Data Bar Periods

Our database has daily, weekly, and monthly data bars for each ticker symbol. For the stocks that we track, we also have intraday data bars available in 1-, 2-, 3-, 5-, 10-, 15-, 30-, 60-, and 120-minute durations, as well as increments that divide the day's trading into equal size bars: 39-minute (10 bars per day), 65-minute (6 bars per day), 78-minute (5 bars per day), 130-minute (3 bars per day), and 195-minute (2 bars per day).

Subscribers can create charts using any of the periods listed above. Non-members can only chart daily and weekly bars.

Mutual Funds only report one data point daily (after the market closes) and thus can only be charted as lines on daily charts.

Indexes that only have one data value per day are called “End-of-Day” indexes and have the phrase “(EOD)” at the end of their description. They are typically updated soon after the market closes. Indexes that have the phrase “(NBD)” are updated during the next business day (i.e., the next day that the market is open).

Data for 1-minute, 10-minute, 60-minute, and daily periods is pulled directly from our data feed. “Longer” bars are created by combining the appropriate shorter time-period bars. For instance, the bars used on weekly charts are created from daily data using the following technique:

• Weekly Open = Open of the first daily bar for the given week (typically Monday's open)

• Weekly High = Highest high for all the daily bars for that week

• Weekly Low = Lowest low for all the daily bars for that week

• Weekly Close = Close value for the last daily bar for that week (typically Friday's close)

Similar techniques are used to create 5-minute bars from 1-minute data, 30-minute bars from 10-minute data, monthly bars from daily data, etc.

Feel free to browse through the articles below, or if you are short on time, use our AI-driven Search feature to find what you need quickly. You can also contact our human-driven Support Team for assistance.

Using StockCharts.com

These articles will help you better use, navigate, and understand the tools and features available on StockCharts.com.

Finding Your Way Around

• Intro to StockCharts Quickly learn how to use all of our charts, tools, and features

• "Getting Started with StockCharts" Series A great set of articles to read when you have a little extra time to learn all about the website

• Navigating the Website Your guide to what's where on the StockCharts website

• Logging In for the First Time Getting into your StockCharts account

• Members Dashboard The heart and soul of your StockCharts account

• What's New The latest features, additions, and updates on StockCharts

Data and Ticker Symbols

• Data Availability More about the markets and symbols we cover

• Ticker Symbols Learn how to find the symbols you're searching for

Charts & Tools

These articles will provide helpful information and instructions for the various charting tools and resources on StockCharts.com.

SharpCharts

• Intro to SharpCharts Our original, award-winning financial charts

• Editing SharpCharts How to customize your charts from the SharpCharts Workbench

• ChartNotes Learn more about our annotation tool for SharpCharts

• ChartStyles & StyleButtons How to save your chart settings as custom ChartStyles

• ChartLists & ChartPacks Learn how to save and organize your charts

StockChartsACP

• Intro to StockChartsACP Our full-screen, interactive, Advanced Charting Platform

• Editing ACP Charts How to customize your charts in StockChartsACP

• Annotations in ACP Learn more about annotating your charts in ACP

• ChartStyles in ACP How to save your chart settings as custom ChartStyles in ACP

• ChartLists in ACP Learn how to save and organize your charts in ACP

• ACP Layouts View multiple charts at once in ACP

• ACP Plug-Ins Enhance your ACP experience with exclusive plug-ins

Other Charting Tools

• P&F Charts Learn how to use our Point & Figure charting tool

• GalleryView See a symbol in multiple time-frames all on one page

• Seasonality Charts Chart a security's monthly price performance trends over time

• CandleGlance Charts Mini-charts displayed side-by-side to show multiple symbols at once

• MarketCarpets Scan large groups of securities for emerging trends and technical moves

• Interactive PerfCharts Dynamically compare the performance of multiple symbols on one chart

• RRG Charts Visualize relative strength and momentum for a specific group of securities

• Dynamic Yield Curve An interactive yield curve showing the relationship between rates and stocks

Research Tools

• Symbol Summary Quotes, technicals, and fundamentals for a specific symbol, all in one report

• Options Summary Comprehensive options data for a specific symbol

• Market Summary View the status of the market at a glance

• Sector Summary Quickly find the strongest stocks in the strongest industries in the strongest sectors

• Industry Summary View the performance of all industries on one page

• Index Members Research stocks from major US indexes or sectors

• StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) Reports Compare the StockCharts Technical Rankings (SCTRs) for symbols in a specific market segment

• Earnings Calendar View both upcoming and recently reported earnings dates for US stocks

• Cryptocurrency Summary Summary information for many popular cryptocurrencies

Reports & Galleries

• The Ticker Cloud A report showing the most-requested ticker symbols on our website

• Historical Chart Gallery Long-term charts giving historical perspective on the markets

• Predefined Scans A report showing results for popular technical scans

• Predefined Technical Alerts Get alerted when popular indexes and indicators cross above or below critical levels

• DecisionPoint Chart Gallery A collection of charts based on the DecisionPoint market analysis approach

• Public ChartLists Browse charts and commentary from other users sharing their analysis

• SharpCharts Voyeur A rotating collection of our members' recently-created charts

Scanning & Alerts

These articles will help you learn more about using our custom scans and alerts features to find stocks and funds that meet your specific technical criteria.

Technical Scans

• Overview of Technical Scans Get a sense of what you can do with technical scans on StockCharts

• Advanced Scan Workbench Create custom technical scans for your unique criteria

• Scan Syntax Reference Find helpful scan starters and snippets

• Advanced Scan Library A collection of advanced scans for you to use or start from

• Scanning Tutorials Get a sense of what you can do with technical scans on StockCharts

Technical Alerts

• Overview of Technical Alerts

  Get a sense of how you can use the StockCharts technical alerts

• Technical Alert Workbench

  Learn how to create custom technical alerts

• Alert Center

  See a summary of all your alerts in one place

Your Account

Subscribing to StockCharts

• Subscribing to StockCharts

  Learn more about becoming a StockCharts Member

• Service Levels & Data Plans

  Compare our different service levels and optional data plans

Managing Your Account

• Login & Passwords

  How to sign into your StockCharts account and manage your password

• Your Account Settings

  How to update your account settings, payment info, and more

• Managing Your Subscription

  How to make changes to your StockCharts subscription

Learning More

• Market Commentary

  Daily market analysis from expert chartists

  • Blogs

  • ChartWatchers Newsletter

  • StockCharts TV

• An extensive collection of educational resources to help you in your investment journey

• Educational Resources

  Additional resources for learning more

• Frequently Asked Questions

  Questions StockCharts users often ask

• Troubleshooting

  Troubleshooting information for common issues

• Customer Support Resources

  Additional resources to help you use StockCharts

• Policies & Limitations

  Our privacy policy, terms of service, and more

There are several ways to move around StockCharts.com. Each of our pages has helpful links at the top (the “Page Header”) and the bottom (the “Page Footer”) that can get you where you need to go. In addition, we have our Site Map and our helpful Support Center.

The Page Header

Most of the pages on our website have an area at the top called the page header that can help you navigate to anywhere you need to go. Each page header contains the following:

• StockCharts Logo

• Utility Links

• Main Menu

• Create-a-Chart Bar

The StockCharts Logo

You can always return to the StockCharts homepage by clicking on the StockCharts logo in the upper left corner of any of our pages. You will be redirected to Your Dashboard if you are a logged-in member.

The Utility Links

Our Utility links are located in the upper right corner of our pages. This area looks different depending on if you are logged in or logged out.

If you are logged out, you will see the following buttons in the upper right corner of our pages:

• Login. Members can click this button and enter their User ID and password to log in to their StockCharts.com account.

• Sign Up. Non-members can click this button to learn more about subscribing.

If you are logged in, you can click on your name or the “person” icon in the upper right corner to see a handy member menu:

• Your ChartLists. Click here for quick access to all your saved ChartLists.

• Your Scans. Click here to access the Advanced Scan Workbench.

• Your Alerts. Click here to go to the Alert Center and view all your saved alerts.

• Your Account. Click here to change/update your account settings.

• Support Center. Click here to go to our online Support area.

• Contact Us. Click here to contact us using our Support Request Form.

• Log Out. Click here to log out of your account. Typically, you would do this using a shared computer, such as those found at a public library.

Remember, if logged in, you will see the person icon and/or your name at the top of the page. Your name may not be displayed on smaller screens, but you can always access the menu by clicking on the person icon.

The Main Menu

Below the StockCharts logo at the top of the page are several navigation links that you can use to move into each of the main areas of the website. These include the following:

• Charts & Tools. Links and descriptions for all of our charting tools

• Articles. Current market commentary from our experts

• StockCharts TV. Tune in to our 24/7 technical analysis video streaming channel

• ChartSchool. Our comprehensive educational articles about technical analysis

• Your Dashboard. This members-only dashboard provides access to all of our most used tools, reports, and commentary, including members-only features

On the right side, you'll see links to the following:

• Store. Browse the StockCharts online store for books, ACP Plug-Ins, ChartPacks, logo merchandise, and more

• Help. Navigate our online support area for answers to any questions you may have or ask C.B., our Support ChatBot

• Search. Click on the magnifying glass icon and enter search terms into the search box

Note that these main menu links might be hidden in a dropdown menu on smaller screens. Select the three horizontal lines icon on the right side of the header to access this important menu.

The Create-a-Chart Bar

Above the main menu is our Create-a-Chart bar, which you can use to quickly access many charting tools from almost anywhere on the StockCharts website.

The Create-a-Chart bar's dropdown menu lets you select which one of our charting tools you want to use. The menu is initially set to “SharpCharts,” our standard bar/candlestick charts. The full list of tools available in the menu is below:

• Symbol Summary. A high-level summary with technicals, fundamentals, and more.

• SharpChart. Our main bar/candlestick charting tool.

• ACP. Our interactive Advanced Charting Platform.

• Point & Figure. Charts with columns of X's and O's.

• PerfChart. Overlaid performance lines for up to 10 different ticker symbols.

• CandleGlance. Up to 30 different mini-charts on one page.

• Seasonality. Average monthly returns for a ticker symbol.

• ​Gallery View. Four predefined charts for studying different periods.

• RRG. Charts showing relative strength and momentum for a group of symbols.

• Symbol Lookup. Search our symbol catalog for a specified phrase.

Next to the menu is a long text box where you can type in a phrase, typically one or more ticker symbols, that goes with your charting tool selection. You can use commas to separate multiple symbols if you enter more than one ticker symbol.

Note that the long text box has a built-in auto-complete feature. As you type the name of a stock, index, or mutual fund we support, the symbols that match what you have typed so far will be automatically displayed. This can be useful if you need help determining the ticker symbol you want.

You can select the symbol you want from the list or click More Results For at the bottom to see more ticker symbols matching your search. If you already know the ticker symbol you want, just type the symbol in this box and click Go (or press “Enter” on the keyboard) to create a chart for that symbol.

Selecting the Default Tool

If you often select a specific tool other than SharpCharts, you can specify that tool as the default to use on the Create-a-Chart bar. Click the star next to the tool you'd like to set as the default.

The default tool (indicated with a yellow star) will be pre-selected each time you use the Create-a-Chart bar in the future.

Breadcrumbs

All ChartSchool and Support Center pages also have a list of links just below the header called “Breadcrumbs.” These can also help you navigate pages within ChartSchool or the Support Center. Click any links in that line to return “up the chain” links.

The Page Footer

At the bottom of most pages on our site is a dark blue Page Footer, which has additional links to commonly used resources. You can find links to popular tools, educational resources, and more here.

The Page Footer also contains icon links to our social media pages: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

You can also sign up for our ChartWatchers Newsletter from the Page Footer. Enter your email address in the signup box at the top of the Page Footer, and click the Sign Up button.

The Site Map

The Site Map is a high-level diagram of all the pages on StockCharts.com. It's useful for moving quickly from one website area to another. It gives a big-picture view of how the most important pages on our site are organized. Click any links on the Site Map page to go directly to the corresponding page.

Site Search

Site Search allows you to find articles that contain specific keywords and phrases. It also lets members search their ChartLists for specific charts and ticker symbols.

The Site Search box is on the right side of the Page Header on most web pages. Just click the magnifying glass icon next to the main tabs in order to access the box. Then, simply add your search criteria and press Search.

Search Results

By default, searching in the Site Search box in the top right corner of our website will show you Support Center articles and other information about the StockCharts site. Click on the dropdown menu above the search results to select any of the following website sections to search through (the default selection is Support Articles).

• Blog Articles. Search all the blog articles on our site. Search results can be limited to articles by a specific author using the dropdown menu above the search results.

• ChartSchool Articles. Search all the educational articles in ChartSchool.

• My Saved Charts. Members can search all their ChartLists for charts of the specified symbol. Click the chart name to launch the chart, or click the list name to launch the ChartList in Summary View.

• Public ChartLists. Search all Public ChartLists.

• Support Articles. Search for information about how to use our website and more general information about StockCharts.

• Symbols. Search for ticker symbols available on our site.

In addition, buttons at the bottom of each search results page allow you to try your search on other website areas.

Symbol Mentions

When searching for symbols, you will be presented with basic information about each symbol and links to launch a SharpChart, GalleryView Chart, P&F Chart, or Seasonality Chart for the ticker symbol.

Click the “Symbol Mentions” icon on the right to get more detailed information about the symbol, along with links to anywhere that symbol is mentioned in blog articles, predefined scan results, Public ChartLists, your custom ChartLists, and more.

Overview of StockCharts.com

StockCharts.com wants to help you make smarter financial decisions. So, we're providing you with the best financial analysis and data visualization tools through two powerful charting platforms—SharpCharts and StockChartsACP.

