Advanced Charts

Index Charts

Advanced Charts

This section enables you to use detailed descriptors to chart the performance of a security over a variety of time periods. This section uses technical indicators to analyze charts. Technical indicator tools are used to determine trend, market sentiment, and various buy and sell signals.

Chart Style: Select one of the following styles to chart the performance of the selected security.

• OHLC

Open, High, Low, Close chart. This is a securities chart that clearly shows the opening, high, low and closing prices for a security. This type of chart is often used by technical analysts to spot trends and view stock movements, particularly on a shorter term basis.

• HLC

Very similar to OHLC Bars except that the Open tick that sticks out to the left is omitted. This format allows more undistorted bars to fit onto a chart.

• Candlestick

To create a candlestick chart, you must have a data set that contains open, high, low and close values for each time period you want to display. The hollow or filled portion of the candlestick is called "the body" (also referred to as "the real body"). The long thin lines above and below the body represent the high/low range and are called "shadows" (also referred to as "wicks" and "tails"). The high is marked by the top of the upper shadow and the low by the bottom of the lower shadow. If the stock closes higher than its opening price, a hollow candlestick is drawn with the bottom of the body representing the opening price and the top of the body representing the closing price. If the stock closes lower than its opening price, a filled candlestick is drawn with the top of the body representing the opening price and the bottom of the body representing the closing price.

• Bar Chart

The high, low and close are required to form the price plot for each period of a bar chart. The high and low are represented by the top and bottom of the vertical bar and the close is the short horizontal line crossing the vertical bar. On a daily chart, each bar represents the high, low and close for a particular day. Weekly charts would have a bar for each week based on Friday's close and the high and low for that week.

• Mountain

Similar to a line chart, where the closing value for each period is connected by various styles of lines, but in a mountain chart, the space below the line is filled in.

• Line Chart

Simpler charts where the closing value for each period are connected by various styles of lines. Available line styles are Thin, Solid, Thin Dashed and Solid Dashed.

• Dot Chart

Charts with dots at each period's closing value.

• Linear

On a linear (arithmetic) scale chart, the spacing between each point on the vertical scale is identical. Thus the vertical distance between 10 and 20 is the same as the vertical distance between 90 and 100. While this kind of scaling is intuitive and easy to recreate by hand, linear scaling should not be used on charts with large vertical ranges. A move from 10 to 20 is much better than a move from 90 to 100, but on a linear scale they both appear the same.

• Logarithmic

On a logarithmic scale chart, the vertical spacing between two points corresponds to the percentage change between those numbers. Thus, on a log scale chart, the vertical distance between 10 and 20 (a 100% increase) is the same as the vertical distance between 50 and 100. Because these charts show percentage relationships, logarithmic scaling is also called "percentage" scaling. It is also called "semi-log" scaling because only one of the axes (the vertical one) is scaled logarithmically.

To add an upper indicator:

1. Click the Upper Indicators drop-down box to display a list of upper indicators.

2. Select the desired indicator. Selected indicators are represented with a checkmark beside the indicator name.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to add another indicator. You can select up to 4 upper indicators.

The following lists the upper indicators:

• Exponential Moving Average

A type of moving average that adds extra weight to recent data.

• Simple Moving Average

Computed by adding up all the closing prices for a chosen time frame then dividing by the number of periods in that time frame. Then, as each successive period is included, the earliest period is dropped so that only the most recent specified number of data points are included.

• Moving Average Envelope

Provides context around a security's recent price range by plotting bands a fixed percentage above and below a moving average.

• Bollinger Bands

Created by plotting the standard deviation around a moving average. Bollinger bands are expected to capture a significant percentage price action. They are also used to show a security’s volatility.

• Parabolic SAR

Signals the potential reversal of a trend.

• Volume By Price

Measures the number of shares purchased at a given price, irrespective of the day on which the shares were purchased. The bars are arranged horizontally, overlaid against price so that the investor can easily see at which prices most shares have traded.

• Price Channel

Allow visualization of a stock's range by plotting the highest high and lowest low for a period. It can also be used to measure volatility as the bands will be wider when prices are fluctuating. By lengthening the period used, an investor can capture price movements over a greater amount of time.

• Time Series Forecast

Predicts a future value of a field using the value of a given period linear regression line.

• Linear Regression

Returns the current value of a linear regression line of a field to time over a given number of periods.

• Weighted Moving Average

Places greater emphasis on more recent periods and less on earlier periods through a weighting mechanism.

Once you have selected an indicator, the indicator name appears at the top of the chart. To access a description of the indicator, click on the indicator tab. A small window is displayed with a description of what the indicator is and how to customize it.

You can modify the EMA and SMA indicators by changing the numbers in Line 1, Line 2, or Line 3 field(s). The numbers entered indicate the number of past time periods to include in the calculation. For example, in the Exponential Moving average (EMA) window, if you enter 30 in the Line 2 period field, the past 30 time periods will be taken into account when calculating the value. If you are viewing a one-year chart, the

To delete an indicator, click the delete icon beside the indicator name.

Lower indicators are made up of oscillating indicators and volume-base indicators. Lower indicators are plotted below the price chart.

