Can I identify the final Market Profile day type in the first hour?

No. The first hour can establish the chosen initial balance and inform a hypothesis. Later range expansion, profile development, and the closing location remain unknown. Record the hypothesis at that time and compare it with the completed session.

Does a poor high have to be repaired?

No. Under the TradingView definition, multiple TPO blocks at an extreme describe its structure. They do not set a deadline or guarantee that price will revisit or exceed it. Record subsequent contact as a separate event.

Are a normal day and a non-trend day identical?

Both can show limited expansion, but the initial range provides context. The usual distinction is a relatively substantial IB for a normal day and a small IB for a non-trend day. Define the comparison history before applying either description.

Can a day-type label be backtested as an entry signal?

A completed-session label is available only after that session. Testing it against earlier entries introduces future information. Test a separately specified developing condition using only information available at each decision timestamp, with independent exit, sizing, cost, and execution rules.

TradingView session review

Market Profile Day Types: Classification without Hindsight

Market Profile day types describe how a session develops around its initial balance: whether price rotates, extends in one direction, or explores both sides. During the session, record only the conditions already observed. Assign the final review label after the selected session ends, keeping earlier hypotheses intact. A trend-day close cannot be used as evidence for a morning decision.

See the decision guide

Fix the session before naming the day

Use one declared session for both the profile and its initial balance (IB). For the worked exercise, the session is 09:30 to 16:00 in America/New_York, with 30-minute TPO blocks and a 09:30 to 10:30 IB. These are example settings, not a convention for every instrument. TradingView lets you configure block duration, price-row size, and the number of initial-balance blocks.

Record the exchange-prefixed symbol, data feed, date, session, timezone, row size, and block duration. A regular-session profile and an overnight-inclusive profile answer different questions.
Before 10:30, show IB forming. After 10:30, freeze the IB high and low for this session; do not expand the reference when price breaks out.
Choose a historical comparison set before using narrow or wide. One possible journal convention is IB width divided by the median IB width of the preceding 20 complete, comparable sessions. Keep shortened sessions separate.
This page classifies individual sessions for review. Acceptance and rejection across broader auctions belong to the separate auction market theory workflow.

Use day types as evidence summaries

The labels below summarize the common classifications described by TradingView and WindoTrader. Sources differ in their numerical conventions. Record the convention you use; a range ratio alone cannot establish the time distribution or the path taken.

A bell-like profile is a shape observation. Do not infer participant identity or trade profitability from it.
Use mixed or unclassified when the chosen criteria disagree. Preserving an awkward session is more useful than changing the rules until every chart fits.

Review label	Evidence to inspect	What remains provisional intraday
Normal / balanced	Substantial IB, limited extension, overlapping rotations.	Later expansion can change the shape.
Non-trend	Small IB and little subsequent expansion.	Small requires a comparable history, not an absolute point count.
Normal variation	One-sided extension followed by more rotation.	Continued movement can develop into a trend.
Trend	Persistent directional extension and a close near the directional extreme.	The final close is unavailable until the session ends.
Double distribution	Two developed activity areas separated by a thin TPO zone.	Later trade can fill the separation.
Neutral	Extensions beyond both IB boundaries; record closing location separately.	An early one-sided move does not exclude a later reversal.

Convert interpretation into timestamped conditions

Let R = IB high - IB low, H = session high so far, and L = session low so far. After the IB closes, measure upper extension U = max(0, H - IB high) / R and lower extension D = max(0, IB low - L) / R. These measurements use only the session history available at the observation time.

Specify whether extension means an intrabar trade beyond the boundary or a confirmed close beyond it. This example uses traded highs and lows; an exact touch is not an extension.
Evaluate at completed 30-minute blocks for this exercise. A live-block reading must retain its timestamp and provisional status.
Keep a separate candidate rule if desired. For this exercise only, U > 2 with D = 0 flags a large upper extension for trend review. It does not assign a trend day or generate a trade.

Observed condition	Permitted developing label	Required qualification
U = 0 and D = 0	Inside IB so far	This does not confirm a balanced close.
U > 0 and D = 0	Upper extension only	A touch outside the IB does not establish acceptance.
U = 0 and D > 0	Lower extension only	A later upper extension remains possible.
U > 0 and D > 0	Both sides extended	Record which side came first and where the session closes.
R = 0 or IB observations are missing	Unavailable	Do not divide by zero or fabricate an IB.

