Also called POC
Point of control
The price level with the most volume in a volume profile. Price tends to return to it and to move quickly through the thin rows either side of it.
Updated 2026-09-16
The point of control is the single price with the most volume in a volume profile: the level the market spent the most time agreeing on over the window. The desk draws it as a dotted line through the profile.
It behaves like a magnet and a fulcrum. Price above the point of control with a fat profile beneath it has support; price that breaks below it into thin rows tends to keep going. Traders use it as a reference for fair value inside the window, alongside vwap, which answers a similar question with a time-weighted average instead of a mode.
See also
- Volume profile — A histogram of how much traded at each price over a window, drawn sideways on the chart. Its widest row is the point of control: the price the market spent the most time agreeing on.
- VWAP — The average price paid across a session, weighted by how much traded at each price. Institutions grade their fills against it, so it acts as the day's fair-value line.
Educational content, not investment advice. Angie explains how a valuation is built so you can judge it yourself. What you do with that is your call.
