Introduction

The Profile Analyzer™ (we'll be referring to it informally as "TPA") is a tool for analyzing market data. It provides decision support for the market trader by allowing data from previous trading periods of a market to be tested for various occurrences. Many of its graphical displays and its handling of time make use of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Market Profile® graphic. However, TPA is a general market data exploration tool that is not limited to the Market Profile® method.

Traders frequently compile and plot profiles during the course of a day, and refer back to previously plotted profiles in an attempt to identify market conditions that are favorable for a given trade, or which have facilitated advantageous trades in the past. TPA is designed to make this process easier.

TPA can construct Market Profiles® from historical data automatically, and you can view them in many different formats. More to the point, you can use TPA to search for days meeting specified criteria (see Analysis of Profiles for more details). For example, you can search by day type (normal, P-type, etc.), range extension behavior, top and bottom print structure, economic indicator releases and many more. Queries can be easily combined using Boolean (and/or/not) operations to allow countless different questions to be answered.

No doubt as a trader you have your own favorite Market Profile® indicators for favorable trades. With TPA , you can analyze your strategy and see just how effective it is from an objective standpoint. Better yet, you can use TPA to refine your strategy for future trades.