James Dalton and Market Profile
Dalton taught traders to read the market as an auction searching for value, using market profile.
Trade a real day like James Dalton
A real market day with the date hidden. Run the checklist on the chart, then buy, sell or stay out: the real candles answer.
Check every point of the list before you decide. Stay out if the setup is not there.
Who they were
James Dalton is an American trader and educator who worked with market profile from its early days at the Chicago Board of Trade, where Peter Steidlmayer developed it.
He co-wrote "Mind Over Markets" (1990) and "Markets in Profile" (2007), the reference books on the method.
Principles and rules
1. The market is an auction
Price moves to find buyers and sellers; value is where most trading happens.
2. Value area and POC
About 70% of activity defines the value area; the busiest price is the point of control.
3. Initial balance
The first hour's range helps classify the day as trend or range.
4. Acceptance or rejection
Time spent at a new price shows whether the market accepts it.
Key lessons
- Context comes before setups.
- Fast rejections and slow acceptance tell different stories.
- Day type decides whether to fade or follow.
Strategies from this method
How to practise it
The value area and initial balance strategy pages have the rules. In Candlemind the fixed range volume profile tool shows where the previous session traded most.
Frequently asked questions
What is market profile?
A way of charting time spent at each price to show where the market found value.
Who created market profile?
Peter Steidlmayer at the Chicago Board of Trade; James Dalton is one of its best-known teachers.
Summaries and paraphrases of public books and interviews, for education. Not investment advice.