HOW TO
VIEW CHARTS FOR PARTICULAR PRODUCTS
You can access a chart by simply clicking on the chart icon to the right of the trading screen. This will then open a chart in a pane within your trading screen. You can re-position the chart and re-size the chart as you wish.
The default screen shows live ask and bid prices in the top right hand corner of the chart. If the market for this product is in session, clicking on these will open a new, smaller pane from which you can place trades.
To open the chart in a separate full-screen, browser window, click the expand icon in the top right-hand corner of the chart next to the close icon.
HOW TO
CHANGE THE TIMEFRAME OF A CHART
In the top left hand corner of the chart screen there is a drop down menu box; this often defaults to ‘1 hour’ view. This displays the price in 1 hour intervals.
Clicking on the box or black arrow next to it will display a drop down menu of alternative timeframe options. You can choose from tick-by-tick, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 1 hour, daily, weekly etc.
To move left or right of the time period displayed on the chart, click-and-hold anywhere on the chart and drag. Drag left to move back in time and drag right to move forward.
The double-arrow icon in the bottom right hand corner of the chart allows you to jump back to the present time period at any time.
HOW TO
ZOOM IN TO AN AREA OF A CHART
There are two ways to do this. You can zoom in/out of the current screen using the + or – signs directly above the chart.
Alternatively, to zoom in/out of specific areas of the chart use the scroll wheel (middle button) on your mouse. Scroll up to zoom in and down to zoom out.
If the timeline is enabled under Display->Show->Timeline you can drag the edges of the timeline to configure the time period you want to look at.
HOW TO
READ THE CHARTS
The charts show historic price movements for various Spreadex markets.
As spread widths may vary, they should not, therefore, be used as a basis for determining whether or not any orders have been triggered.
It is important to note that as the charts are built from the quotes made by Spreadex on its trading platform, any activity that occurs outside of our trading times will not be reflected on the charts. You should also be aware that any data displayed before 6th October 2009 is not taken from Spreadex markets.
This data is to give you a guide as to the longer term trends of the various markets.
HOW TO
CHANGE CHART SETTINGS
Clicking on the 'Display' dropdown menu in the top left hand corner of the chart will bring up many of the settings for the chart.
Hovering over the word ‘Show’ will give you the option to show the drawings toolbar in the bottom right hand corner of the chart – this will allow you quicker access to the drawings tools.
Choosing to show the current price line will display a dashed red line across the chart at the current price level.
You can view the high and low of the day and chart by choosing to show the OHLC box – it will appear in the bottom left hand corner of the chart.
HOW TO
CHANGE CHART STYLE
Choose from 10 chart styles including line, bar, candlestick and mountain under the 'Display' drop-down menu at the top of the chart.
After hovering over 'Style' you are also able to configure what information is included on the chart and whether the bid, ask or mid-point is used.
HOW TO
CHANGE PRICE DISPLAYED
Under the 'Display' drop-down menu and the at the top of the chart you are also able to configure what information is included on the chart and whether the bid, ask or mid-point is used.
HOW TO
SELECT CHART INDICATORS
Clicking on the 'Technical' dropdown menu in the top left hand corner of the chart will allow you to select different 'Technical Overlays', 'