Interactive Charts provide the most advanced and flexible platform for analyzing historical data, with over 75 customizable studies, drawing tools, custom spreads and expressions, plus a wide range of visualization tools.
While logged into the site, you will see continuous streaming updates to the chart.
In addition, U.S. equity charts can be configured to show real-time Cboe BZX prices. Otherwise, charts will show delayed prices per exchange rules. (See "Settings" - the cog icon - for configuring Cboe BZX real-time data.)
Barchart Dashboard (included in your free Barchart membership) also provides all site members a streaming chart experience, using either Cboe BZX data or delayed prices.
Default Chart Settings
If you are not logged into the site, have not set up a default Chart Template (free site membership required), or CLEAR the chart, the default chart presented is a 6-Month Daily chart using OHLC bars.
Charts are designed to indicate the high and low bars for the visible data range using a small "arc" on the two bars:
Auto-Chart Saving
Interactive Charts were designed to remember and retain your personalized settings when you are logged into the site. Any tool added to a chart is always saved and will be displayed next time you access that specific chart.
There are three auto-saving mechanisms available, defined in your Site Preferences page in the My Barchart tab.
- Use Last-Viewed Chart Settings: Any "common" changes you make to a chart (aggregation, bar type, studies, etc.) are remembered and carried forward to the next chart you view. This is the recommended selection for a continuous chart viewing experience.
- Save Every Chart: Every chart is saved. This option offers the highest level of chart customization, where every symbol can potentially have its own unique chart setup. You will always see the chart for a specific symbol as you did the last time you viewed it. For futures traders, however, this option is not recommended, as each time a futures contract expires the next futures contract chart must again be configured to your preferred settings.
- Use Chart Template: This option should be used when you want to rely on a specific template to define your preferred chart configuration. When chosen, you must identify a template to apply for every chart you view.
Note: Regardless of the saving mechanism chosen, you can always apply a chart template to change the settings on any chart you view.
Changing the Chart Symbol
Change the symbol either by entering a new symbol in the chart form, or by entering a new symbol in the Search box at the top of the page.
Changing the Bar Type
The graph can be changed using the menu next to the Symbol box, by opening the Settings icon and selecting the Display tab, or by right-clicking on the chart, and selecting Display Options / Bar Type.
Quick Charts
Links are provided at the top of the chart to allow you to quickly change the aggregation and time frame. The + to the right of the Quick Chart links allow you to further fine-tune the aggregation (Intraday, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly) along with the period you wish to display.
For Commodity Contracts: Aggregation selections for Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly charts allow you to specify whether to use Contract or Nearest Futures.  Nearest will use whatever contract was the Nearest futures contract on the date of the given bar. The Price Box will show the contract that was used to build the bar.
To build a Continuation chart for a commodity (one that uses the same contract month - Z17, Z16, Z15 etc. - back in time to build the chart) open the Settings menu, and in the Adjustments tab check "Build Continuation Chart." Then choose a Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Quarterly aggregation.
Custom Date Range
You may set a custom date range for a specific aggregation by clicking the Calendar icon. First, choose whether you want to see Intraday, Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Quarterly, then choose "Date" from the period drop-down list. You can then enter a beginning and ending date range.
Zooming/Scrolling the Time Scale
When the Chart Setting for Navigator is set to "On", you will see a scrollbar at the bottom of the chart (under the time scale) that can be used to scroll through the chart's time series. In addition, the scrollbar contains "handles" that allow you to zoom in or out on the bars shown on the chart. Besides using the scrollbar and its handles, there are alternate methods of zooming the time scale.
Windows PC users may position their cursor over the chart, then use their Shift+mousewheel to zoom in and out of the bars shown. Mac (both Safari and Chrome browsers) can use Shift + Two finger swipe down to zoom in, and Shift + Two finger swipe up to Zoom out.
Settings
Click the Settings icon to access different options for your chart.
DISPLAY Tab
- Bar Type: Choose from OHLC Bars, Colored OHLC Bars, Candlestick Hollow, Candlestick Open-to-Close, Candlestick Close-to-Close, Heikin-Ashi, Line, Area. For each Bar Type, you may customize the color of the bars.
OHLC Bars are drawn to show the open-high-low-close. A vertical line is drawn between the highest and lowest price. The horizontal dash extending to the left of the bar represents the open, and the horizontal dash extending to the right of the bar represents the closing price.
Colored OHLC Bars show the price bars in either green or red, depending on the bar's close price relates to the previous close. When green, the close is greater than the previous close; when red, the close is less than the previous close.
Candlestick Hollow: - If Close is greater than previous close, the bar is outlined in green.
- If Close is less than previous close, the bar is outlined in red.
- When close is above the open price, the candle is hollow.
- When close is below the open price, the candle is filled.
Candlestick Open-to-Close plot the difference between the close of the current bar and the open price of the current bar.
- If Close is greater than Open, the bar is colored green.
- If Close is less than Open, the bar is colored red.
Candlestick Close-to-Close plot the difference between the close of the current bar and the closing price of the previous bar (price change)
- If today's close is greater than the previous close, the bar is colored green.
