The shape of a profile is a compressed summary of what happened that session. Balanced or directional. Buyers or sellers in control. Accepted value or rejected extremes. You can read the previous day's story in about 5 seconds once you know the shapes.
D-shape (bell curve)
The D-shape is a balanced, symmetrical profile. Wide in the middle, tapering at both extremes. Price explored the highs and lows of the range, found them unfair, and returned to value. The POC sits near center. Both sides participated throughout the session.
This is the market's "normal" state. Buyers showed up at the low. Sellers showed up at the high. Neither side pressed their advantage into the close.
What to expect next: Continued balance. Mean-reversion setups at the VAH and VAL. Breakout attempts have a reasonable chance of failing and returning to value. If the next session opens inside this profile, the 80% rule applies.
P-shape (buying tail)
Volume is heavy at the top of the range with a thin tail extending below. The market opened or moved down into the thin area, found it unfair, and traded back up. Responsive buyers absorbed the selling in the lower tail. Volume accumulated at higher prices as price accepted there.
The thin lower tail is the key feature. It shows sellers tried to push price down and failed. The market rejected those lower prices.
What to expect next: Bullish context. If the next session opens below yesterday's profile low (the thin tail), and that level holds, responsive buyers are the primary setup. Target: into the P-shape body.
b-shape (selling tail)
Mirror of the P. Volume at the bottom, thin tail at the top. The market tested higher prices, found them unfair, and sold off. Responsive sellers absorbed the buying in the upper tail. Volume accumulated at lower prices.
The thin upper tail shows buyers tried to push price higher and got rejected. Bearish context for the following session.
What to expect next: If the next session opens above yesterday's thin upper tail, and that high holds as resistance, responsive sellers are the dominant setup. Target: into the b-shape body, toward the POC area below.
B-shape (bimodal)
Two volume clusters separated by a thin zone. The market accepted value at one price level, then initiative activity drove price to a new level where it accepted value again. The thin zone in the middle is an LVN.
This shape often forms on days where price trends, consolidates briefly at a new level, then trends again — or on days where a morning session and afternoon session each built their own mini-value area at different prices.
What to expect next: The LVN between the two clusters is the key. If price re-enters that thin zone, it typically accelerates to one of the two HVN clusters. The dominant cluster (more volume) is usually the bias direction. A break of the lower cluster is bearish. A break of the upper cluster is bullish.
I-shape (trend day)
Thin and elongated. Volume is spread nearly evenly across a large price range. There's no dominant POC area. No fat middle. One side drove price in one direction for most of the session without building two-sided acceptance anywhere.
The I-shape is the opposite of the D-shape. It means conviction. The market moved decisively and never looked back. There was no pause long enough to build a real value area.
What to expect next: Don't try to mean-revert an I-shape. The side that won has conviction. Some pullback is normal on the following session, but fading a clean I-shape expecting it to fully retrace is a low-probability bet. Wait for a new balance area (D-shape) to form before attempting mean-reversion trades.
Reading shapes in sequence
Shapes don't exist in isolation. You're reading a sequence of them. A D-shape followed by a P-shape tells a different story than a P-shape followed by an I-shape upward.
Common sequences to know:
- D then P: Balance gave way to bullish responsive activity. The market found buyers at the bottom of the range. Watch for continuation.
- P then I (up): The market that rejected lows yesterday now has enough conviction to trend. Strong bullish context.
- I (up) then D: The trend paused and found a new value area. The market is digesting the move. Neither side has a clear edge again yet.
- b then D: Yesterday's sellers couldn't press the advantage. Balance returned. Context is uncertain. Wait for the next directional signal.
At the end of each session: look at the profile shape. Name it. Write down what it implies for the next session depending on where price opens.
Example: "Today closed as a P-shape. If tomorrow opens above the high, no edge. If tomorrow opens inside the profile, 80% rule for a push toward the VAH. If tomorrow opens below the thin lower tail and holds, responsive long toward the session value area."
This takes 2 minutes. It forces you to form a hypothesis before the open instead of reacting blind.