This article is a part of a four-part Beginners Guide to Volume Profile. Here are links to all four parts:
Volume Profile is not a standard tool which you would find as a built-in indicator in any trading platform. You need to install it as an addon to your trading software.
It is very important to have a good quality Volume Profile
I have been trading with Volume Profile for many years but I have never really found a Volume Profile which would suit my needs. What I needed was a clean, quick, reliable, and easy to use Profile which I could use for intra-day trading as well as for swing trading.
So, what I did was that I found a high-quality trading software engineer, and together we developed Volume Profile which perfectly suited my needs. Actually, we developed more than one Volume Profile. We developed Flexible Volume Profile for NinjaTrader 8, and for MT4 platforms, and also Fixed Volume Profile for NinjaTrader 8.
Below are videos, which will show you those Volume Profiles in more detail.
Flexible Volume Profile for NinjaTrader 8 platform
This Volume Profile is the one I use the most. It’s coolest feature is that it is flexible and you can use it for any area in the chart you are interested in! This is essential in my trading strategies.
Fixed Volume Profile for NinjaTrader 8 platform
This Volume Profile shows you the bigger picture using Fixed Profiles. It is best used as a combination with the Flexible Volume Profile.
Flexible Volume Profile for MetaTrader 4 platform
This Volume Profile was developed for those who prefer MetaTrader 4 to NinjaTrader 8 platform. This profile is easy to set up and very easy and intuitive to use. It does not have as many features and it is also not as precise as the Flexible Volume Profile for NinjaTrader 8. The reason for this is that MetaTrader 4 is an older platform and it has its technical limits.
Where to get Volume Profile?
You can get my Volume Profile indicators from my website, either as a part of any of my educational packages (Trading pack, Learning pack, or The Elite Pack), or you can purchase the Volume Profiles separately.
You can get them here: Dale’s Volume Profile Indicators and Education
All my Volume Profile indicators have lifetime licenses and you can use them on multiple computers.
Do you want ME to help YOU with your trading?
Where to get good volume data?
If you want to use the Flexible Volume Profile for MT4, then your broker will provide you data automatically. It will not be the best, but there is not much you can do about it. MT4 has it’s limits…
If you want to use the more advanced Volume Profiles for NinjaTrader 8 platform, then you can choose what data you will use – Centralized (futures) or Decentralized (forex).
Centralized (futures) vs. Decentralized (forex) data
If you want to have as precise volume data as possible, then you need to get it from a centralized exchange. This is not a problem for stock or index traders, but it is a bit more complicated for us, forex traders. As you may already know, the forex market is decentralized. Which means that every broker has a bit different data, they can quote a bit different prices and their access to information about volumes is limited. The truth is – forex brokers will never provide you with a complete and precise information about volumes. Good news is that big brokers, like for example FXCM that I use for data feed (and for data feed only) have pretty good information about the volumes, and even though this broker covers only a part of the forex market, it provides a pretty good and precise information about volumes. It is not 100 % precise, but it is precise enough to base your intraday trades on. It is more than enough to plan your swing trades – since those don’t need to be as precise as intraday trades.
If you want to have your volume data 100 % precise, then you need to use centralized market, which is futures (you can use for example CQG data feed). Unfortunately, there aren’t futures for all forex pairs, but there are futures for all the major currencies. Futures for EUR/USD is called 6E, AUD/USD is 6A, USD/CAD is 6C, USD/JPY is 6J,…
If you use futures data, you can be sure, that everybody on the planet sees the same volume and price data as you do. This is because of the futures centralization.
Recommended Forex Broker
Data for intraday trading
I use futures only for my intraday trades on EUR/USD (6E), AUD/USD (6A), USD/CAD (6C) and USD/JPY (6J). After I finish my level analysis, I recalculate my trading levels from futures into forex values (more on how to do this in my Video Course), and then I execute my trades on forex (with my forex broker). This is, in my opinion, a bit cheaper than to trade currency futures directly.
Using futures like I do is not entirely necessary though. You can still pretty safely rely on forex data and volumes provided by FXCM which provides volumes pretty close to centralized futures volumes.
Data for swing trading
As far as swing trading is concerned, forex data and forex volumes are in my opinion quite sufficient. You don’t need as precise data as for intraday trading with your swing trades.
The bottom Line Is...
If you want to be extremely precise in your intraday trading, then do your analysis using futures data. Still, good quality forex data (for example from FXCM data feed) is enough to create profitable trading levels. If you trade swing trades, then don’t bother with futures and do your analysis with good quality forex data (FXCM).
- If you want to use good forex data for yout NinjaTrader trading platform, then I suggest you open a free demo account with FXCM and get their free lifetime data feed. Here is a link: Unlimited FXCM data (demo).
- If you prefer doing your analysis using futures data, then you can use a free trial version of CQG data. The trial version is email bound, and it will expire after some time. Get it here: CQG futures – free demo
Want to learn more about Volume Profile trading?
If you would like to learn more about Volume Profile trading and have a professional trader to help you with anything you need, then the best thing you can do is get one of the Educational Trading Packages. More info here:
Dale’s Volume Profile Education and Tools
Happy trading!
-Dale
Continue reading to part 4 here:
Tried to download your 3 articles Dale but nothing happened – help
Those are links that get you to the next article buddy. You need to click them to get redirected. They are not links for download 🙂
Hello, I would book your cure immediately, only my mother’s language is German, not English, I have to translate everything into Goggel
Hello Gubser,
Unfortunately, I do not have any translations or subtitles. It shouldn’t be that hard at the end of the day, all the tools and prices speak only one language. :))