Many of the features in StockCharts can be used from any device with a web browser. You don't need additional plugins or software downloads to view charts.

Getting Started

Not sure about which features will help you with your investment strategy? The video below will help you get started with StockCharts. Please look over the information on the rest of this page to dive deeper into the analysis tools.

Have any questions? Please ask our friendly Customer Support staff.

Our Analysis Tools

StockCharts provides many technical analysis tools. You can create and customize charts, analyze markets, and find securities to invest in using either our SharpCharts Workbench or StockChartsACP.

Charting Tools

SharpCharts. Our flagship charting platform, SharpCharts (New and Classic), allows you to create charts for any of our system's thousands of ticker symbols. The SharpCharts Workbench allows you to customize your charts any way you want and save the results in a ChartList for later review. SharpCharts supports all popular technical indicators, overlays, and charting types—bars, candlesticks, line, Renko, Kagi, etc.

StockChartsACP. We also offer our dynamic chart analysis and trading platform called StockChartsACP. (“ACP” stands for “Advanced Charting Platform.”) StockChartsACP (“ACP” for short) is an interactive web application that lets you quickly create, customize, and save interactive charts, run technical scans, and even trade directly from your charts. ACP also supports several Plug-ins from our industry partners, which you can install to add powerful analysis tools.

Chart Annotations

Note: The annotation tools in StockChartsACP are built in to the charting platform.

Stock Scanning Tools

Are you looking for stocks or ETFs that meet specific criteria? As a StockCharts member, you can access our Scan Engine, which filters out stocks and ETFs that meet your required conditions. And if you want to design your own scan, check out the Advanced Scan Workbench. Then, set up Alerts in the Technical Alert Workbench to let you know as soon as stocks begin to meet your criteria.

Other Charting Tools

We also offer tools for creating specialty charts. These include Point & Figure charts, which use X's and O's to display price action; PerfCharts, which allow you to compare the performance of several different stocks on one chart; Seasonality Charts, which show the months that are best for a given stock; RRG Charts, which give an interactive, non-traditional look at a stock's relative strength; and colorful MarketCarpets, which show you winners and losers at a glance.

Market Analysis Reports

Want a quick overview of current market conditions? StockCharts includes several continuously updated market reports, such as the Market Summary report, which shows the performance of many popular market indexes and ETFs; the Sector Summary report, which allows you to find the strongest stocks in the strongest industries quickly; and the exclusive StockCharts Technical Rank (SCTR) report that ranks securities based on their overall technical strength.

Our analysis tools are documented in our Support Center. We also have a plethora of Instructional Videos that demonstrate the use of these tools. Our commentators frequently write about using our tools to create their commentary.

Market Commentary

In addition to charting services, StockCharts.com provides expert market commentary from some of the biggest names in the industry. We have an extensive collection of free technical market commentary in the Articles area of our site. In addition, members can read our paid market commentary from Larry Williams, and Martin Pring.

If video commentary is more your thing, check out StockCharts TV; our YouTube channel features our latest videos packed with up-to-date market commentary.

Educational Resources

Our Instructional Videos can also help you get up to speed quickly with StockCharts.com. Each video is 5–10 minutes long and covers a specific area or tool on the website.

Finally, the Support Center (where you are now) contains in-depth documentation on all our features and ways for you to contact our Customer Support Team with questions or suggestions.

We offer extended-hours trading data for many US symbols. For US markets, after-hours trading data covers the 4 hours after market close (4:00 PM–8:00 PM Eastern time), and pre-market data covers the 5.5 hours before the market opening for the day (4:00 AM–9:30 AM Eastern time).

Note that securities are generally more thinly traded during pre-market and after-hours sessions than during regular market hours. Extended-hours price bars will only be shown if trading activity has occurred during that bar's timeframe. Volume data and volume-based indicators are not available for any extended hours bars.

Historical pre-market and after-hours data are available, going back approximately ten trading days.

For US securities data, we offer real-time data from two different sources.

Official real-time data comes directly from the NYSE and Nasdaq exchanges, along with exchange fees. This is the “official” data for a particular stock; if you place a typical trade order with your broker, they will execute the trade using those prices.

Our BATS real-time data comes from the BATS exchange. BATS (“Better Alternate Trading System”) is a growing electronic exchange based in Kansas City that provides all of its real-time trading data for free. Their data is often similar to the “official” data from the exchanges, but there can be differences in the data that you should be aware of.

So, what exactly are those differences?

• BATS data is only available for US stocks.

• Not all US stocks we track have BATS real-time data available for them. There is no BATS real-time data currently available for Pink Sheet stocks. Other thinly traded stocks will probably not have BATS data either.

• Price data can vary from the “official” NYSE/Nasdaq price data. The differences are slight for most stocks but can be more drastic for thinly traded stocks.

• For all stocks, the volume data from the BATS exchange is significantly lower than that from the major exchanges.

Because official non-real-time data from the exchanges is delayed by 15 minutes, we only use BATS data to fill in the most recent 15 minutes on our charts. Once the data is 15 minutes old, we replace that BATS price-only bar with the delayed price+volume bar from the NYSE/Nasdaq. You can see that process in the chart below.

This example shows a one-minute price chart that a typical member using BATS data would see. It shows how we highlight the BATS price-only bars in yellow (because they are subject to change) and how we suppress the BATS volume data and volume-based indicators. None of those restrictions happen for members using official real-time data.

Below are two more examples that show how BATS data and NYSE/Nasdaq data differ. The first shows the differences for a fairly liquid stock (INTC). The BATS version is on the left, and the NYSE/Nasdaq version is on the right.

Here is a similar side-by-side comparison for a more thinly-traded stock (EW):

If you look carefully, you'll see that the price bars for INTC match pretty closely (but not exactly) and that the price bars for EW have lots of differences.

If those price differences are important to your analysis or if you don't like the 15-minute delay on the volume data (or if you need real-time data for non-US markets), you'll want to use official real-time data. Otherwise, our free BATS real-time data should work well for you.

Exchanges

Currently, StockCharts has access to data from the following markets:

• New York Stock Exchange (US)

• Nasdaq Stock Exchange (US)

• Amex Stock Exchange (US)

• BATS Exchange (US)

• TSX Stock Exchange (Canada)

• TSX-Venture Stock Exchange (Canada)

• Canadian Securities Exchange (Canada)

• NEO Exchange (Canada)

• London Stock Exchange (UK)

• National Stock Exchange of India (India)

We have datasets for most ticker symbols in each market we cover, but that doesn't necessarily mean we have all ticker symbols. We don't automatically provide quotes for extremely low-priced stocks since technical analysis techniques do not work with such stocks, and the charts for those stocks can be highly misleading.

Other Financial Data

If you'd like to chart your own data, our User-Defined Index feature allows you to create and chart your own symbols.

Now that you've created your StockCharts account, you're ready to join the StockCharts community. The first step is to log in.

Your User ID and Password

You should have received your User ID and password via email. If you didn't, please contact our Support staff.

We recommend you change your initial password to a new one that is between 7 and 20 characters in length. It may contain letters, numbers, and/or hyphens.

Logging In

To log in to your account, click the Log In link in the upper right corner of any of our web pages (see image below). You will then be prompted to enter your User ID and password.

Your Dashboard

Once you log in, you will see Your Dashboard, the heart and soul of StockCharts.com. The page has several panels arranged in different ways, most of which can be customized to display what is important to you.

Do you need to download daily, weekly, or monthly data to Excel? PRO StockCharts subscribers can download data from as far back as 1970.

Downloading Data in the New SharpCharts Workbench

Follow these steps to download daily, weekly, or monthly data to a CSV file (Excel readable) when using the New SharpCharts Workbench:

1. Create a chart for the ticker symbol for which you want to download the data.

2. Click Historical Price Data (left menu bar), which displays historical data seen on the price chart.

3. Click View All Historical Price Data.

1. Click Download Data Set. By default, daily data will be downloaded. To download weekly or monthly data, select Weekly or Monthly from the Period dropdown menu and click Download Data Set.

Downloading Data in the Classic SharpCharts Workbench

Follow these steps to download daily, weekly, or monthly data to a CSV file (Excel readable) when using the Classic SharpCharts Workbench:

1. Create a chart for the ticker symbol for which you want to download the data.

2. Once the chart has been created, click the “Past Data” link located below the chart.

3. Download the data.

4. Click the Download Data Set link on the Past Data page to start downloading the data. By default, it will download daily data. If you want to download weekly or monthly data instead, click the “Select Period” dropdown menu, choose the option you want, and click Download Data Set.

We offer real-time data from two sources: exchange real-time data for NYSE/Nasdaq/TSX/LSE and BATS real-time data for NYSE/Nasdaq.

Exchange real-time data comes directly from the appropriate exchange. We consider data quotes from those exchanges to be the “official” quotes for each security, and they should be extremely close to real-time values found on other sources. In addition, exchange real-time data contains accurate volume data. We highlight exchange real-time data bars in green.

We currently offer exchange real-time data for the NYSE, Nasdaq, TSX, and LSE exchanges. There is an additional charge from the exchanges for their real-time data.

Our site contains over 30,000 ticker symbols for stocks, indexes, market breadth indicators, economic indicators, commodities, and more. Understanding how these ticker symbols are named and organized makes navigating and taking full advantage of our website easier.

We use the following conventions with our ticker symbols, to indicate the exchanges that the symbols belong to, the asset types, and more.

Stock Exchanges

• US stocks have symbols that consist of letters without any other symbols - such symbols indicate that that stock is listed on either the NYSE, Nasdaq, or Amex Exchanges

• TSX-listed stocks have symbols that end with “.TO”

• TSX Venture-listed stocks have symbols that end with “.V”

• CSE-listed stocks have symbols that end with “.CA”

• NEO-listed stocks have symbols that end with “.NE”

• London-listed stocks have symbols that end with “.L”

• Indian-listed stocks have symbols that end with “.IN”

Other Financial Data

• Indexes and market indicators (i.e., non-trading datasets that do not contain price information) start with either a “$” or a “!” character

• Economic Indexes start with “$$”

• End-of-day Futures symbols start with “^”

Compound Symbols

• If two ticker symbols are joined together with a colon character, it represents the ratio of those two datasets, e.g., IBM:$SPX

• If two ticker symbols are joined together with a hyphen, it represents the difference of those two datasets

User-Defined Indexes

• User-defined indexes that have not been shared with others start with an “@” symbol

• User-defined indexes that have been shared publicly currently start with “!”

Miscellaneous Conventions

• Different stock classes are indicated with a forward slash (“/”) and one or more letters, e.g. BRK/A, RBN/UN.TO

• Unadjusted stock datasets have symbols that start with an underscore (“_”)

• Adding a hyphen before a single ticker symbol will show an inverse chart for that symbol (or use the $ONE pseudo-symbol)

The availability of historical data on our site varies based on the specific symbol, the data bar period, your membership level, and how you want to use the data.

By Data Bar Period

Our database has:

• 1-, 2-, 3-, 5-, 15-, 39-, 65-, 78-, 130-, and 195-minute bars going back 20 days.

• 10- and 30-minute bars going back 40 days.

• 60-minute bars going back to 2004.

• Daily, weekly and monthly bars going back to 1990 for most stocks, indexes and mutual funds (assuming they have been around that long).

• Daily, weekly and monthly bars going back as far as 1900 for some indexes.

By Service Level

Your membership service level will determine how much historical data you can use in your charts and whether you can see historical data in tabular format.

• Non-members can only create charts of 5 years or less in length. They cannot see data in tabular format.

• Basic and Extra members can create charts that use data from as far back as 1980. They can also see data in tabular form going back to 1990.

• PRO members can use all of our historical data in their charts with some data going back to the 1940s or earlier. PRO members can see data in tabular form going back to 1970.

By Ticker Symbol

In 2015 and 2018, major changes in sector classifications were implemented by S&P Dow Jones Indices. This company maintains and publishes the underlying indexes for the popular range of SPDR sector ETFs (XLF, XLK, etc.).

Changes to indexes are not uncommon and happen on a regular (quarterly) basis. Depending on the guidelines and the index methodology “rule book,” companies will be added to or deleted from an index to better reflect the characteristics of the index as described in the rule book. Market capitalization and company activities are the main factors that determine the sector classification.

In 2015 and 2018, however, the changes not only included adding and deleting stocks from various sector indexes but also an overhaul of the classification structure itself to better reflect the “new world order” that emerged over the last twenty years.

These changes to the sector and industry classification structure required similar changes to any indexes or ETFs that track those sectors and industries. This article details StockCharts's steps to adjust our sector and industry data to reflect these classification changes.

GICS Classification Overview

The GICS classification system, which S&P and MSCI maintain, consists of four levels:

• 11 - SECTORS

• 24 - INDUSTRY GROUPS

• 69 - INDUSTRIES

• 158 - SUB-INDUSTRIES

The methodology for classification is bottom-up. This means each stock gets classified to a “sub-industry” based on its principal business activity (which is largely determined by revenue analysis).

Based on the sub-industry assignment, a stock can be automatically assigned to a sector. The 158 sub-industries are rolled up into 69 industries. These industries are then rolled up into 24 industry groups, which are themselves ultimately rolled up into the 11 sectors at the top of the hierarchy.

Indexes vs. ETFs

Index values are calculated and published for every classification level, with historical data available from the inception of the GICS system. However, these indexes are not investable or tradable products.

