Point of Control (POC)

The Point of Control is the single price level that saw the highest total traded volume within a given period, identified by examining a volume profile (see Kaavon's "Volume Profile" glossary definition), which plots traded volume horizontally across price levels rather than vertically across time. Because so much trading activity occurred at the POC, it's often treated as a particularly significant price level, reflecting where the market found the strongest agreement on fair value during that period.

Traders commonly watch the POC as a potential support or resistance zone (see Kaavon's "Support and Resistance" glossary definition), reasoning that a price level where so much volume previously traded is likely to attract renewed interest if price revisits it later. As new trading periods unfold, the POC can shift to reflect wherever the heaviest volume has concentrated most recently, meaning it's generally recalculated and monitored on more of a rolling, up-to-date basis rather than treated as a single permanently fixed level.