Creating Overlaid Charts
When comparing two stocks, it helps to display them on top of each other on the same chart. To overlay charts in the SharpCharts Workbench you first create an overlapping comparison chart based on prices and then convert it into a Price Performance comparison chart.
For these examples, we'll compare the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) with the S&P 500 Large Caps ($SPX).
Create the SharpChart
Step 1: Enter the Ticker Symbol
There are several ways to create a new SharpChart, but the easiest is to enter the symbol in the Create-a-Chart box at the top of the page and then click Go.
Step 2: Clear Indicators and Overlays
Remove any indicators and overlays from the default chart to simplify the process. The simplest way to do that is to click the Clear All link in the Overlays section, then repeat the process with the Clear All link in the Indicators section. Once that's done, click one of the Update buttons to update the chart.
Note: You may want to make other changes to the chart, such as changing the size or the color scheme. In this example, we're using the “Spruce” color scheme.
Add the Second Ticker Symbol to the Chart
You can use the Price indicator to add additional ticker symbols to your chart. In this example, we'll add $SPX to the chart.
Step 3: Use Price Indicator to Add Ticker Symbol of Overlay
Select Price from one of the empty indicator dropdowns, and in the Parameters box enter the ticker symbol you want to chart. In this case, we will use $SPX for the S&P 500. Ensure the Position dropdown is set to Behind Price so that the $SPX data will appear on the same chart panel as the primary $INDU data. Finally, click one of the Update buttons to update the chart.
Once these changes have been made, your chart should look similar to the one below.
Changing the Style of the Chart
Notice that $INDU is charted using candlesticks, and $SPX using a line. This is like comparing apples to oranges. Usually, people use line charts for both ticker symbols to make comparing the data easier.
Step 4: Change the Look of Your Charts
To change the $INDU candlesticks to a line, simply change the Type dropdown to Line (thin).
Change the Volume dropdown to Off to remove the volume bars from the chart. This makes for a less cluttered chart, but more importantly, it allows the vertical scale on the left side of the chart to display the $SPX values instead of the volume values.
Once you've made these changes, click the Update button to update the chart.
The final overlaid comparison chart should look something like this:
This chart style allows you to visually compare the behavior of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 indexes. It should come as no surprise that they move in very similar ways. StockCharts subscribers can change the color and style of the lines for more clarity.
Converting to a Price Performance Chart
SharpCharts can also be used to create overlaid Price Performance comparison charts. These charts allow you to compare each index's percent gain/loss. Here are the easy steps to convert this chart into a Price Performance comparison chart.
Step 5: Change To Performance Chart Type
Change the Type dropdown for the main ticker symbol to Performance. Then, change the Indicator from Price to Price - Performance. When you've made these changes, click the Update button to update the chart.
The final overlaid Price Performance chart should look similar to the one below.
Now both lines start at 0% and move up and down based on the percentage change rather than the price. In this case, we can see that the Dow has outperformed the S&P 500 over the time period covered by the chart.
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