Numerous asset managers created investable products based on GICS indexes. The higher the index in the classification hierarchy, the more investable products there are available. The 11 SPDR Sector ETFs have become so popular and widely traded that they are now often seen as “the sectors.” However, though they are good proxies for their underlying indexes, they do not match exactly. Based on the management fee alone, an ETF will always marginally underperform its underlying index.

For example, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) is different from the Technology Select Sector Index ($IXT). XLK, an ETF, is an investable product that closely tracks an underlying index, in this case, $IXT. They are close, but they are not the same.

StockCharts offers both the index and the ETF for each of these sectors. The Sector SPDR ETFs are used for many of our sector-based tools, including the Sector Summary and S&P Sector ETF PerfChart.

Creating Historical Data

Plenty of data is available for analysis for most of the SPDR family of sector ETFs, as they and their underlying indexes were launched many years ago. The changes in sector indexes and ETFs for Real Estate in 2015 and Communication Services in 2018 required attention because there was very little historical data available for these brand-new sectors. The lack of historical data makes it impossible to do the historical comparisons that technical analysts live by.

StockCharts used other available data and some math to approximate the historical performance of these new indexes and ETFs as if they had existed for as long as the original sector indexes and ETFs. This allows our users to make historical comparisons between all sectors, even the new ones.

Real Estate

In 2015, S&P and MSCI split the GICS financial sector into two new sectors – Financials and Real Estate. At the same time, a sector SPDR for the new Real Estate sector (XLRE) was launched by State Street.

Because Real Estate was an industry group under Financials, this new sector was essentially carved out from the Financials Sector and promoted one level higher in the GICS hierarchy. The historical data for the “new” sector was therefore already available.

There is only one small difference in the composition of the old industry group and new sector. The original Real Estate Industry Group included (Equity) REITs, Mortgage REITs and Real Estate Management and Development stocks. The new Real Estate Sector holds only Equity REITs and Real Estate Management and Development stocks. Mortgage REITs stayed in the Financials Sector, under the Diversified Financials Industry Group.

In the StockCharts database, we copied the historical index data for the Real Estate Industry Group to the new Real Estate Sector index ($IXRE). This makes it possible to use the Real Estate Sector data in historical comparisons at the index level.

To be able to use the investable XLRE sector ETF in historical comparisons, we have used the performance data for the Real Estate Sector Index to simulate the performance of XLRE as if it was trading before October 2015, back-filling the “history” of XLRE, assuming a 100% correlation with the underlying index.

Chartists can now use XLRE in longer-term charts, make historical sector performance comparisons, and use it in tools like PerfCharts.

Communication Services

The Communication Services sector is a bit more complex since it has roots in the old telecom sector. Unlike the Real Estate Sector, no historical data exists for the Communication Services Sector.

To facilitate the financial markets and enable analysts to use historical data for this new sector, S&P Dow Jones Indices calculated the historical performance of the Communication Services Sector based on the current index methodology for the sector. This means they went back in time with a rule book and created the index composition at each review date. Historical values were then calculated for the new index ($IXC). This newly-created dataset is available on S&P's website.

To facilitate the use of the XLC sector ETF in long-term charts and other tools on the website, we took a similar route as described for XLRE. Based on the data provided by S&P, we calculated the performance of the new sector index ($IXC) and used this performance data to backfill the historical prices for XLC, assuming a 100% correlation with the underlying index.

Chartists can now use XLC and XLRE in longer-term charts, make historical sector performance comparisons and use these tickers in tools like PerfCharts and Relative Rotation Graphs.

Conclusion

The SPDR sectors are an important component of our site organization and market analysis tools. Creating historical data for these two new sectors allows you to continue to use these tools for your long-term sector-based analysis.

At StockCharts, we adjust our historical price data to remove gaps caused by stock splits, dividends, and distributions. That may cause our charts to look different from other services that do not perform the same adjustments.

For example, if a stock splits 2-for-1, the price is suddenly half of what it used to be, creating a large gap down on the chart. If you were unaware of the split, the chart would give you the impression that something bearish happened to the underlying company. In addition, most of the technical indicators on that chart would give sell signals because of the significant price drop. Even though such a split is considered a neutral event, an unadjusted chart would contain many bearish signals.

We strive to adjust all the historical data before the event to prevent these misleading signals from appearing on our charts. In the case of a 2-for-1 split, we divide all of the historical prices for the stock by 2, then multiply all of the historical volumes by two so that the bars before the split match up smoothly with those that appear after the split.

Our charts, whether adjusted or unadjusted, are ALWAYS corrected for splits.

In addition to performing adjustments that remove large gaps caused by splits, we adjust our historical data to remove smaller gaps caused by dividends and distributions. By making these additional adjustments, we ensure that our adjusted charts show the real total return for the instrument instead of just price returns.

While these adjustments are important for an accurate representation of historical performance, they can cause problems in the following circumstances:

1. Our adjusted historical price data cannot be used to determine the actual buy or sell price for a stock at some point in the past.

2. Our adjusted historical price data may not match the unadjusted data from other sources.

3. Adjusting historical price data can cause P&F reversal points to change if “Traditional” box scaling is used (the default).

Whenever a stock's historical data is adjusted, we add it to the list of recent adjustments on our Recent Data Adjustments page.

Dividend Adjustment Calculation Details

Historical prices are adjusted by a factor calculated when the stock begins trading ex-dividend. The dividend amount is subtracted from the prior day’s price; that result is then divided by the previous day’s price. Historical prices are subsequently multiplied by this factor.

Let's look at this example. A stock closes at $40.00 on Monday. On Tuesday, it begins trading ex-dividend based on a $2.00 dividend. If the stock opens unchanged, it will be trading at $38.00. Unless we adjust the prior prices, the chart will show a misleading $2.00 gap.

To calculate the adjustment factor, we subtract the $2.00 dividend from Monday's closing price ($40.00 - $2.00 = $38.00). Then, we divide 38.00 by 40.00 to determine the dividend adjustment in percentage terms. The result is 0.95.

Lastly, we multiply all historical prices before the dividend by a factor of 0.95. This adjusts historical prices proportionately to stay rationally aligned with current prices.

Split Adjustment Calculation Details

Adjustments for stock splits are similar, but to calculate the factor, you have to divide the number of shares after the split by the number of shares before the split. (Example: To adjust for a 2-for-1 split, divide 1 by 2. The factor is 0.5.)

Like dividend adjustments, we multiply all historical prices before the split by 0.5.

With splits, we adjust the volume in the opposite direction of prices to maintain the total liquidity. So, where we divided 1 by 2 to calculate the adjustment factor for prices, we now divide 2 by 1 to calculate the adjustment factor for volume. In this case, the adjustment factor for volume is 2.0, so we multiply all volume before the split by the adjustment factor of 2.0.

Reverse splits are calculated the same way as regular splits. For a 1-for-4 reverse split, for example, you would divide 4 by 1 to calculate the adjustment factor for prices (4.0) and divide 1 by 4 to calculate the adjustment factor for volume (0.25).

The quickest and easiest way to search the StockCharts site for a ticker symbol is to use the Create-a-Chart bar at the top of any page.

We'll walk you through four symbol search scenarios, showing how the Create-a-Chart bar can help you find ticker symbols on the StockCharts website.

Finding the Ticker for Netflix

Scenario 1. You want to find the ticker symbol for Netflix and launch a SharpChart for that stock.

Step 1:

Begin typing the word “Netflix” in the Create-a-Chart bar. A dropdown list with possible ticker symbol matches will update as you type each letter.

Step 2:

Find Netflix on the list and click on it with your mouse.

When you click on the symbol, a SharpChart will be launched for Netflix.

Launch a Seasonality Chart for MSFT

You may already know a stock's ticker symbol, but you want to launch a different kind of chart.

Scenario 2. You want to launch a Seasonality chart for Microsoft.

Step 1:

Click on the dropdown menu on the left side of the Create-a-Chart bar, then click Seasonality.

Step 2:

Type “MSFT” in the search box and click “Go” (or press the Enter key on your keyboard).

When you click “Go,” a Seasonality chart will be launched for Microsoft.

Find Out Where General Motors is Mentioned on the Site

The Create-a-Chart bar can be used for more than just launching charts.

Scenario 3. You want to use the Create-a-Chart bar to find all the references to GM on the StockCharts website, including blog articles, Public ChartLists, etc.

Step 1:

Click on the dropdown menu on the left side of the Create-a-Chart bar and change it to Symbol Lookup.

Step 2:

Enter “GM” in the search box, then click Go to run a search for symbols that meet your criteria. GM should be near the top of the list.

Step 3:

Find GM on the list of symbol search results, then click on the Mentions icon to the right.

The Symbol Mentions page will display basic details about the ticker symbol, then show all the places on the site where it is mentioned, including Predefined Scans, Public ChartLists, your own ChartLists, and StockCharts commentary. This is a great way to get an overall picture of what's happening with a stock or security.

Find All Bullish Percent Indexes

Sometimes, you may want to search for a group of related symbols. Here's an example of how to search for all the Bullish Percent Indexes available in StockCharts.

Step 1:

Type bullish percent in the Create-a-Chart bar search box. Notice that there are more Bullish Percent Indexes than can be displayed on the dropdown list.

Step 2:

Click on More Results for BULLISH PERCENT at the bottom of the list.

The More Results link takes you to the same place as the Symbol Lookup technique used in the previous scenario, a handy shortcut for doing symbol lookups. This shows all symbols with “Bullish Percent” in their name.

It's All About Ticker Symbols

While the main function of the Create-a-Chart bar is to create charts, it can also help you find ticker symbols on the StockCharts website. This is especially handy when you need clarification of a stock's name or exact spelling or want to find a list of related symbols.

If a ticker symbol isn't listed in the Symbol Lookup results, the symbol isn't available for charting. You can, however, request that we add it using our Symbol Request Form.

When you log in to your StockCharts.com account, the first page you'll see is Your Dashboard. You can also access it at any time by clicking the Your Dashboard link at the top of any page.

Your Dashboard is your starting point and is designed to do the following:

• Provide easy access to the most important tools and features.

• Provide a brief overview of market action.

• Allow you to quickly access your saved scans, scheduled scans, and custom alerts.

• Allow you to quickly access your saved ChartLists.

Your Dashboard is broken up into several different panels. Let's look in more detail at the different panels.

Member Tools

You'll find the Member Tools in the top-left panel of Your Dashboard. From this panel you can quickly link to many of the top tools and features in StockCharts. Want to see your custom alerts, create an RRG chart, or dig into the Sector Summary? You'll find a link to it in Member Tools.

Market Overview

The Market Overview panel provides a quick snapshot of the stock market action. The mini-chart shows you the intraday price action for two full trading days. A dashed line on the chart shows you where the previous day's closing value occurred. You can compare the close to today's trading action.

By default, the chart shows you the action for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but you can click on any of the indexes listed in the table next to the chart, to see the chart for that index. Use the tabs above the chart to change the display between equity indexes and other types of securities, including bonds, commodities, and cryptocurrencies.

The table next to the chart shows you gain/loss for each of the indexes and securities listed. When the market is open, the gain/loss is for the current day's price action. When the market is closed, it is for the price action on the most recent trading day.

The blue Market Summary link at the bottom of the panel will take you to our extensive Market Summary report, which provides more details on the day's market action.

Data Panels

You can have up to four data panels on Your Dashboard, which can be customized to show reports of stocks making a move in their respective markets, important technical signals covering entire markets, and more. The data on these panels is updated frequently when the markets are open.

One of these Data Panels is visible by default. You can add three additional Data Panels to your dashboard by clicking on the “gears” icon at the top right of the dashboard screen and ensuring the Additional Data Panels option is selected.

The More button at the top right of each data panel allows you to choose what data is shown in that panel. We have several different data panel widgets to choose from. Read on to learn more about each available widget.

Market Factors

The Market Factors widget displays a grid that shows how large, mid, and small-cap exchange-traded funds (ETFs) representing different market factors are performing. The Basic Factors setting shows value, core, and growth ETFs for each market cap. Switch to the Extended Factors setting to add columns for Revenue, Momentum, Low Volatility, and Quality.

Each square in the grid represents an ETF covering that market cap and market factor, and is color-coded according to its performance, with green representing an upward move and red representing a downside move. Click on a square to see a chart for that ETF.

Keller Market Model

The Keller Market Model widget gives you a quick view of the overall market. You can choose to view the Market or Stocks model. Selecting the Macro Model gives you an idea of how stocks, bonds, commodities, and the US dollar could perform in the short, medium, and long term. The Stocks Model shows you how large caps, mid caps, small caps, and technology stocks could perform in the short, medium, and long term. Note that ETFs are used as a proxy to represent the various asset classes.

Advancers & Decliners

The Advancers & Decliners widget shows you the percentage of stocks that have advanced, declined, or remain unchanged within key groups. The values are color-coded based on the percentages (green for larger percentages, red for lower ones, and yellow for values right in the middle).

By default, the widget shows advancers and decliners for key US indexes and exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, S&P 500, S&P 400, and S&P 600). The dropdown menu at the top of the widget allows you to switch between US Equity Indexes and US Sectors.

Sector Summary

The Sector Summary widget shows you the performance of all S&P 500 US sectors at a glance. Clicking on any sectors will display a SharpChart for that Sector SPDR. Links above the chart allow you to launch a CandleGlance, PerfChart, or RRG Chart showing all the sector SPDRs.

The dropdown menu at the top of the widget allows you to switch between Cap Weight US Sectors (the default), Equal Weight US sectors, Small Cap US sectors, and Canadian sectors.

The blue Sector Summary link at the bottom of the panel will take you to our popular Sector Summary for US sectors, where you can drill down to find the best-performing stock in the best-performing industry in the best-performing sector, all with just a few clicks.

