Seasonality Charts
Chart a security's monthly price performance trends over time
A basic idea of technical analysis is that certain stocks will perform better during particular months of the year. Our Interactive Seasonality Chart tool allows you to confirm whether or not these kinds of “seasonal” effects happen by letting you interactively determine how frequently any given security in our database rises during each month of the year.
Check out our Seasonality overview video below, or read on to learn how to get the most out of Seasonality charts.
Seasonality Chart Modes
Seasonality Charts can be viewed in three modes—Histogram, Separate Scale, and Same Scale. Each mode gives you a slightly different view of the underlying data.
Histogram
In Histogram mode, a seasonality chart has a histogram bar for each month of the year. The height of each bar is determined by the percentage of years that the stock ($SPX in the example below) has risen during that month.
The number at the bottom of each column is that month's average gain/loss. The slider at the bottom lets you change the chart's timeframe.
Separate Scale
The Separate Scale mode shows a line chart for each year, one below the other so that you can compare the performance from year to year at a glance.
Same Scale
The Same Scale mode is similar to an Interactive PerfChart. It plots the percentage change over time instead of price. The Same Scale mode shows one line for each year, plotted on the same chart for easy comparison.
Creating a Seasonality Chart
There are several ways to create an Interactive Seasonality Chart on StockCharts.com, including the following:
Click the Charts & Tools tab and enter a ticker symbol into the Seasonality Chart card.
Select Seasonality from the Create-a-Chart bar dropdown, enter a ticker symbol in the text box, and select Go or hit return.
From Your Dashboard, under Member Tools, click Seasonality.
The Seasonality Chart Page
There are several important sections of the interactive Seasonality Chart page (see image below).
1— The Seasonality Chart itself
2— The Symbol Entry box
3— The Compare Symbol box (optional)
4— The Year buttons
5— The Separate/Same Scale/Histogram Mode buttons
6— The Date Slider
7— Additional Resources
The use of each of these sections is described below.
Working with Interactive Seasonality Charts
Changing the Chart's Period
Using the slider at the bottom of the chart (#4 in the image above) will allow you to alter the chart's starting and/or ending years.
You can use your mouse to adjust the slider in the following ways:
Click on the middle of the slider's thumb and drag it left or right to change the starting and ending year. This allows you to “slide” your chart forward and backward through time.
Click on the left edge of the slider's thumb and drag it left or right to change the chart's starting year.
Click on the right edge of the slider's thumb and drag it left or right to change the chart's ending year.
There are several keyboard equivalents that you can also use to adjust the chart's start and end dates:
Use the left and right arrow keys to move the entire slider's thumb left and/or right.
Hold down the Shift key and then use the left and right arrow keys to change the chart's starting year.
Hold down the Control key (Cmd on a Mac) and use the left and right arrow keys to change the chart's ending year.
Note: You may need to click once on the Seasonality Chart before the keyboard controls will work.
Turning Years On and Off
Click any of the year buttons above the chart (#2 in the image above) to hide that year's line and remove that year's data from the calculations. Click on the button again to return it to the chart.
Creating a "Comparison" Seasonality Chart
Enter a ticker symbol into the optional “Compare” box and press “Go” to show how frequently the chart's main symbol outperforms the Comparison symbol.
Separate Mode vs. Same Scale Mode vs. Histogram Mode
Three buttons in the lower left corner of the chart (#3 in the image above) allow you to switch between “Separate Mode,” “Same Scale Mode” and “Histogram Mode” (the default).
Resizing the Chart
You can click and drag the lower right corner of the chart to resize the chart inside your browser window.
Saving a Seasonality Chart
Members can click the “Permalink” link below the chart to get a link to their chart that can be bookmarked and/or used in web links.
Viewing ChartLists in Seasonality Format
Members can also use Seasonality charts to view ChartLists. From Your Dashboard, you can select “Seasonality” from the “View As” dropdown next to the ChartList you wish to view. Alternatively, you can switch to Seasonality format from other ChartList formats, such as Summary, GalleryView, or CandleGlance. Select “Seasonality” from the “View List As” dropdown to do so.
The Seasonality View will display one chart at a time in Seasonality format. Above the chart, you can use the “Select List” dropdown to choose a different ChartList to display. Use the “Select Chart” dropdown to display a specific chart in the ChartList. The arrow buttons on either side of this dropdown allow you to cycle through the ChartList's charts quickly.
You can add or edit notes for the entire ChartList by clicking the ChartList Notes box at the bottom of the screen. Click the Save button once you've made your changes. For more editing functionality, use the Edit List button at the top of the screen to load the ChartList in Edit View.
The Delete List and New List buttons can delete the current ChartList and create a new ChartList, respectively.
Additional Resources
StockCharts In Focus
The following StockCharts In Focus video, “Find Historical Price Trends with Seasonality Charts,” deep-dives into using seasonality charts on StockCharts.
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