Those that, unlike oscillating indicators, are based on volume rather than price. Volume-based indicators are not derived from the price movement of a security. Some examples are:
Volume
Volume + MACD

Those that move back and forth, based on the price movement of the equity, within a predetermined range. These indicators do not move in sync with the price movement of a security. Some examples are:
Mass Index
MACD
Rate of Change (ROC)
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
Slow Stochastic
Fast Stochastic
Williams %R

To add a lower indicator:

1. Click the Lower Indicators drop-down box to display a list of lower indicators

2. Select the desired indicator to add it below the main chart

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to add another indicator. You can select up to 6 lower indicators.

When an indicator has been added to the chart, the indicator name appears at the top of the chart. The following lists the lower indicators:

• Dividend Yield

The annual dividend per share divided by the price per share.

• Rolling Dividend

Shows changes in the amounts of dividend payouts over time for securities that pay them.

• Chaikin’s Volatility

Indicator that relays information about the daily dispersion of prices.

• MACD

The difference between 2 exponential moving averages and is a trend and momentum indicator. It is normally considered bullish when the MACD line is above the signal line and more so when both are above the 0-line.

• Mass Index

Helps to identify reversals of trend.

• Momentum

Measures the rate with which a security's price changes.

• Relative Strength Index (RSI)

A momentum indicator that measures the strength of price changes relative to prior moves in an attempt to identify overbought and oversold conditions.

• Rate of Change (ROC)

Measures the change in a stock's price over some period. It is useful in identifying periods where a security may be overbought or oversold.

• Fast Stochastic

Shows periods when a stock is overbought or oversold.

• Slow Stochastic

Shows periods when a stock is overbought or oversold.

• Ultimate Oscillator

Reduces the effect of time from the oscillator's bullish and bearish signals. This indicator is most effective when it offers a bullish or bearish divergence.

• Williams % R

Uses a similar calculation to the Stochastic Oscillator and provides information on the price momentum of a security. It is also used to identify overbought and oversold levels.

• DMI

The Directional Movement Index (DMI) is a trend indicator that uses high and low prices as well as the true range to determine whether a security is in an uptrend or a downtrend. The ADX line describes the strength of the trend.

• MACD Histogram

MA Convergence and Divergence Histogram (MACD) is the difference between 2 exponential moving averages and is a trend and momentum indicator. It is normally considered bullish when the MACD line is above the signal line and more so when both are above the 0-line.

• Accumulation Distribution

Shows whether buyers or sellers are more active.

• Money Flow

Describes the rate at which money is flowing into or out of a security. It is similar to the Relative Strength Index (RSI) but includes volume within the calculation in addition to price.

• On Balance Volume

Measures the strength of buying or selling pressure on a security. OBV keeps a running tally of volume that adds up-day volume to the total and subtracts down-day volume. When the trend of the indicator is increasing, buyers are more aggressive than sellers and when it is decreasing, sell activity is displacing buyers.

• Volume

The number of shares traded in a given period. The bar color helps to visualize whether volume is weighted towards buys or sells.

• ADX

The Average Directional Movement Index (ADX), is an indicator that describes the strength of a security's trend. When the index is rising, the trend is increasing. Higher values are better than lower values and many analysts look for a daily ADX of at least 20 or 25 in their trend following models. Note that the index does not measure direction (i.e. a bullish or bearish trend), only strength.

• Arms Index (.TRIN)

Calculated by first dividing the number of stocks that advanced in price by the number of stocks that declined in price to determine the Advance/Decline Ratio. Next, the volume of advancing stocks is divided by the volume of declining stocks to determine the Upside/Downside Ratio. Finally, the Advance/Decline Ratio is divided by the Upside/Downside Ratio. In this case, the calculation is done for all stocks trading on the NYSE.

• Arms Index (.TRIO)

To delete an indicator, click on the delete icon to the far right of the lower chart.

Select an event to chart or select a comparison:

• Splits / Consolidations

All split and consolidation details related to activity within the selected timeframe are displayed as an icon on the appropriate date(s) for the main chart symbol only. To view the details of any split or consolidation, use the mouse to scrool over the split or consolidation icon on the chart.

• Dividends

Displays the dividend payout date and amount. All dividends paid within the selected timeframe are displayed as an icon on the appropriate date(s) for the main chart symbol only. To view the details of any dividend, use the mouse to scroll over the dividend icon on the chart.

• Earnings

Displays the earnings and payout date. All earnings paid within the selected timeframe are displayed as an icon on the appropriate date(s) for the main chart symbol only. To view the details of any earnings, use the mouse to scroll over the earnings icon on the chart.

Select a company or index comparison:

• Compare to Company. You can make up to 6 comparisons of companies or indexes to be displayed together with the chart, dividends, earnings, and splits/consolidations for a given symbol.

• Symbol: Enter the symbol for the company to which you want to compare. Select Canada for a Canadian company, U.S. for a company in the U.S.

• Compare to Index: Select an Index to which to compare the security. You can make up to 6 comparisons of companies or indexes to be displayed together with the chart, dividends, earnings, and splits/consolidations for a given symbol.

Saving Charts

Saving Chart Settings

Retrieving Charts

Retrieving Chart Settings

Deleting Charts

Deleting Chart Settings

Using Advanced Charting Tools

Using the Vertical Cursor