Market Movers

The Market Movers widget shows stocks that are making a strong price move today. Use the dropdown menu at the top left of the panel to choose the universe represented; we currently offer the Dow, S&P 500, NYSE, NASDAQ, TSX, London (LSE), and India (NSE).

Once you have chosen your universe, the tabs above the report allow you to view the top stocks based on different criteria. The 10 most active stocks (“Most Active”) are shown by default, but you can also see the stocks with the biggest percentage gain or loss (“% Up” or “% Down”). Clicking on any of the ticker symbols in the report causes a SharpChart for that ticker symbol to appear.

Below the report are two links - one for “CandleGlance” and one for “RRG.” Clicking on the CandleGlance link will bring up 10 mini-charts for the 10 symbols displayed. Similarly, clicking on the RRG link will bring up an RRG chart for the 10 symbols displayed.

New Highs

The New Highs widget shows securities that are reaching new highs. Use the dropdown menu at the top left of the widget to choose the universe represented. We offer several key groups, including the S&P 100, S&P 500, S&P 400, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones Industrials, Dow Jones Transports, Dow Jones Utilities, S&P/TSX Composite, and London stocks.

Once you have chosen your group, the tabs above the table allow you to view the timeframe for the new highs: 1 Month, 3 Months, 6 Months, 9 Months, 52 Weeks, or stocks reaching All-Time Highs.

Stocks in that group that are making new highs in that timeframe will be displayed in the widget. View and sort by symbol, name, price, change, or percent change. Click on any of the company names in the table to launch a SharpChart for that ticker symbol.

New Lows

Similar to the New Highs widget, the New Lows widget shows securities that are reaching new lows. Use the dropdown menu at the top left of the widget to choose the universe represented. We offer several key groups, including the S&P 100, S&P 500, S&P 400, S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Dow Jones Industrials, Dow Jones Transports, Dow Jones Utilities, S&P/TSX Composite, and London stocks.

Once you have chosen your group, the tabs above the table allow you to view the timeframe for the new lows: 1 Month, 3 Months, 6 Months, 9 Months, or stocks reaching 52-Week Lows.

Stocks in that group that are making new lows in that timeframe will be displayed in the widget. View and sort by symbol, name, price, change, or percent change. Click on any of the company names in the table to launch a SharpChart for that ticker symbol.

SCTR Reports

The SCTR Reports widget shows securities with the strongest SCTR rankings. Use the dropdown menu at the top left of the panel to choose the universe represented. We currently offer US ETFs and US Large-Cap, US Mid-Cap, US Small-Cap, Toronto, London (LSE) and India (NSE) stocks.

Once you have chosen your universe, the tabs above the report allow you to view the top securities based on different criteria. Securities with the highest SCTR values (“Top 10”) are shown by default, but you can also see those with the lowest SCTR values (“Low 10”) or those that had the biggest gain or loss in SCTR value (“Top Up” or “Top Down”). Clicking on any of the ticker symbols in the report causes a SharpChart for that ticker symbol to appear.

Below the report are two links, one for “CandleGlance” and one for “RRG.” Clicking on the CandleGlance link will bring up 10 mini-charts for the 10 symbols displayed. Similarly, clicking on the RRG link will bring up an RRG chart for the 10 symbols displayed.

Ticker Cloud

The Ticker Cloud widget displays the ticker symbols that are currently popular among our members. The larger the symbol name, the more popular the ticker symbol is. Click on any of the ticker symbols in the report to see a SharpChart for that ticker symbol. Click the Popular Symbols link at the bottom of the panel to see the entire Ticker Cloud.

Predefined Alerts

The Predefined Alerts widget shows the 10 most recent major market signals from our Predefined Alerts page. Clicking on an alert causes a SharpChart for the relevant index or indicator to appear. Click the View All link at the top left to see all our Predefined Alerts.

DP Signals

The DP Signals widget summarizes DecisionPoint signals for key US indexes. Use the dropdown menu at the top left of the panel to choose the index. We currently offer DP Signals for the Dow, S&P 500, NASDAQ 100 and S&P 100.

Chaikin Power Gauge

The Chaikin Power Gauge widget lets you see an overall rating, financial metrics, earnings performance, price/volume activity, and expert activity for any stock. Type in the stock ticker symbol to view the ratings for the specific stock. You’ll also see a ratings overview which summarizes all the ratings for the stock you selected.

The Chaikin Power Gauge plug-in is an add-on product that can be purchased in the StockCharts Marketplace.

Earnings Calendar Panel

The Earnings Calendar panel is similar to the Data Panels, giving you an at-a-glance overview of recent and upcoming earnings information for US stocks, but there is so much data packed into this widget that we made it a full-width panel that can be added separately.

To add the Earnings Calendar panel to your dashboard, click the “gears” icon at the top right of the dashboard and make sure the “Earnings Calendar” option is selected.

Once you add the panel, the functionality is the same as on the regular Earnings Calendar:

• Reported and Upcoming buttons at top right allow you to toggle between earnings that have already been reported and those that will be reported soon.

• The earnings information can be filtered by the earnings date (Reported tab only) or a subset of US stocks, using the dropdown menus at top left.

• Clicking on a company name will launch a SharpChart for that ticker symbol.

To access the full Earnings Calendar, click the "View Full Calendar" button at the top of the panel.

ChartList Panels

You can have up to two ChartList Panels on your dashboard, showing mini summary views of your selected ChartLists.

No ChartList Panels are visible by default. You can add two ChartList Panels to your dashboard by clicking on the “gears” icon at the top right of the dashboard and making sure the “ChartList Panels” option is selected.

Once the ChartList panels are added, there is a gears icon at the top right of each ChartList panel, which allows you to choose which of your ChartLists should be shown in that panel.

The mini summary table in the panel shows the name, symbol, closing value and price change information for the symbols in your ChartList. Clicking on any of the column headers will allow you to sort the ChartList by that column. Hovering over a symbol will display a mini-chart for that symbol, while clicking on a name will launch a full chart for that symbol.

If there are more than 10 symbols on your ChartList, buttons below the table will allow you to move forward and backward through the ChartList. Use the “View As” dropdown menu at the top of the panel to view the ChartList in other formats, such as 10 Per Page or CandleGlance.

Click the Add button at the top of the panel to quickly add a new symbol to that ChartList.

Chart Panels

You can have up to three different charts displayed on your dashboard. These can be saved SharpCharts from your ChartLists or ad-hoc charts you create by specifying a ticker symbol and a ChartStyle.

By default, chart panels aren't visible on your dashboard. You can add up to three panels by clicking on the “gears” icon at the top right of the dashboard and ensuring the Chart Panels option is selected.

If you have not added a chart panel before, you will see the chart panel configuration options for your first panel. You can access these options for an existing chart panel by clicking the gears icon at the top right of the panel.

• To display a saved chart, click the Saved Chart tab, then select the desired ChartList and saved chart.

• To display an ad-hoc chart, click the New Chart tab, enter a ticker symbol, and select the desired ChartStyle.

• Once the chart is configured, click the Update Chart button to create the chart.

Additional chart panels (up to a maximum of three) can be added by clicking the plus button; a chart panel can be removed from the dashboard by clicking the minus button at the top of that panel. To access chart panel configuration options and change the chart displayed in the chart panel on the dashboard, click the gears icon at the top of that panel. To edit the chart itself, click on the chart to open it in the SharpCharts Workbench.

Scans & Alerts Panel

The Scans & Alerts panel includes three widgets providing access to your saved scans, scheduled scans, and alerts.

To add the Scans & Alerts panel to your dashboard, click the “gears” icon at the top right of the dashboard and make sure the “Scans & Alerts” option is selected.

Let's take a closer look at the three widgets on this panel.

Your Scans

The Your Scans widget, shown below, allows you to manage all your scans quickly.

Clicking the New button in the top right of the panel will take you to the Advanced Scan Workbench to create a new scan. Click the More button at the top of the panel for quick access to our scanning tools, including the Advanced Scan Workbench, Standard Scan Workbench, and Predefined Scans page.

The Select a Saved Scan dropdown menu lets you easily select one of your saved scans. You can run or edit the scan by choosing the appropriate button below the dropdown.

For more information on creating and using scans, please see our Support Center article on Technical Scans.

Scheduled Scans

The Scheduled Scans widget shows your five most recently-run scheduled scans at a glance. If you have more than five scheduled scans, the buttons below the table allow you to move forward and backward through your list of scheduled scans.

The results column shows the number of symbols returned the last time the scheduled scan was run. Click on the ChartList name to view the results, and click on the scan name to view/edit the scan itself. The View All button at the top of the widget will take you to the main scheduled scans page, where you can edit any of your scheduled scans.

For more information on using scheduled scans, please see our Support Center article on Scheduled Scans.

Your Alerts

The Your Alerts panel shows you your top five custom alerts at a glance and the last time they were triggered. If you have more than five alerts, the buttons below the table allow you to move forward and backward through your list of alerts. Click the View All button at the top of the panel to go to the Alert Summary and see all your alerts on a single page.

To edit an alert, click the alert name in the list. This will open the selected alert in the Technical Alert Workbench, enabling you to edit it. To create a new Alert, click the New button at the top of the panel.

For more information on creating and using alerts, please see our Support Center article on Technical Alerts.

Commentary Panel

You can add a Commentary Panel to your dashboard by clicking on the “gears” icon at the top right of the dashboard and selecting the “Commentary” option.

The widget on the left side of the Commentary panel showcases our 10 most recent blog articles. Click on the article title or Read More link to view the full article. The View All button at the top of the widget takes you to our articles page for access to all our written commentary.

The widget on the right side of the Commentary panel showcases our StockCharts TV YouTube channel. Click the Play button in the middle of the widget to watch the latest video without even leaving the dashboard. The New Episodes button at the top of the widget gives you access to the latest episodes from each of our exclusive shows.

Your ChartLists

The Your ChartLists panel, located at the bottom of Your Dashboard, lets you view, access, and manage all your saved ChartLists from one place.

Use the “SharpCharts” and “ACP Charts” buttons at the top of this panel to switch between viewing SharpCharts lists and ACP lists.

Viewing SharpCharts ChartLists

When you click the “SharpCharts” button, your saved SharpCharts lists are shown here in alphabetical order, along with the number of charts and any list notes that have been added.

The “View As” dropdown next to each list allows you to open the ChartList in a number of different views, including 10 Per Page, CandleGlance and ChartBook view.

Clicking on the ChartList's name will show you the ChartList in Summary view by default. This default setting can be changed by clicking the Gears icon at the top right of the panel and selecting a new Default ChartList view.

Viewing ACP ChartLists

When you click the “ACP Lists” button, your saved ACP ChartLists are shown here in alphabetical order, along with the number of charts and any list notes that have been added.

Click on the ACP ChartList's name to view the list within StockChartsACP.

Deleting ChartLists

To delete one or more ChartLists, click the Edit button at the top right, then check the box to the left of each ChartList you want to delete. Once you have selected all the lists to delete, click the Delete Lists button at the bottom of the page.

Creating New ChartLists

You can create a new ChartList from this panel by choosing the “SharpCharts” or “ACP Charts” button, then clicking the “New” button at the top right or the “New List” button at the bottom of the page. To add pre-created SharpCharts ChartLists to your account, click the “Manage ChartPacks” button at the bottom of the page.

Ratio Symbols (Relative Strength)

Often, it can be useful to study the ratio of two datasets to determine things like the relative strength of a stock compared to an index. StockCharts users can create ratios from two ticker symbols in our database. On our website, wherever you can enter a single ticker symbol, you can also enter two symbols joined together with a colon character (“:”), and we will use the ratio of those two symbols. We call such a combination of symbols a “Ratio Symbol.”

Here is an example of a ratio symbol in use:

People can use ratio symbols to create what is sometimes called the “Price Relative line,” the ratio of a stock against the S&P 500 Large Cap Index. For example, charting AAPL:$SPX will show you the Price Relative line for Apple Inc.

Ratio symbols are also used to create “Relative Strength” charts, which plot the ratio of two ticker symbols on a line chart. The following rules are used to interpret a relative strength chart:

• The actual values for each point on the relative strength line are not relevant. Instead, focus on the direction and shape of the line.

• If the line is rising, the first ticker symbol is outperforming the second ticker symbol.

• If the line is falling, the second ticker symbol is outperforming the first.

On a SharpChart, the “Price” indicator can be used to add a ratio symbol to an existing chart.

Calculation: For purposes of consistency and data integrity, we use the following formulas when calculating a ratio symbol:

1. Open = Open of the first symbol / Close of the second symbol

2. High = High of the first symbol / Close of the second symbol

3. Low = Low of the first symbol / Close of the second symbol

4. Close = Close of the first symbol / Close of the second symbol

5. Volume = Volume of the first symbol / Volume of the second symbol

These formulas ensure that the ratio symbol's High value is still the highest and its Low value is still the lowest in the resulting dataset.

Difference Symbols

Similar to ratio symbols (see above), you can join two ticker symbols with a hyphen to create a “Difference Symbol,” e.g., $TYX-$FVX.

On a SharpChart, the “Price” indicator can be used to add a Difference Symbol to an existing chart.

Calculation:

1. Open = Open of the first symbol - Close of the second symbol

2. High = High of the first symbol - Close of the second symbol

3. Low = Low of the first symbol - Close of the second symbol

4. Close = Close of the first symbol - Close of the second symbol

Additional Resources

Videos

• Ratio Ticker Symbols

SharpCharts, our award-winning bar/candlestick charting program, is the signature tool of StockCharts.com and the most widely used feature of the website.

