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Lessons › Module 2: Building a TPO Profile › Lesson 2.2

Lesson 2.2 · about 5 minutes

Letters & 30-Minute Periods

ObjectiveAfter this lesson you can match each letter to its 30-minute period and read a session's story from left to right.

Concept

The letters are a clock. The first 30 minutes of the session is period A, the next 30 minutes is B, then C, and so on. If a session opens at 9:30, A covers 9:30–10:00, B 10:00–10:30 and C 10:30–11:00. Drawn in time order, one column per period, the letters show where price went and when. A tall column means price covered a wide range in that half-hour. A short column means it stayed in a narrow range. Charting tools can use other letter schemes or period lengths, but this course always uses 30-minute periods lettered from A at the session open.

Ten columns of letters A to J between 103 and 109. Columns C and D climb to 108 and 109; later columns E to J stay between 103 and 107. A A A A B B B B C C C C D D D D E E E F F F G G G H H H I I I J J 109 108 107 106 105 104 103 D (11:00-11:30): session high B and G: session low time → (one column per 30-min period) XYZ (hypothetical): one column per 30-minute period, A to J Hypothetical data. Range 103-109
XYZ (hypothetical): one column per 30-minute period, A to J. Hypothetical, synthetic data generated from code. Ten columns of letters A to J between 103 and 109. Columns C and D climb to 108 and 109; later columns E to J stay between 103 and 107.

Worked example

Hypothetical XYZ trades ten periods, A to J. If the session opens at 9:30, J is the last half-hour, 14:00–14:30. A trades 104–107 and B 103–106, so the first hour covers 103–107. C (10:30–11:00) pushes up to 108, and D (11:00–11:30) reaches the session high of 109. D is the only period that trades at 109. After that, E to J trade back between 103 and 107. G (12:30–13:00) revisits 103, the session low that B set. A, B, C and D are the tallest columns: each covers 4 price rows.

Key takeaway

Each letter is a 30-minute window: A is the session's first half-hour, B the second, and so on.

Check yourself

Pick an answer to see instantly why it is right or wrong.

Question 1 of 3

A session opens at 9:30. Which period covers 10:30–11:00?

Question 2 of 3

In the XYZ example, which period set the session high of 109?

Question 3 of 3

Period G's column covers 3 rows (103–105) and period D's covers 4 rows (106–109). What does the difference tell you?

Not financial advice. Educational content only, not financial advice. All tickers and prices are hypothetical, synthetic data. Market Profile is an organizing tool, not a trading system or a prediction. Trading involves substantial risk of loss.