Session Skew: Which Side of the Profile Is Actually Stronger?
Session skew is about which side of the day’s profile actually carried the auction. Not where price closed. Not how pretty the candle looks. Session skew tells you whether buyers or sellers built more value and where the next imbalance is likely to come from.
What Session Skew Really Measures
Forget the textbook garbage. Session skew is simply:
- which side of the profile has more volume and time
- where the distribution is heavier or thinner
- whether the session leans toward buyers or sellers
You’re reading the shape of the auction, not just the final print. If you don’t have TPO basics down yet, go hit TPO clusters and what they reveal so this doesn’t go over your head.
Main Types of Session Skew
Most sessions fall into a few simple skew patterns:
| Skew Type | Profile Shape | Basic Read |
|---|---|---|
| Balanced | Roughly centered, symmetric distribution | Two-sided activity, no clear control |
| Upside skew | Heavy volume and time stacked above the POC | Buyers pressed higher and held value |
| Downside skew | Heavy volume and time stacked below the POC | Sellers drove lower and kept it there |
| Double-distribution | Two clear volume/TPO zones with a gap | Session changed character mid-auction |
How to Read Skew Without Overcomplicating It
Strip it down to three questions:
- Where is the POC relative to the day’s range?
- Is volume/time more concentrated above or below POC?
- Did the market build value near the session high or low, or only visit it briefly?
If value built near the high with upside session skew, buyers didn’t just spike price — they held territory. Same logic for sellers on a downside skew.
Session Skew vs Closing Price
Most retail traders obsess over the close. That’s lazy.
- Price can close near the high with a balanced profile → auction still two-sided.
- Price can close mid-range with heavy upside skew → buyers still own the session.
- Price can close on the low with heavy mid-range volume → extension move, not built value.
Session skew tells you who did the real work during the day, not who wrote the last tick.
Where Session Skew Matters Most
Session skew is most useful when you line it up with:
- prior day value areas
- composite HVNs and LVNs
- major rejection zones like HVN rejection edges
- trend days vs balance days
A strong upside skew pressing away from an HVN is not the same as an upside skew grinding into major resistance. Context decides whether you lean with or fade it.
Using Session Skew for Next-Day Bias
Here’s the blunt way to use session skew:
Upside Skew
- Value and volume built higher in the range.
- Look for continuation or shallow pullback then continuation.
- Downside breaks need proof; don’t fade blindly.
Downside Skew
- Value and volume built lower in the range.
- Look for continued weakness or weak bounces into resistance.
- Upside breaks need strong initiative buying to be taken seriously.
Balanced Session
- Market accepted a fair price for both sides.
- Expect rotations until a new imbalance shows up.
- Next day bias often depends on breakout from the balance area.
Skew Combined With Volume and Delta
Session skew alone is good. Session skew plus volume and delta is better:
- Upside skew + strong positive CVD → buyers genuinely in control.
- Upside skew + weak or negative CVD → profile looks bullish, flow doesn’t, trap risk.
- Downside skew + negative CVD → sellers pressing with real aggression.
If you don’t know how to read delta yet, clean that up in CVD reversals.
Common Session Skew Misreads
- Assuming “POC near the high” automatically means a trend day.
- Ignoring double-distribution structure and treating it as one blob.
- Using skew alone without checking where it sits relative to prior value.
- Caring more about candle color than profile shape.
Putting Session Skew to Work
Session skew is a simple read: which side built more value and controlled more of the day’s auction. If session skew leans heavily to one side, you respect that side until the market proves otherwise. Use session skew to frame next-day bias, pick which breaks to trust, and stop treating every move like it started from zero.