Overview

A SharpChart is a technical chart that plots price values for a ticker symbol (“dataset”) over time. SharpCharts has a large number of chart settings that can be used to customize the chart, as well as a huge collection of technical indicators and overlays that can be added. A complete description of all of the chart types and technical indicators supported by SharpCharts can be found in the ChartSchool area of our website.

SharpCharts are sent to your web browser as a regular Internet image file (in “png” format), meaning that you can treat a SharpChart exactly the same as you would treat any other Internet-based image. You can copy and paste it into other documents, save it to your hard disk or a photo-organizing program, email it to friends, draw on it with a drawing program, and much more.

Furthermore, you do not have to install any additional browser plug-ins or other software in order to view our charts; they can be viewed on any Internet-connected device that has a web browser.

Creating a SharpChart

SharpCharts can be created using the “Create-a-Chart Bar” found at the top of every page on the website. Simply enter the ticker symbol of the stock you are interested in (or part of its name if you don't know the symbol), select “SharpChart” from the left-side dropdown (if it isn't already selected), and press Enter (or click “Go”).

SharpCharts Format

All SharpCharts have several common visual elements regardless of their settings. The diagram below shows each of these features on a typical SharpChart.

The common elements in SharpCharts are as follows:

1— The Main Ticker symbol

2— The Chart Header area

3— The Price Plot area

4— The Horizontal Time axis

5— The Primary Vertical axis

6— (Optional) A Secondary Vertical axis

7— (Optional) One or more Technical Overlays

8— (Optional) One or more Technical Indicator panels

The information displayed in the Chart Header varies depending on the chart configuration, but, at a minimum, it includes the following:

• The Ticker Symbol of the dataset that is displayed in the Price Plot area

• The Date and Time of the latest data point (using the time zone of the exchange)

• Open, High, Low, and Close (OHLC) values of the latest data point

• Volume for the latest data point

• Change in price since the previous close (see our Percent Change FAQ for more information)

The SharpCharts Workbench

The SharpCharts Workbench is our flagship charting tool, where you can create, view, share, modify, annotate, and save all your charts.

StockCharts Mobile App

For accessing SharpCharts on the go, we recommend our StockCharts Mobile App, available for iOS and Android devices.

This app allows you to quickly view your saved charts or create a new chart on the fly.

The SharpCharts Workbench offers several different ways to set the date range for your SharpChart, but none provides more interactive functionality than the Date Slider. This feature allows you to “zoom in” on the dates you want to see on your chart, fine-tuning the size of the range and start and end dates.

Accessing the Date Slider

To access the Date Slider, first create a SharpChart. Then find the Range dropdown menu located below the chart and choose Select Start/End.

Once you select this setting, you should see a "Start” box, an “End” box, and the Date Slider.

Parts of the Date Slider

The Date Slider control consists of three elements:

• The Date Scale. A changeable set of months/years that make up the middle of the control. This shows you a range of dates that can be used for your chart. If you use all of the dates currently shown on the scale, the scale will automatically expand to include additional dates that you can use.

• The Thumb. The wider box that moves from side to side along the date scale is called the “thumb.” This box represents the current date range for your chart. The left edge of the slider's thumb corresponds to the left edge of your chart, and the right edge corresponds to the right edge of your chart. You can use the thumb to change the chart's date range, as described below.

• The Arrows. To the left and right of the date scale are two arrows. Clicking on the left arrow will move the slider backward by one period; clicking the right arrow will move the slider forward by one time period.

Changing the Date Range

You can use your mouse to adjust the slider in the following ways:

• Left-click on the middle of the slider's thumb and drag it left or right to change both the starting and ending dates. This allows you to “slide” your chart forward and backward through time.

• Left-click on the left arrow to move the slider's thumb backward by one time period.

• Left-click on the right arrow to move the slider's thumb forward by one time period.

• Right-click on the middle of the slider's thumb to choose from a menu of typical chart durations.

• To change the chart's starting date, left-click on the left edge of the slider's thumb and drag it left or right.

• To change the chart's ending date, left-click on the right edge of the slider's thumb and drag it left or right.

As you move the slider with your mouse, the dates in the “Start” and “End” boxes to the left are instantly updated. When you stop moving the slider, the chart then follows suit.

You can also use your keyboard to move the slider's thumb backward and forward by one period. Just click the left or right arrow keys on your keyboard. You may need to click on the Date Slider once with your mouse before the keyboard arrow keys will work.

Once you have set the Start and End dates that you want for your chart, remember to click the Update button to “finalize” those values, especially if you are saving the chart into a ChartList.

Note: The date range for an intraday chart can still only be set in daily increments. In other words, a chart cannot start or end in the middle of a day.

Changing the Date Scale

By default, the Date Scale shows approximately four years of dates that can be used in your chart. StockCharts members can create longer-term charts than this, so they may need to expand the date scale beyond the four-year default. To do this, drag the left edge of the slider's thumb to the left edge of the date scale. As soon as you get close to the left edge, the date scale will expand to include more dates.

In some situations, you may want to work with a much smaller date scale, perhaps a few months instead of a few years. To do this, drag the left edge of the slider's thumb over toward the right side of the scale. When you release your mouse button, you will see that the date range is much smaller, but the date scale is still just as big as before. Next, click on either the arrow button on the left or right side of the scale. Now you can see that the date scale has changed to measuring in months instead of years. You can repeat this process as many times as necessary to get the scale as small as you want.

Moving Through Time

While most people use the Date Slider to set the date range for their charts, one of the most exciting things about it is that you can use the arrow keys/buttons to move through a chart day by day and see how the chart patterns and indicator values develop over time.

Simply move your daily chart's date range back a few days or weeks, then click on the right arrow button (or use the right arrow key on your keyboard) to move forward one day. Then click it again to move forward another day. It's like stop-motion animation for your charts.

Final Thoughts

Remember, the Date Slider is optional. You can still type dates inside the “Start” and “End” boxes or use the calendar controls to set “Start” and “End” dates like you always have.

However, we think the Date Slider's interactive nature will make it a first choice when setting the date range of your chart.

We offer many ways to share your SharpCharts with others, whether sending a link to the chart or sending the chart itself. The chart can be shared via email, social media, or inserted in a document. You can even print out the chart and hand it to someone in person.

Linking to a SharpChart

If you just copy and paste (or bookmark) the URL at the top of your browser, that link is just going to take you to the SharpCharts Workbench, not to the specific chart you are currently looking at in the SharpCharts Workbench. If you want a link to the specific chart, you must use our Permalink feature. When you're ready to link, simply click the link button below the chart.

Note: You can also right-click on the chart itself, and choose "Link to Chart" from the menu that appears.

A small window will open with a shortened version of the link.

You can choose "Copy Link" to put the link on your clipboard, ready for pasting elsewhere. If the StockCharts customer support team asks you to send a link to your chart, this is the link you need to send them, so they can see the specific chart you need help with.

If your ultimate goal is to bookmark the chart in your browser, choose "Reload with Link" instead. The browser will be reloaded with a special URL that includes all the info to call up that specific chart again. If you bookmark the page after you've reloaded with this link, you will be saving a link to view that specific chart in the workbench.

Printing a SharpChart

If you want a hard copy of your chart, without all the menus and banners included in the printout, there is an easy way to print only the chart on your printer. Simply click the Print button below the chart, choose your print settings, and send it to your printer.

Sharing a Chart on Social Media

Your SharpCharts can be shared on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), or LinkedIn, using the "Share" link below the chart on the Classic Workbench. You will be prompted to log in to the social media platform if you have not already logged in. You can post the chart alone or add your own comments to the post before you send it.

Emailing a SharpChart

You can also email a SharpChart to someone else. Simply click the Share menu below the chart and choose "Email Chart" from the menu.

You will be prompted to enter the recipient's email address and any additional comments you want included in the email. Once those are entered, preview the email and click the green Send Email button to send the email.

Inserting a SharpChart in a Document

Another great way to share your charts is by inserting them in a document or presentation slides. To copy the chart itself so that it can be pasted in a separate document, simply right-click on the chart itself and choose "Copy Chart Image" from the menu. The chart image will be copied to your clipboard, ready for pasting into Word documents, PowerPoint slides, or wherever else you'd like to share your chart.

The SharpCharts Workbench contains all the features you need to create, view, share, modify, and save SharpCharts. There are many ways to access the SharpCharts Workbench, including:

• Clicking on a ticker symbol anywhere on the StockCharts website.

• Typing a ticker symbol into the Create a Chart box, then clicking Go.

• Typing a ticker symbol into the box in the SharpCharts section of the Charts & Tools page, then clicking Go.

• Clicking on many of the charts in our Articles and ChartSchool areas.

• Clicking on the SharpCharts icons on our various reports and scan results pages.

Creating and Viewing SharpCharts

The SharpCharts Workbench allows you to closely study the SharpCharts you have created. Use the Inspector tool to view price values for any bar on the chart. The Auto-Refresh feature periodically updates the chart with new data.

Printing and Sharing SharpCharts

Your SharpCharts can be easily shared with others. Use Permalinks to send a chart link, download an image file of a chart, or use our print functionality to create a paper copy.

Modifying SharpCharts in the Workbench

You can customize your SharpCharts to meet your investing needs. StockCharts offers three main types of customization:

• Editing individual chart settings.

• Using a ChartStyle for quickly configuring a chart.

• Adding custom annotations to the chart.

Editing SharpChart Settings

The SharpCharts Workbench allows you to customize your SharpChart settings, including the chart type, period, range, indicators and overlays, color scheme, and more.

Applying ChartStyles to SharpCharts

ChartStyles are collections of chart settings that can be used as “templates” for creating new charts or updating existing charts. A ChartStyle specifies the chart's period, date range, chart type, color scheme, overlays, indicators—everything except the chart's symbol.

ChartStyles can help streamline your chart-creation process if you repeatedly use the same chart settings.

Annotating SharpCharts

Our ChartNotes annotation tool is built right in to the SharpCharts Workbench. You can easily add annotations to your charts, including trendlines, shapes, text, and popular line studies such as Fibonacci retracement levels.

When you annotate a chart and save that chart to a ChartList, all your annotations are saved along with the chart.

Saving Charts in the SharpCharts Workbench

SharpCharts can be saved into ChartLists, online “folders” that allow you to store up to 1000 charts in a single list. ChartLists allow you to group and organize your collections of saved charts for easy access.

In addition to the chart editing functionality on the SharpCharts Workbench, other trading tools are built right into the workbench. Below your charts, you will find access to your ChartStyles, ChartLists, Alerts, and other tools and resources such as options data and historical price data.

For many of the tools on our site, you can create a specific ChartStyle that will be used for charts displayed by that tool. For example, you can create a special CandleGlance ChartStyle that will be used whenever you display a CandleGlance chart. (Think of it as the Default ChartStyle for the tool.) These ChartStyles can currently be used for charts in our CandleGlance, GalleryView, Market Summary and Industry Summary.

CandleGlance Style

GalleryView Style

GalleryView ChartStyles have a few restrictions:

• Regardless of the period settings in your ChartStyles, the Intraday chart will show 10-minute bars. Similarly, the Daily chart will show Daily bars, and the Weekly chart will show weekly bars.

• The width of the charts will remain fixed at the current 800 pixels. We recommend using the “Fill the Chart” range option to prevent the bars on the chart from getting scrunched.

• While there is no vertical size restriction, we recommend not adding too many indicators to the GalleryView charts; otherwise, the page will get very long.

• The P&F chart cannot be customized specifically for GalleryView. However, you can customize the default P&F ChartStyle for all P&F charts; that default P&F ChartStyle will be shown in GalleryView.

Market Summary Style

To change the way that charts on the Market Summary page look, create a chart that looks the way you want your Market Summary charts to look, then save it as a ChartStyle with “Market Summary” as the name.

Industry Summary Style

To change the way that charts on the Industry Summary page look, create a chart that looks the way you want your Industry Summary charts to look, then save it as a ChartStyle with “Industry Summary” as the name.

In the SharpCharts Workbench, you can access your ChartLists directly from the charting platform. On the left menu under Saved Charts, click ChartList Summary, select your ChartList from the Select ChartList dropdown menu, and then select how you wish to view your ChartList from the View List As dropdown menu. The list of stocks in your selected ChartList will be displayed in a tabular format, which you can sort alphabetically or, by any of the other columns.

As you scroll through your charts, you may observe notable price action. To note your observations, click Chart Comments, type in your comments, and save them. So, next time you bring up the chart, you'll see your comments.

In the SharpCharts Workbench, you can access your ChartLists directly from the charting platform. On the left menu under Saved Charts, click ChartList Summary, select your ChartList from the Select ChartList dropdown menu, and then select how you wish to view your ChartList from the View List As dropdown menu. The list of stocks in your selected ChartList will be displayed in a tabular format, which you can sort alphabetically.

As you scroll through your charts, you may observe notable price action. To note your observations, click Chart Comments, type in your comments, and save them. So, next time you bring up the chart, you'll see your comments. See below for an interactive demo.

Market breadth data charts often look erratic and “noisy” since the data is usually a count or percentage of stocks rather than a price. This means that the values can fluctuate dramatically from day to day. Some breadth indicators even regularly fluctuate between positive and negative values.

The chart shows that the values change wildly from day to day, making it erratic. The horizontal lines added to the chart help to identify the big moves that exceed +80% or -80%, but it is difficult to determine what is happening between these levels.

Fortunately, StockCharts offers three different chart types that are especially valuable for reducing the “noise” on market breadth charts and making it easier to read and interpret them: Histogram, Cumulative, and Invisible chart types. Each of these chart types will be discussed below.

