Also called volume-weighted average price
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.
Updated 2026-09-16
How it is calculated
VWAP = Σ(price × volume) ÷ Σ(volume), reset each session
VWAP is the volume-weighted average price: every share that traded in the session, at the price it traded, averaged. It resets at each open, so an intraday chart carries one VWAP line per day and a daily chart has nothing to draw, which is why the desk leaves it off daily and weekly bars.
Institutions grade their execution against it. A desk that bought below the day's VWAP did better than the average participant; one that bought above did worse. That makes it a level with real money behind it: algorithms lean on it, and price pulling back to VWAP in a trend is often where the next leg starts.
VWAP = Σ(typical price × volume) ÷ Σ(volume), typical price = (high + low + close) ÷ 3, reset at each session
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.
- 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.
- EMA — An average of recent prices that weights the latest days most heavily, so it turns faster than a simple average. A fast one crossing above a slow one is the classic trend signal.
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.
