session, a multi-day consolidation, and a large directional move can produce different landmarks. Decide what market question the range is intended to answer.
- Select the instrument, data feed, session, and profile period.
- Keep row size and value-area percentage consistent when comparing examples.
- Mark POC, VAH, VAL, and the clearest local nodes.
- Observe the next interaction without moving the range to improve the story.
- Record the price reaction, trigger, invalidation, and outcome, including failures.
Avoid the Completed-Profile Lookahead Trap
A finished session’s profile includes that session’s later activity. Its final POC and value-area boundaries were not necessarily known earlier in the day. Using them to justify an earlier entry introduces future information.
For a clean review, either use a completed prior period whose levels were already available or preserve the developing profile exactly as it appeared at each decision. A visible-range profile can also change when you scroll or zoom. Save the original range and settings rather than treating today’s displayed lines as the historical information set.
This lesson explains chart context rather than a complete mechanical strategy. No Pine strategy is added because entry, stop, exit, and profile-selection rules would have to be invented. The native profile and a consistent review process directly support the lesson.
Put Risk Around the Idea
Profile levels do not determine position size. Suppose an independently defined long entry is 98.50, its structural stop is 97.75, and the target is 100. That offers 1.50 against risk of 0.75, or 2R before costs. A later entry at 99.25 with the same stop and target offers only 0.5R.
The same profile can therefore support very different trade economics. Allow for spread, fees, slippage, and the instrument’s monetary value per point. A stop can execute beyond its requested price, and an apparent target may never be reached.
Final Takeaway
Use POC to locate the busiest row, VAH and VAL to frame the value area, and nodes to compare concentrations with gaps in activity. Then let current price behavior and explicit risk rules determine whether there is a trade worth studying.
Risk Disclosure
This article is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Trading involves substantial risk, including loss of capital. Leverage can magnify losses, and stop orders do not guarantee an execution price. Examples and historical results do not predict future performance. Account for fees, spread, slippage, and your own financial circumstances before trading.
CandleChasers is independent of the video creator. This article provides educational analysis of the source material; it does not verify the creator’s earnings or endorse paid products.