Histogram Chart Type

A histogram chart represents each period as a bar extending from zero to the period's closing value. For regular stocks, where the value is always positive, the histogram chart doesn't look that different from an area chart. However, a histogram chart is helpful for breadth indicators, where the daily values can be negative.

The chart above shows the same indicator ($SPXADP) but charted as a histogram. To do this, change the Type dropdown in the Chart Attributes section to Histogram and click Update.

The histogram chart plots the same data as the line chart, but the histogram format makes it easier to see clusters of up or down days. The horizontal lines make it easy to spot overbought and oversold levels. Our chart is already easier to interpret.

Histogram charts are useful for any indicator that oscillates around the zero line. Net advances, net advancing volume, and net new highs are classic examples.

Cumulative Chart Type

A cumulative chart creates a running total of an indicator's periodic values. This indicator adds the periodic value when positive and subtracts the periodic value when negative. Just like Histogram charts, Cumulative charts are best suited for indicators whose daily values fluctuate between positive and negative values.

The chart above shows $SPXADP again, but charted as a cumulative indicator. To do this, change the Type dropdown in the Chart Attributes section to Cumulative and click Update.

This type of chart smooths out the day-to-day volatility of the raw data, and allows the chartist to more easily see trends in the market breadth values over time.

Invisible Chart Type

Another way to smooth the erratic raw data of market breadth indicators is by using a moving average. But how do you display the moving average without showing the raw data? This is done using the Invisible chart type.

To replicate this chart, change the Type dropdown in the Chart Attributes section to Invisible, add the 10-day SMA plotted behind the price, and click Update (see below).

The raw data is an oscillator, with values fluctuating above and below the zero line. The SMA line smooths out the values and creates a less “noisy” oscillator. This makes it easier to see and act on signals like zero-line crossovers.

While Cumulative and Histogram chart types are used almost exclusively with market breadth indicators, Invisible is a chart type that can be useful for other ticker symbols, especially those showing a lot of volatility. This often happens during periods of consolidation.

For example, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) was very volatile during a few periods in 2009–2010. Chartists could benefit from making its price plot invisible and focusing on its moving averages instead.

Spotting the trends during these volatile periods is easier without the daily candlesticks.

Final Thoughts

The Histogram, Cumulative, and Invisible chart types are valuable resources for your market breadth analysis in SharpCharts. Using these chart types can reduce the noise on many breadth indicator charts, making it easier to interpret the data. These chart types can be used on the main price plot or in indicator panels wherever needed to smooth erratic breadth data.

Your customized SharpCharts can be saved into ChartLists - online "folders" that allow you to store up to 1000 charts in a single list. ChartLists allow you to group and organize your collections of saved charts for easy access. Read on to learn how to save your SharpCharts to ChartLists from the SharpCharts Workbench.

Saving a New SharpChart

To save a brand new, never-been-saved chart to a ChartList, click the green Save button above the chart on the SharpCharts Workbench.

Since the chart has never been saved, you will be prompted to choose which ChartList you'd like to add it to. A suggested Chart Name is provided, but you can change this name if desired. Toggle open the Advanced Options if you'd like to add comments to the saved chart. Click the "Save New Chart" button to save the chart.

Viewing Your Saved SharpChart

Once the chart has been saved, it will appear in the ChartList and Saved Chart dropdown menus above the chart. You can see the chart we just saved to the "* My Watch List *" ChartList with the custom name of "My Costco Chart" is shown in the dropdown menus. In addition, the Save button will change to grey, indicating the chart is saved and has no new changes to the chart settings since it was saved.

If you want to view the comments you saved with the chart, those can be seen on the Chart Comments panel below the chart:

Saving Changes to a Saved SharpChart

When you make a change to the chart settings of a saved chart, the Save button will change from grey back to green, to let you know there are unsaved chart settings for the chart. In the example below, we changed the chart to use the Spruce color scheme.

To save these changes to the chart in your ChartList, click the green Save button. A small window will pop up allowing you to optionally change the chart's name or comments, in addition to the chart settings changes. Click the green "Save Chart" button to save the changes.

This will overwrite the existing saved chart with the updated chart settings (in this case, the updated color scheme).

Copying a Saved SharpChart

Once you've saved the chart to a ChartList, you may have noticed a second "Save As" button appears above the chart. This button allows you to create a new copy of the chart in a new location, while leaving the original saved chart intact. To do this, click the "Save As" button above the chart.

In the small window that pops up, choose the ChartList where the new copy should be saved, enter a chart name, and optionally enter chart comments. Click the green Save New Chart button to create the copy.

Moving a Saved SharpChart

In some cases, you may want to move the original chart to a new location, rather than creating a copy and leaving the original chart in place. In this situation, you can click either the Save or Save As button, then switch to the "Move Chart" tab at the top of the small window that pops up. Choose the new ChartList you want to move the saved chart to, and optionally update the chart name or comments. Click the green Move Chart button to move the chart.

Once you've made some ChartStyles, you'll want to be able to find and apply them with ease. Thankfully, the ChartStyle Library is there to help, and can be easily accessed from any SharpCharts page to help make your charts look just how you want them to.

To begin, look at the large area underneath the chart on any SharpCharts page. On the left side, you'll see a column with the "Settings" label at the top, underneath which you'll find "Chart Settings" and "ChartStyle Library". Click on "ChartStyle Library", which will open up a Grid view of your available ChartStyles to the right.

In this menu, you can find a wealth of different ChartStyles. Click the "Select Library" dropdown list, which includes menus for both your own saved ChartStyles and various groups of popular ChartStyles, such as those built for different types of charting (OHLC bars, candlesticks, line charts) and those preferred by different charting experts (John Murphy, Larry Williams, Martin Pring, etc.). If you know which style you're looking for, you can also search the ChartStyle Library using the search bar on the right side. Next to the search bar is an slider tool, which allows you to adjust the size of the thumbnails in the menu. Clicking on a thumbnail will instantly change your chart to that style.

You can also view the menu as a list by clicking the "List" button. Unlike Grid view, however, clicking on a style will not instantly change your chart, instead bringing up a preview on the right side of your chart in that style. To change your chart to that style, click the green "Apply ChartStyle" button. The selected ChartStyle will also have some optional actions you can take, using the icons that you can see if you hover over the name of the ChartStyle in the list.

1. Arrow: Applies the ChartStyle to the larger chart above (same as "Apply ChartStyle")

2. Pencil: Allows you to change the ChartStyle name. (Not available outside Your ChartStyles.)

3. Trashcan: Deletes the ChartStyle. (Not available outside Your ChartStyles.)

4. Star: Makes the ChartStyle your default for all newly created charts. (Not available outside Your ChartStyles.)

5. Information circle: Previews the ChartStyle.

Remember to save new ChartStyles to "Your ChartStyles" so you can easily access them from this convenient menu!

ChartNotes allows you to create shapes and filled regions on your chart using a number of different shape-drawing tools. Watch our Shapes video or read on below to learn more about how to use and apply these utilities.

The Shape Tools Menu

Each Shape Tool available in ChartNotes is listed and described below in more detail. Here is a screenshot of where you can find the Shape Tools menu.

Rectangles

First, select the Rectangle tool. Then, click and drag with your mouse to create the rectangle. Once this is done, you can change its color and fill characteristics using the buttons on the horizontal menu at the top of the chart. You can use the Rectangle tool to create hollow, shaded (semi-transparent) or filled rectangular regions.

Notes:

• Hold down the Shift key while dragging to create a perfect square.

• To create a filled rectangle, hold the CTRL/CMD key down while creating.

• After the rectangle is created, you can rotate it by holding down the CTRL key (CMD on a Mac) while clicking on one of the handles (yellow boxes) and dragging.

Ellipses

First, select the Ellipse tool. Then, click and drag with your mouse to create the ellipse. You can change its color and fill characteristics using the buttons on the horizontal menu at the top of the chart. You can use the Ellipse tool to create hollow, shaded (semi-transparent) or filled circular regions.

Notes:

• Hold down the Shift key while dragging to create a perfect circle.

• To create a filled ellipse, hold the CTRL/CMD key down while creating.

• Once created, hold the CTRL/CMD key, click on the yellow handle and drag to toggle between filled and unfilled.

Triangles

First, select the Triangle tool. Then, click three times on the chart—one for each corner of the triangle. The buttons on the horizontal menu at the top of the chart allow you to change the chart's color and fill characteristics.

In this article, we'll go over creating a SharpChart on the workbench and then using the Inspector tool to view OHLC price and volume data for specific bars and to measure price change. We'll wrap up with an overview of the Auto-Refresh feature that keeps members' charts up-to-date during market hours.

Read on to learn more about the chart-viewing features available on the SharpCharts Workbench.

Creating a Chart

Before you can view a chart, you need to create it. Luckily, creating a SharpChart from the SharpCharts Workbench is as easy as entering a new ticker symbol in the Symbol Box above the chart.

When you begin to type in the Symbol Box, a dropdown menu will show available symbols that match what you've typed in. You can select from this list, or just finish typing in the ticker symbol and click the Go button on the right side of the Symbol Box.

There are also a number of ways to create a SharpChart from outside the SharpCharts Workbench:

• Clicking on a ticker symbol anywhere on the StockCharts website.

• Typing a ticker symbol into the Create a Chart box, then clicking Go.

• Typing a ticker symbol into the box in the SharpCharts section of the Charts & Tools page, then clicking Go.

• Clicking on many of the charts in our Articles and ChartSchool areas.

• Clicking on the SharpCharts icons on our various reports and scan results pages.

The Inspector

If you want to examine the data that makes up the bars on a SharpChart, you can check the Inspect button above the chart. When the Inspector is turned on, the button will be dark; when it is turned off, the button will be light.

When it is turned on, an interactive cursor will appear on the chart. This cursor has crosshairs showing you the exact date and price level where your mouse is positioned. In addition, it displays a small databox next to the cursor that shows data values for the price bar your mouse is currently hovered over.

The databox shows OHLC values, percent change, and volume, for the price bar in question. The “Y” data value is the mouse's vertical position inside the current panel. It can be used to see the values of indicators in panels above or below the price panel.

Measuring with the Inspector

In addition to showing price and volume data, the Inspector can be used to measure time/price distances between two points. While Inspector is turned on, click on the first location and drag your mouse to the second location on the chart. The price change (if you drag vertically) or the number of periods (if you drag horizontally) will be displayed on the left side of the chart until you let go of the mouse button.

In the example below, we can see that the price change for GE between the low of December 18th and the pre-gap high of January 22nd is approximately 18.88%.

Auto-Refresh

You can always update a SharpChart with the latest data by manually clicking the “Refresh” button at the right side of the Symbol Box on the SharpCharts Workbench.

In addition, when the markets are open, the chart will refresh automatically for StockCharts members. Charts will refresh as frequently as every 15 seconds for Basic and Extra members, and every 5 seconds for Pro members. Non-members will still need to press the Refresh button manually each time they want to refresh.

Once the market for that ticker symbol closes, the chart will no longer auto-refresh for members, but you can always manually refresh the chart using the Refresh button.

Note: If you'd like to turn off auto-refresh even during market hours, click the gears icon at the top right of the SharpCharts Workbench to open the Workbench Preferences, then toggle the Auto-Refresh setting and click the green Save Preferences button.

Chart Request Limits

Combining the auto-refresh feature with your browser's ability to open multiple tabs/windows allows it to create large collections of auto-updating charts. However, you must understand the “chart requests per second” limitation before doing that.

Basic and Extra members cannot automatically request more than one chart per second from our servers (on average over an extended period). Pro members cannot request more than two charts per second.

For example, if a Basic member opens 15 different browser tabs and has a SharpChart auto-refreshing every 15 seconds inside each tab, they would have hit the allowable limit, i.e., 15 charts (1 chart / 15 seconds) = 1 chart per second. If they opened up a 16th tab with another auto-refreshing chart in it, they would violate our policy.

Please see our Excessive Chart Requests Policy for more information.

ChartNotes provides you with a wide variety of line-drawing tools. Watch our Line Tools video or read on below to learn more about how to use and apply these utilities.

The Line Tools Menu

Each Line Tool available in ChartNotes is listed and described below in more detail. Here is a screenshot of where you can find the Line Tools menu.

Trend Lines

Once a trend line is created, it can be selected and modified. To change the line's angle or length, click and drag the yellow squares (“handles”) at either end. To shift the line's position without changing the angle, click on the center of the line and drag. Use the line style boxes located in the horizontal menu at the top of the chart to change the line's color, width and/or arrowhead settings.

Notes:

• For perfectly horizontal or vertical trendlines, hold down the CTRL/CMD key while dragging your mouse to draw the line. When you exit ChartNotes, your trendline will be perfectly horizontal or vertical.

• Press and hold the Shift key and click on the line to toggle an arrowhead on and off.

Horizontal/Vertical Lines

Horizontal Lines can be used to indicate support/resistance areas as well as trading ranges. Vertical Lines can be used to indicate the start/end of significant events or technical signals.

After selecting the Horizontal or Vertical Line tool, clicking on the chart will create a new horizontal or vertical line using the current color/line width settings. Use the line style boxes located in the horizontal menu at the top of the chart to change the line's settings.

Auto Support/Resistance Lines

An Auto Support/Resistance line automatically changes color depending on the location of the price bars. If the price bars are above the line, that part of the line is colored green (support). If the price bars are below the line, that part of the line is colored red (resistance).

After selecting the Auto Support/Resistance Line tool, clicking on the chart will create a new red/green line. Use the line style boxes located in the horizontal menu at the top of the chart to change the line's settings.

