[ValueTrader]

PREMAL... your 'SIMPLE FREE STRATEGY' is an old MP technique known as one time framing, and like any other strategy it is usless unless market structure is taken into consideration. I

f trading was this easy the markets wouldn't work.

When you've blown your account trying to get this to be consistantly profitable, send me a PM and i'll forward you some links of hundreds of equally 'simple' techniques that 'guarentee profits' .

Better still why not google 'emini trading systems' and give them a try.

Theres one born every minute.

[ALexLutiera]

I just want to have an additional information regarding market profile, here it goes:

A Market Profile is an intra-day charting technique (price vertical, time/activity horizontal) devised by J.Peter Steidlmayer, a trader at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), ca 1959-1985. Steidlmayer was seeking to evaluate market value as it developed in the day time frame. Steidlmayer's charts displayed a bell shape, fatter at the middle prices, with activity trailing off at the higher and lower prices. In this structure he recognized the 'Normal', gaussian distribution he had met with in college statistics, (3).
The Market Profile graphic was introduced to the public in 1985 as a part of a CBOT product, the CBOT Market Profile (CBOTMP1) (2). CBOTMP1 included the new Liquidity Data Bank (LDB) data; end-of-day clearings, identified by the class of trader in the pits ( (1) local, (2) commercial, (3) members filling for other members and (4) members filling orders for the public). The Profile was proposed as a trading methodology for using these new data. CBOTMP1 advertised the Profile/LDB as the way to 'Improve Performance'. It is described as "the only variable-cost ticker service in the commodities industry."

Objective and Subjective Elements in a Market Profile

The objective part of a Market Profile is the profile display. This comes directly from the data itself, creating TPO's (either from LDB or tick data (11)). A key element is the Initial Balance, the range and price location of the first hour of trading.
Subjectively, Steidlmayer recognized a few behavior patterns or 'Day Types' in the early part of the day (tied to the Initial Balance), defining 3 types (CBOTMPG1, Pg 12) and later, 4 (CBOTMP2, PG 4, 12). Each type developed certain characteristics, telling which sort of trader is in control (short term traders, longer traders, etc.). Mind Over Markets lists 9 day types (9). See reference 10 for a discussion of this point.
Day types, of course is chart reading and forecasting. The well known problem with interpreting charts is the multitude of potential interpretations for most any chart. Mastery theory offers some hope for traders who are willing to spend the time and effort in understanding the auction market environment. But that path can well take 10,000 hours of training. A large part of CBOTMPG1 and more particularly, CBOTMPG2, is devoted to 'reading' the profile as it develops throughout the day. CBOTMPG1 suggests that it will take six months to a year to learn the Market Profile methodology.

I just hope this'll help for the people who don't know what MP is.

[squishy]

tradestation has an indicator built in called "volume distribution" that works pretty well as a MP substitute. Also, the matrix is pretty effective during the trading day at producing an MP style distribution chart.