A trader breaks down a volume profile method for intraday trading, rejecting popular ICT conspiracy ideas. The setup: price dips below the Value Area Low on weak volume, buyers absorb the selling, then price closes back inside the Value Area with rising volume, signaling a long entry with stops below the low and targets at the Value Area High.
order blocks, liquidity grabs, stop-loss hunting. I believed it all. Then I started learning from traders who had actually competed and won at the highest verified level in the world. And what they showed me had nothing to do with conspiracies. It was just data. And once I saw it, I could not unsee it. Start with the volume profile. Draw it over the session and find the value area. This is where most money was traded. In a trending market, value keeps building higher. Each session, the money moves up. That tells you buyers are still buying. Buying and are in control. And here's the trade. Price will dip below the Value Area Low, and at that moment, watch the volume bars at the bottom. If the volume is declining on that move down, there's no real selling or participation behind it. The money is not following price lower. Then you can look for an absorption. Buyers stepping back in at that level, forming a wall that sellers cannot pass through. This is the bubble being created. When price closes back inside in the value area and the volume starts picking up, the auction failed. That is your confirmation. That is your long. Stop goes below the low. Target is in the value area high.