Parabolas

After selecting the Parabola tool, you can create a curved line in one of two ways:

• You can click on the chart in three locations, those being the start, the apex and the end of the curved line. The curved line will appear after the third click.

• You can click and drag to draw an approximation of the curved line. When you release your mouse, an updated curved line will replace your drawing.

Use the line style boxes located in the horizontal menu at the top of the chart to change the line's settings.

There are several technical indicators and overlays that you can add to your SharpChart. Most of these indicators and overlays can be customized by adding or changing their parameters in the SharpCharts Workbench. The following reference guide shows the required and optional parameters that are available for each indicator and overlay, along with the order they should be entered in the Parameters box.

Overlays

Technical overlays are lines that are calculated from price and volume data and displayed on top of the main symbol's price bars. To add Overlays to your chart, select the desired overlay from the dropdown menus in the Overlays section of the SharpCharts Workbench, and modify the parameters for that overlay as needed. For more information on adding and configuring overlays, please see the SharpCharts documentation in the Support Center.

Below you will find detailed information about the parameters that are available for each overlay, as well as example charts.

Bollinger Bands

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the moving average for the centerline.

• StdDev - Standard deviation distance of the bands from the centerline.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20,2

Example Charts:

• Bollinger Bands overlay with default settings

• Bollinger Bands overlay shifted 10 days to the left

Horizontal Line

Adds a horizontal line to the chart at the specified y-axis level. A horizontal line can be useful when you are watching for price to cross above or below a certain level.

Parameters:

• yAxisLevel - The level on the y-axis where you want the horizontal line to appear on your chart. Multiple horizontal lines can be added by separating multiple Y-axis values with commas (e.g. “50,100,150,200” would display four horizontal lines). To change the color of a specific line, follow the number with a colon and the color (e.g. “50:red,100:green”).

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Charts:

• Chart with horizontal line added at 50

• Chart with horizontal lines added at 25, 50, and 75

• Chart with a red horizontal line added at 40 and a green horizontal line added at 60

Ichimoku Cloud

Parameters:

• Conversion - Number of periods used in the calculation of the conversion line (Tenkan-Sen).

• Base - Number of periods used in the calculation of the base span line (Kijun-Sen). This parameter also indicates how many periods forward to shift the cloud plot.

• Span - Number of periods used in the calculation of the leading span line (Senkou).

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default, but when the parameters box is left empty, the chart is drawn as though you entered 9,26,52)

Example Charts:

• Ichimoku Cloud overlay with default settings

Ichimoku Cloud (Full)

Parameters:

• Conversion - Number of periods used in the calculation of the conversion line (Tenkan-Sen).

• Base - Number of periods used in the calculation of the base span line (Kijun-Sen). This parameter also indicates how many periods forward to shift the cloud plot.

• Span - Number of periods used in the calculation of the leading span line (Senkou).

Default Parameter Values:

• 9,26,52

Example Charts:

• Ichimoku Cloud (Full) overlay with default settings

Keltner Channels

Parameters:

• EMA - Number of periods used in the calculation of the exponential moving average for the centerline.

• Multiplier - Multiplier to multiply the ATR value by to determine channel width.

• ATR Period - Number of periods for the ATR used in the calculation of the channel width.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20,2.0,10

Example Charts:

• Keltner Channels overlay with default settings

• Keltner Channels overlay shifted 5 days to the left

Simple Moving Average (SMA)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the simple moving average. To change the color of the line, follow the number with a colon and the color (e.g. “50:red” or “100:green”), or just change the color using the “Color” dropdown menu for the overlay.

• Exp - (optional) Price values to be used in the moving average calculation. This parameter can be set to O, H, L, or C to calculate the overlay using open, high, low, or closing price values. If this parameter is left blank, closing values are used.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 50

Example Charts:

• 50-day Simple Moving Average overlay with default settings

• Red 5-day Simple Moving Average overlay

• 20-day Simple Moving Average overlay shifted 5 days to the left

Exponential Moving Average (EMA)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the exponential moving average. To change the color of the line, follow the number with a colon and the color (e.g. “50:red” or “100:green”), or just change the color using the “Color” dropdown menu for the overlay.

• Exp - (optional) Price values to be used in the moving average calculation. This parameter can be set to O, H, L, or C to calculate the overlay using open, high, low, or closing price values. If this parameter is left blank, closing values are used.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20

Example Charts:

• 20-day Exponential Moving Average overlay with default settings

• Orange 5-day Exponential Moving Average overlay

• 52-week Exponential Moving Average overlay shifted 10 weeks to the left

Kaufman's Adaptive Moving Average (KAMA)

Parameters:

• Ratio - Number of periods for the Efficiency Ratio (ER).

• Fast - Number of periods for the fast EMA constant.

• Slow - Number of periods for the slow EMA constant.

Default Parameter Values:

• 10,2,30

Example Charts:

• KAMA overlay with default settings

SMA Envelopes

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the simple moving average centerline.

• Percentage - Percentage offset of the bands from the centerline.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20,2.5

Example Charts:

• SMA Envelopes overlay with default settings

• SMA Envelopes overlay shifted 5 days to the left

EMA Envelopes

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the exponential moving average centerline.

• Percentage - Percentage offset of the bands from the centerline.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20,2.5

Example Charts:

• EMA Envelopes overlay with default settings

• EMA Envelopes overlay shifted 10 days to the left

Events

Adds labels to the chart for specified events, including splits, dividends, and distributions.

Parameters:

• Type - The type of events to display on your chart. Options include “distributions”, “dividends”, and “splits”. Entering “all” will display all types of events on your chart.

Default Parameter Values:

• all

Example Charts:

• Long-term chart displaying all events

• Long-term chart displaying dividends only

Parabolic Stop and Reverse (Parabolic SAR)

Parameters:

• StartStep - The starting Acceleration Factor used to compute the SAR

• MaxStep - The maximum value allowed for the Acceleration Factor

• Increment - (optional) The amount to increment the Acceleration Factor by. If unspecified, the startStep value is used for the increment.

Default Parameter Values:

• 0.02,0.2

Example Charts:

• Parabolic SAR overlay with default settings

Chandelier Exit

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the indicator

• Multiplier - Multiplier to multiply the ATR value by to determine the exit's distance from the high or low.

• Long/Short - (optional) Indicates whether the indicator is calculated based on the trader exiting a short or long position. If unspecified, this value is set to “long”.

Default Parameter Values:

• 22,3.0

Example Charts:

• Chandelier Exit overlay with default settings

• Chandelier Exit overlay for exiting a short position

Pivot Points

Parameters:

• Type - The type of Pivot Points to be used for the overlay. If left blank, Standard pivot points are used; if set to F, Fibonacci pivot points are used; if set to D, Demark pivot points are used. If you would like to use multiple types of pivot points on one chart, add multiple pivot point overlays to the chart, setting each one to a different pivot point type.

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default, but when the parameters box is left empty, Standard pivot points are drawn on the chart)

Example Charts:

• Pivot Points overlay with default settings

• Pivot Points overlay with Fibonacci pivot points

Price Channels

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the upper and lower channel lines.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20

Example Charts:

• Price Channels overlay with default settings

• Price Channels overlay shifted 10 days to the left

Price (Same Scale)

Adds an overlaid price chart for a second symbol on the main price plot. Both ticker symbols use the same y-axis scale. By default, a line chart is shown for the specified second symbol, but other chart types (including area and histogram charts) can be displayed using the Style dropdown menu for that indicator.

Parameters:

• Symbol - Ticker symbol for which price data is shown

Default Parameter Values:

• $SPX

Example Charts:

• Price overlay for $BPCOMPQ on a $BPNYA line chart

Volume By Price

Parameters:

• Zones - The number of price zones to display on the chart; the high-low range of the chart is divided into the specified number of equal-sized zones. If left blank, the chart is drawn with 12 price zones.

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default, but when the parameters box is left empty, 12 price zones are drawn on the chart)

Example Charts:

• Volume By Price overlay with default settings

• Volume By Price overlay with 4 zones

VWAP

Parameters:

• (no parameters allowed)

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Chart:

• VWAP overlay with default settings

ZigZag

Parameters:

• Sensitivity - The price movement threshold of the ZigZag overlay. If set to 5, all price movements of less than 5% will be filtered out. If left blank, a suitable price movement threshold will be determined and used for the chart.

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default, but when the parameters box is left empty, a suitable price movement threshold will be automatically determined)

Example Charts:

• ZigZag overlay with default settings

• ZigZag overlay with threshold manually set to 3%

ZigZag (Retrace)

Parameters:

• Sensitivity - The price movement threshold of the ZigZag (Retrace) overlay. If set to 5, all price movements of less than 5% will be filtered out. If left blank, a suitable price movement threshold will be determined and used for the chart.

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default, but when the parameters box is left empty, a suitable price movement threshold will be automatically determined)

Example Charts:

• ZigZag (Retrace) overlay with default settings

• ZigZag (Retrace) overlay with threshold manually set to 4%

Indicators

Technical indicators are lines that are calculated from price and volume data, and are typically displayed in a separate panel above or below the main price plot area. To add Indicators to your chart, select the desired indicator from the dropdown menus in the Indicators section of the SharpCharts Workbench, and modify the parameters for that indicators as needed. For more information on adding and configuring indicators, please see our SharpCharts documentation in the Support Center.

Below you will find detailed information about the parameters that are available for each indicator, as well as example charts.

Accum/Distribution Line

Parameters:

• Periods - (optional) Number of periods used to calculate the simple moving average for the optional signal line; if this parameter is not entered, no signal line will be displayed.

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Charts:

• Accumulation/Distribution Line indicator with default settings

• Accumulation/Distribution Line indicator with optional 20-day SMA signal line

Aroon

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the highs and lows for the indicator. For example, a 25-day Aroon measures the number of days since the last 25-day high and 25-day low.

Default Parameter Values:

• 25

Example Chart:

• Aroon indicator with default settings

Aroon Oscillator

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the highs and lows for the indicator. For example, a 25-day Aroon measures the number of days since the last 25-day high and 25-day low.

Default Parameter Values:

• 25

Example Chart:

• Aroon Oscillator with default settings

ADX Line

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the underlying TR, +DM, and -DM values for this indicator.

• Smoothing - (optional) Number of periods used to smooth the ADX Line. If this parameter is left blank, the number of periods in the first parameter is used to smooth the line.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Charts:

• ADX Line indicator with default settings

• ADX Line Panel indicator with 5-day smoothed ADX Line

ADX Line (w/+DI and -DI)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the underlying TR, +DM, and -DM values for this indicator.

• Smoothing - (optional) Number of periods used to smooth the ADX Line. If this parameter is left blank, the number of periods in the first parameter is used to smooth the line.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Charts:

• Default ADX Line indicator with +DI/-DI lines

• ADX Line indicator with +DI/-DI lines and a 5-day smoothed ADX Line

Avg True Range (ATR)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the ATR indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Chart:

• ATR indicator with default settings

Bollinger Band Width

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the moving average for the centerline.

• StdDev - Standard deviation distance of the bands from the centerline.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20,2

Example Chart:

• Bollinger BandWidth indicator with default settings

Bollinger %B

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the moving average for the centerline.

• StdDev - Standard deviation distance of the bands from the centerline.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20,2

Example Chart:

• Bollinger %B indicator with default settings

Commodity Channel Index (CCI)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the CCI indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20

Example Chart:

• CCI indicator with default settings

Correlation

Parameters:

• Symbol - Ticker symbol used as a comparison when calculating correlation values

• Symbol2 - (optional) If a second symbol parameter is entered, the comparison is between the two symbols in the parameters, and the main ticker symbol is not involved

• Periods - Number of periods over which the correlation is calculated

Default Parameter Values:

• $SPX, 20

Example Charts:

• 50-period correlation between main ticker symbol and $SPX

• 20-period correlation between XLK and $SPX

• 100-period correlation between main ticker symbol and its industry

Chaikin Money Flow (CMF)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the CMF indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20

Example Chart:

• CMF indicator with default settings

Chaikin Oscillator

Parameters:

• Short - Number of periods used in calculating the shorter EMA for the indicator

• Long - Number of periods used in calculating the longer EMA for the indicator

Default Parameter Values:

• 3,10

Example Chart:

• Chaikin Oscillator with default settings

Coppock Curve

Parameters:

• ROC1 - Rate of change periods to be used in WMA calculation

• ROC2 - Additive ROC periods

• WMA - Weighted Moving Average period

Default Parameter Values:

• 14,11,10

Example Chart:

• Coppock Curve indicator with default settings

Chande Trend Meter

Parameters:

• Symbol - (optional) If a symbol parameter is entered, the Chande Trend Meter indicator will be based on the parameter symbol instead of the main ticker symbol.

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Charts:

• Chande Trend Meter based on main ticker symbol

• Chande Trend Meter based on $SPX

• Chande Trend Meter based on sector of main ticker symbol

Date/Time Axis

Adds an extra date/time axis to the chart. This can be useful when you have a long chart with several indicator panels as, by default, the date/time axis only appears at the bottom of the main price panel and the bottom of the chart.

Parameters:

• (no parameters allowed)

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Chart:

• Chart with extra date/time axis added between upper indicator panel and main price plot

Detrended Price Oscillator (DPO)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the DPO indicator.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the indicator line to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the indicator line; negative numbers shift the indicator to the left/past; positive numbers shift the indicator to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20

Example Charts:

• DPO indicator with default settings

• 40-day DPO indicator shifted 20 days to the left

Dividends

Adds an indicator to the chart that shows the timing and amount of dividends for the main ticker symbol.

Parameters:

• (no parameters allowed)

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Chart:

• Dividends indicator panel

Ease of Movement (EMV)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the EMV indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Charts:

• EMV indicator with default settings

Force Index

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to smooth the indicator values.