Worked session: the same morning, two possible closes

All prices below are hypothetical. The completed IB is 100.00 to 102.00, so R = 2.00. At 13:00, both paths have the same recorded history. Future rows are alternative continuations, not facts available at 13:00.

At 13:00, U = (107 - 102) / 2 = 2.50. Total range divided by IB width is (107 - 100) / 2 = 3.50. Extension size and total range size are different quantities.
For path A, distance from the final high is (107 - 106.75) / (107 - 100) = 3.57% of the full range. If the predeclared near-high criterion is the top 10%, it passes. This threshold is an exercise choice, not a universal Market Profile standard.
Path A still requires the block sequence and profile to distinguish persistent trending from a late spike or two distributions. OHLC values alone cannot settle that distinction.
For path B, D = (100 - 99.50) / 2 = 0.25. The final structure supports neutral review under this rubric. Keep the 13:00 candidate record and append its failure; do not relabel the morning using the close.

Observation	High / low so far	U / D	Available conclusion
10:30	102.00 / 100.00	0 / 0	IB complete; no extension yet.
11:00	104.00 / 100.00	1.00 / 0	Upper extension only.
13:00	107.00 / 100.00	2.50 / 0	Large upper extension candidate.
16:00, path A	107.00 / 100.00; close 106.75	2.50 / 0	Review directional path and near-high close.
16:00, path B	107.00 / 99.50; close 101.00	2.50 / 0.25	Both sides extended; close returned inside IB.

Poor high and poor low: confirm the structure, not a forecast

TradingView defines a poor high or poor low as an extreme price level with more than one TPO block. This guide uses that definition. A repeated candle high is not sufficient unless the TPO block and row settings establish the same profile structure. The label records a lack of tapering at that extreme; it does not promise a revisit or reversal.

Suppose completed blocks C and D both occupy the current highest row at 107.00 with no row above it. Record a developing poor high under the selected row settings. Repeated visits during C alone still count as one TPO block.
If E later trades at 107.50, the old 107.00 row is no longer the profile high. Preserve the earlier observation but reassess the new extreme. Apply the same logic in reverse for a poor low.
Freeze the final structural label after the profile period ends. Future sessions can revisit the price, but that later event is a new observation, not confirmation that a trade was guaranteed.
Changing price-row width can merge separate prices into one row. Compare profiles only with recorded settings, and do not substitute a Volume Profile node for a TPO count.

Keep chart aids and the review log reproducible

Pineify Pine Script AI Coding Agent can help draft a chart aid from a written specification: session reset, frozen IB boundaries, U and D values, evaluation time, and a clearly named provisional condition. Verify how each input is obtained before requesting TPO-dependent logic. A price-only helper must not claim to reproduce native TPO structure.

Use Trading Journal plan notes, tags, and review entries to keep these records. Attach screenshots where your account entitlement permits them; retain the original image files if attachments are unavailable.
For a session without a trade, use a diary entry instead of inventing an executed position. Keep the candidate and final review as separate dated notes.
TradingView documents native TPO alerts for extended levels of completed profiles. Those alerts do not classify the currently forming day. Confirm the selected level and extension settings before creating an alert.
Missing session bars, a shortened trading day, or a changed session template can invalidate the comparison. Mark those records explicitly. Neither Pineify nor a final day label supplies data that was absent at decision time.

Save before the observation	Append after the session
Settings, rule version, and candidate hypothesis	Final label, evidence, and failed conditions
Timestamped screenshot and observed U / D	Closing screenshot and full block sequence
Missing-data policy and evaluation schedule	Unavailable periods and differences after chart reload

Where Pineify fits

Pine Script AI Coding Agent

Draft an initial-balance chart aid with explicit timing, extension measurements, and missing-data behavior. Review the generated conditions before using alerts.

Also useful: Trading Journal. Preserve provisional hypotheses, settings, screenshots where supported, and final session reviews.

Draft a session observation aid

Related resources

TradingView workflows Auction market theory Market Profile vs Volume Profile Trading Journal

Frequently asked questions

Educational information, not investment advice. The prices, thresholds, and session paths are hypothetical classification exercises, not trading recommendations or performance results.

Sources and verification

Last verified: 2026-10-17

Published by Pineify. Pineify is an independent product and is not affiliated with TradingView. Sources support the technical explanations; examples do not establish trading performance.