- If today's close is less than the previous close, the bar is colored red.
Heikin-Ashi, which means average bar in Japanese, is a distinct type of Candlestick charts. They use average ranges to calculate the points of the Candle, which smooths out the chart and in turn provides a clearer view of the trend of the market. Heikin-Ashi are also different from traditional Candlestick charts, in that they take the prior session open and close into account for the open, which in turn removes any gaps between bars on the chart.
The Heikin-Ashi chart is plotted as a candlestick chart, where the down days are represented by filled bars, while the up days are represented by hollow bars.Â
Calculation:
- Open = (Open of previous bar+Close of previous bar)/2
- High = maximum of High, Open, or Close (whichever is highest)
- Low = minimum of Low, Open, or Close (whichever is lowest)
- Close = (Open+High+Low+Close)/4
Interpretation:
- Hollow candles represent an uptrend, with larger hollow bars indicating a stronger uptrend.
- Filled candles represent a downtrend, with larger filled bars indicating a stronger downtrend.
- Line and Area charts plot only the close for a given bar.
- Chart Size: Identifies the overall height of the chart on the page. Choose from Small, Medium, Large, X-Large.Â
- Navigator: The "Navigator" is a small series that appears below the chart axis, displaying a view of the entire data set. Use it as a tool to zoom in and out the time-line, or to pan across the dataset. The default setting is "Hide".Â
- Floating Price Box: When checked, the price / study information is displayed in a Price Box as you move your mouse over the chart. When unchecked, the same data is displayed in small "cards" in each pane.
- Use real-time Cboe BZX data when available (U.S. Equities only): For U.S. equities, the chart will use real-time prices from the Cboe BZX Exchange when markets are in session and when Cboe BZX prices are available for the symbol on the chart (requires you to be logged in to your free Barchart account.) When checked, and when using Cboe BZX prices, the symbol shown on the chart watermark will show as .BZ (IBM.BZ) to indicate that Cboe BZX prices are being used.
SCALE Tab
- Scale Type: Choose from Linear or Logarithmic. Linear scaling will calculate the most intelligent scale using the high, the low and a series of acceptable divisors for possible scales. The Logarithmic Scale uses scaling that allows for a large range of prices to be displayed without the compression of data seen on the linear scaling.
- Scale Values: Choose from Price or % Change. (Percent Change will also change your Bar Type to Line.)
- Right Margin: This setting configures the empty space at the far right side of the chart, and is represented by the number of bars to "leave empty". The default setting is 2 bars, but can be configured anywhere between 1 and 25 bars.
- Minor Grids: When checked, the chart shows additional horizontal grid lines to aide in chart viewing.
- Overlapping Price Labels: when checked, the price scale on the right of the chart will always "stack" price labels for the symbol and any indicators applied, so you can easily see them all. This is expecially helpful when studies applied to the Main Window are close in value to each other, or to the last price of the symbol.
ADJUSTMENTS Tab
U.S. Equities:
- Events: When checked, the chart will show any Dividends, Earnings or Splits on the applicable date.
- Dividends Back Adjust: When checked, price history is adjusted for dividends.
- Extended Hours: When checked, for U.S. equities / intraday charts only will show pre-market and post-market data when available.
Futures contracts: These settings determine how Futures Contracts roll for Nearby and Continuation charts.
- Contract Roll: You may either roll the contract based on number of days to expiration, or based on Volume / Open Interest.
- Back Adjust History: When checked, price history is adjusted when switching contract months.
- Build "Continuation" Chart: Use same contract month (Z17, Z16, Z15 etc.) back in time to build the chart. This setting is used in conjunction with a Period of Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Quarterly.
Adding & Deleting Studies
You may add an unlimited number of studies to an Interactive Chart. When charting a U.S. or Canadian equity, the Studies menu also displays Fundamentals which can be plotted as either quarterly or annual data.
Click the +Study button to view available studies. Also use this menu to remove studies that have already been applied to the chart.
When adding a study, you are prompted for the study parameters and can change the color of the line before adding it to the chart. You may also identify the pane in which the study should be added (on the main chart or in a new pane).
Once a study is on the chart, you can remove it by opening the Studies menu and clicking the red "Delete" icon next to the study name.
Note: When logged in, Barchart remembers the settings you last used on each study. For example, if you add a Simple Moving Average, change the period to 50 and change the color to red, the next time you add a Simple Moving Average it will default to the same settings.
Cloning Studies
Once a study is on your chart, you can quickly clone it (make an exact duplicate), then modify the clone's parameters. This is helpful if you want to quickly add a number of Moving Averages to your chart, using different period parameters and colors for each.
- Add a study to the chart.
- Click the + Study button, then click on the study as if you were going to Edit it.
- Click CLONE STUDY. A new set of parameters appears for the clone, where you can adjust the parameters, colors, plot thickness. When done, click ADD.
Adding Tools
Click the Tools button to view available annotations that can be added to your chart, or right-click on the chart and select "Add Drawing Tool". Once you select a tool, click on the chart to start its placement. Any tools or annotations you add are always saved (if you are logged in) and will show the next time you view the chart.
To change the color or parameters of a tool, right-click on the tool after its been placed on the chart.
Note: When logged in, Barchart remembers the settings you last used on each tool. For example, if you add a trendline and change the color to a red dotted line, the next time you add a trendline it will default to a red dotted line unless changed again or Reset.
Reordering Panes
Studies, Fundamentals, and Expressions are either added as an "Overlay" (the study is plotted in the main chart window over the underlying chart's price data) or as an "Indicator" (study is added as a new pane at the bottom of the chart).
When a chart has 2 or more panes, you can change their order by clicking the up/down arrows (found at the top left corner of the pane).
Expressions
You can plot an expression or common futures spread by opening the Chart Menu and selecting "Expressions & Spreads", or right-clicking on the chart to select the same command.
The Expressions dialog allows you to choose from a number of popular commodity spreads. When you select a popular spread from the drop-down list, the expression is built automatically for you. You may also create your own custom spread chart by entering the mathematical calculation.
The calculated results are displayed as a line chart. Additionally, an expression can be added to the main chart window, or as a new pane on the chart (you'll choose the placement when you create the expression).
If you want to create your own custom expression, you can enter the calculation directly into the expression field. Expressions consist of:
- symbols - must be enclosed in "curly brackets". Examples: {ZC*1} {ESU17} {IBM} {^EURUSD}
- constants: any floating point number like 2.35; note that we don't support "scientific" notation (for example 1.72E5)
- operators:
- unary operator - (negation) so you may enter -2 + 1 and are not forced to type 1 - 2
- binary operators:
+Â (addition)
 - (subtraction)Â
*Â (multiplication)
 / (division)
 ^(power)
These are listed in order from lowest to highest precedence (multiplication and division will always happen before addition and subtraction, unless grouped by parentheses). - to make sure precedence is correct, parentheses ( and ) can be used; for example 2 ^ 2 + 3 = 7 but 2 ^ (2 + 3) = 32
An example, showcasing all variables:
{ESM17} * 4.75 - (-(1.5 + {ES*2} / 33) ^ 2 * 4.25)
Note for Futures Contracts:Â Barchart's charting application commonly uses the * symbol on futures contracts as a shortcut to specify the month. For example, ZC*1 will return the front month, ZC*2 returns the second month out, ZC*3 returns the third month out, etc. Using shortcut symbols when building an expression is allowable:
({ZC*1} + {ZC*2} + {ZC*3}) / 3Â will add the front, second and third months for Corn, then divide the result by three.
Comparison Chart
You can add up to three other symbols for price comparison directly on the chart. Open the Chart Menu and select "Comparison Chart", or right-click on the chart to select the same command. We provide a list of major market indices that you can select for comparison, or add your own symbols.
When a symbol's price scale differs from the underlying chart, you may want to check the "Left Scale" option so the price data can be displayed in an easier-to-read format.
Templates
If you are a registered site user and are logged in, you may apply a template you've created, or save a chart's setup as a new template. These actions are found in the "Templates" button.
A template is used to display a chart with pre-defined settings, such as aggregation, bar type, studies, and more. Site members may further identify a default chart template to always apply to a new chart in the Site Preferences page found in the My Barchart tab.
Important Notes:
- Create your own default chart template and identify this in your Site Preferences. For example, if you always want to see Candlesticks on a 30 minute Intraday chart with 2 moving averages, create a template with those parameters, and add it to your Site Preferences. This way, your charts will always start out with your desired configuration.
- If you've customized a chart (added studies, changed bar type, etc) and then switch templates, the previous changes you've made to the chart are not retained. Applying a template "resets" the chart to the template's settings. The chart, however, WILL attempt to place any tools from the previous chart over the new template. Keep in mind, though, that tools are placed at specific coordinates on a chart, and may loose their placement accuracy as a result when a new template is applied.
Templates are either created in the My Barchart tab, OR you may customize a chart to your preferences, click the Templates button, and select Save as Template. A free site membership allows you to create up to 20 templates, while Barchart Premier Members may create unlimited templates.
Clear
The Clear button (top right of the chart) clears all changes you've made and resets the chart to either the site default (6-Month Daily chart using OHLC bars), or to the default template identified in your Site Preferences.
Pop-out Icon
The Pop-out icon opens the chart in a new browser window. You can pop out as many charts as you wish, and continue to use the Barchart.com website in a different browser window. Changes made to a pop-out chart are saved, depending on your Chart Saving Preference.
Chart Menu
The Chart Menu is located at the top right of the chart and contains additional commands:
- Comparison Chart - opens the menu to add comparison symbols
- Expressions & Spreads - opens the menu to add an expression or spread
- Set Alert - opens the dialog to set a price alert for this symbol
- Add to Watchlist - opens the dialog to add or remove the symbol to a Watchlist
- Social Share - allows you to share an image and link to the chart to different social media platforms
- Save Chart as Image (.png) - Depending on your browser's configuration, you may be asked where you want to save the image, or it may automatically get downloaded to an area on your computer previously identified by your browser as the download destination.
Right-Click Menu
Many of the actions you can apply to a chart are also accessible when you right-click on the chart.