Default Parameter Values:

• 13

Example Charts:

• Force Index indicator with default settings

MACD

Parameters:

• Short - Number of periods for the short EMA.

• Long - Number of periods for the long EMA.

• Signal - Number of periods for the signal line. If this parameter is set to 1 or left blank, the indicator will be drawn without the signal line or the histogram.

Default Parameter Values:

• 12,26,9

Example Charts:

• MACD indicator with default settings

• MACD indicator without the histogram or signal line

MACD Histogram

Parameters:

• Short - Number of periods for the short EMA.

• Long - Number of periods for the long EMA.

• Signal - Number of periods for the signal line.

Default Parameter Values:

• 12,26,9

Example Charts:

• MACD Histogram indicator with default settings

Mass Index

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of EMA ratio periods to sum.

Default Parameter Values:

• 25

Example Charts:

• Mass Index indicator with default settings

Money Flow Index (MFI)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the MFI indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Charts:

• MFI indicator with default settings

Negative Volume Index (NVI)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the EMA for the optional NVI signal line. Set this parameter to 1 in order to hide/remove the signal line.

Default Parameter Values:

• 255

Example Charts:

• NVI indicator with default settings

• NVI indicator with hidden signal line

On Balance Volume (OBV)

Parameters:

• Periods - (optional) Number of periods used to calculate the simple moving average for the optional signal line; if this parameter is not entered, no signal line will be displayed.

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Charts:

• OBV Indicator with default settings

• OBV Indicator with optional 20-day SMA signal line

Pct Price Oscillator (PPO)

Parameters:

• Short - Number of periods for the short EMA.

• Long - Number of periods for the long EMA.

• Signal - Number of periods for the signal line. If this parameter is set to 1 or left blank, the indicator will be drawn without the signal line or the histogram.

Default Parameter Values:

• 12,26,9

Example Charts:

• PPO indicator with default settings

• PPO indicator without the histogram or signal line

Pct Volume Oscillator (PVO)

Parameters:

• Short - Number of periods for the short EMA.

• Long - Number of periods for the long EMA.

• Signal - Number of periods for the signal line. If this parameter is set to 1 or left blank, the indicator will be drawn without the signal line or the histogram.

Default Parameter Values:

• 12,26,9

Example Charts:

• PVO indicator with default settings

• PVO indicator without the histogram or signal line

Price

Adds an indicator panel to the chart that shows a price chart for the specified ticker symbol. By default, a line chart is shown, but other chart types (including candlesticks and OHLC bars) can be displayed using the Style dropdown menu for that indicator.

Parameters:

• Symbol - Ticker symbol for which price data is shown

• Inverted - (optional) If you add the word “inverted” as the second parameter, the y-axis of the indicator panel will be inverted, with lower prices at the top of the panel and higher prices at the bottom.

• Log - (optional) If you add the word “log” as the second or third parameter, the y-axis of the indicator panel will be displayed in log scale instead of arithmetic scale.

Default Parameter Values:

• $SPX

Example Charts:

• Price indicator panel for $SPX

• Inverted price indicator panel for $VIX

• Price indicator panel for the sector of the main ticker symbol

Price - Performance

Adds an indicator panel to the chart that shows a price performance chart for the specified ticker symbol. By default, a line chart is shown, but other chart types (including area charts) can be displayed using the Style dropdown menu for that indicator.

Parameters:

• Symbol - Ticker symbol for which price performance data is shown

Default Parameter Values:

• $SPX

Example Charts:

• Price Performance indicator panel for $SPX

• Price Performance indicator panel for the industry of the main ticker symbol

Price - Up/Down Pair

Adds a histogram price plot indicator panel to the chart, showing histogram values above and below the zero line for two different symbols specified in the parameters. Typically used with opposing market breadth values like advances and declines or highs and lows).

Parameters:

• SymbolUp - Ticker symbol for which histogram data is displayed above the zero line.

• SymbolDown - Ticker symbol for which histogram data is displayed below the zero line.

Default Parameter Values:

• $NYADV, $NYDEC

Example Charts:

• Histogram plot showing Nasdaq advances and declines

• Histogram plot showing TSX highs and lows

Price Momentum Osc. (PMO)

Parameters:

• EMA1 - First Exponential Moving Average Value

• EMA2 - Second Exponential Moving Average Value

• SignalEMA - Exponential Moving Average for the Signal Line

Default Parameter Values:

• 35,20,10

Example Charts:

• PMO indicator with default settings

Pring's Know Sure Thing (KST)

Parameters:

• ROC1 - Number of periods for the first ROC calculation.

• ROC2 - Number of periods for the second ROC calculation.

• ROC3 - Number of periods for the third ROC calculation.

• ROC4 - Number of periods for the fourth ROC calculation.

• SMA1 - Number of periods for the SMA used to smooth the first ROC calculation.

• SMA2 - Number of periods for the SMA used to smooth the second ROC calculation.

• SMA3 - Number of periods for the SMA used to smooth the third ROC calculation.

• SMA4 - Number of periods for the SMA used to smooth the fourth ROC calculation.

• Signal - (optional) Number of periods for the signal line. If this parameter is left blank, the indicator will be drawn without the signal line.

Default Parameter Values:

• 10,15,20,30,10,10,10,15,9

Example Charts:

• KST indicator with default settings

• KST indicator without the signal line

Pring's Special K

Parameters:

• SMA1 - Number of periods used for the first smoothing.

• SMA2 - Number of periods used for the second smoothing.

Default Parameter Values:

• 100,100

Example Charts:

• Special K indicator with default settings

RRG Relative Strength

Parameters:

• Symbol - Ticker symbol used as a benchmark when calculating RRG values. If a second ticker symbol is entered in the parameters, then RS-Ratio and RS-Momentum values are calculated for this first symbol instead of the main ticker symbol.

• Symbol2 - (optional) If a second symbol parameter is entered, then it becomes the benchmark symbol, and the RS-Ratio and RS-Momentum values are calculated for the first symbol entered instead of the main ticker symbol.

Default Parameter Values:

• $SPX

Example Charts:

• RRG relative strength of main ticker symbol compared to $SPX

• RRG relative strength of main ticker symbol compared to its sector

• RRG relative strength of $KIX compared to $SPX

RSI

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the RSI indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Charts:

• RSI indicator with default settings

Rate of Change (ROC)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the ROC indicator.

• Signal - (optional) Number of periods used to calculate the simple moving average for the optional signal line.

Default Parameter Values:

• 12

Example Charts:

• ROC indicator with default settings

• ROC indicator with optional 6-day SMA signal line

SCTR Line

Parameters:

• Symbol - (optional) If a symbol parameter is entered, the SCTR Line will be based on the parameter symbol instead of the main ticker symbol.

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Charts:

• SCTR Line based on main ticker symbol

• SCTR Line based on SPY

• SCTR Line based on sector of main ticker symbol

Slope (Linear Regression)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the Slope indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20

Example Charts:

• Slope indicator with default settings

Standard Deviation

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the Standard Deviation indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 10

Example Charts:

• Standard Deviation indicator with default settings

Full Stochastics

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the %K line

• Smoothing - Number of periods used to smooth the %K line

• Signal - Number of periods used to calculate the %D signal line

Default Parameter Values:

• 14,3,3

Example Charts:

• Full Stochastics indicator with default settings

Slow Stochastics

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the slow %K line

• Signal - Number of periods used to calculate the slow %D signal line

Default Parameter Values:

• 14,3

Example Charts:

• Slow Stochastics indicator with default settings

Fast Stochastics

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the fast %K line

• Signal - Number of periods used to calculate the fast %D signal line

Default Parameter Values:

• 14,3

Example Charts:

• Fast Stochastics indicator with default settings

Stochastics RSI

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the StochRSI indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Charts:

• StochRSI indicator with default settings

TRIX

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the TRIX indicator line

• Signal - The number of periods used to compute the signal line

Default Parameter Values:

• 15,9

Example Charts:

• TRIX indicator with default settings

True Strength Index (TSI)

Parameters:

• EMA1 - Number of periods in first smoothing

• EMA2 - Number of periods in second smoothing

• Signal - Number of periods for signal line

Default Parameter Values:

• 25,13,7

Example Charts:

• TSI indicator with default settings

Ulcer Index (UI)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the Ulcer Index.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Charts:

• Ulcer Index indicator with default settings

Ultimate Oscillator

Parameters:

• Short - The short number of periods used in the calculation of the Ultimate Oscillator.

• Medium - The medium number of periods used in the calculation of the Ultimate Oscillator.

• Long - The long number of periods used in the calculation of the Ultimate Oscillator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 7,14,28

Example Charts:

• Ultimate Oscillator indicator with default settings

• Ultimate Oscillator indicator for short-term analysis

• Ultimate Oscillator indicator for long-term analysis

Volume

Adds an indicator panel to the chart that shows volume histogram bars for the specified ticker symbol, along with an optional EMA signal line based on volume. By default, the Volume indicator will be shown in a separate indicator panel, but you can choose to position the indicator “Behind Price”, replacing the default Volume overlay with this more robust version.

Parameters:

• Signal - (optional) Number of periods used to calculate the exponential moving average for the optional signal line.

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Charts:

• Volume indicator with default settings, in separate panel

• Volume indicator with optional signal line, in separate panel

• Volume indicator with optional signal line, positioned Behind Price

Vortex Indicator

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the Vortex indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Charts:

• Vortex Indicator with default settings

Williams %R

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the Williams %R indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 14

Example Charts:

• Williams %R indicator with default settings

Overlays of Indicators

You can add selected overlays to an indicator panel; these overlays are calculated using indicator values rather than price data. To add overlays to Indicators, select the desired overlay from the Overlay dropdown menu next to the desired indicator in the Indicators section of the SharpCharts Workbench and modify the parameters for that overlay as needed. For more information on adding overlays to indicators, please see this article.

Below is detailed information about the parameters available for each indicator's overlay and example charts.

Bollinger Bands

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the moving average for the centerline.

• StdDev - Standard deviation distance of the bands from the centerline.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20,2

Example Charts:

• Default Bollinger Bands overlay on an RSI indicator panel

• Default Bollinger Bands overlay on a price indicator panel, with bands shifted 10 days to the right

Bollinger Band Width

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the moving average for the centerline.

• StdDev - Standard deviation distance of the bands from the centerline.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20,2

Example Charts:

• Default Bollinger BandWidth indicator overlaid on a price indicator panel

CCI

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in the calculation of the CCI indicator.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20

Example Charts:

• Default CCI Indicator overlaid on a price indicator panel

Full Stochastics

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used to calculate the %K line

• Smoothing - Number of periods used to smooth the %K line

• Signal - Number of periods used to calculate the %D signal line

Default Parameter Values:

• 14,3,3

Example Charts:

• Default Full Stochastics indicator overlaid on a 20-day CCI panel

Horizontal Line

Adds a horizontal line to the indicator panel at the specified y-axis level. A horizontal line can be useful when you are watching for indicator values to cross above or below a certain level.

Parameters:

• yAxisLevel - The level on the y-axis where you want the horizontal line to appear on your indicator panel. Multiple horizontal lines can be added by separating multiple Y-axis values with commas (e.g. “50,100,150,200” would display four horizontal lines). To change the color of a specific line, follow the number with a colon and the color (e.g. “50:red,100:green”).

Default Parameter Values:

• (none entered by default)

Example Charts:

• Default Mass Index indicator with horizontal line added at 27

• Default SCTR Line indicator with a red horizontal line added at 70 and a green horizontal line added at 80

Keltner Channels

Parameters:

• EMA - Number of periods used in the calculation of the exponential moving average for the centerline.

• Multiplier - Multiplier to multiply the ATR value by to determine channel width.

• ATR Period - Number of periods for the ATR used in the calculation of the channel width.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.

Default Parameter Values:

• 20,2.0,10

Example Charts:

• Default Keltner Channels overlay on a 14-day RSI indicator panel

• Default Keltner Channels overlay on a price indicator panel, with channels shifted 5 days to the left

Know Sure Thing (KST)

Parameters:

• ROC1 - Number of periods for the first ROC calculation.

• ROC2 - Number of periods for the second ROC calculation.

• ROC3 - Number of periods for the third ROC calculation.

• ROC4 - Number of periods for the fourth ROC calculation.

• SMA1 - Number of periods for the SMA used to smooth the first ROC calculation.

• SMA2 - Number of periods for the SMA used to smooth the second ROC calculation.

• SMA3 - Number of periods for the SMA used to smooth the third ROC calculation.

• SMA4 - Number of periods for the SMA used to smooth the fourth ROC calculation.

• Signal - (optional) Number of periods for the signal line. If this parameter is left blank, the indicator will be drawn without the signal line.

Default Parameter Values:

• 10,15,20,30,10,10,10,15,9

Example Charts:

• Default KST indicator overlaid on a price indicator panel

Simple Moving Average (SMA)

Parameters:

• Periods - Number of periods used in calculating the simple moving average. To change the color of the line, follow the number with a colon and the color (e.g., “50:red” or “100:green”).

• Exp - (optional) Price values that are used in the moving average calculation. If the moving average overlays a price indicator, then this parameter can be set to O, H, L, or C to calculate the overlay using open, high, low, or closing price values. If this parameter is left blank, closing values are used. The parameter is ignored when overlaying a non-price indicator.

• Offset - (optional) Number of bars to shift the overlay to the left or right. A value of zero means no shifting of the overlay; negative numbers shift the overlay to the left/past; positive numbers shift the overlay to the right/future.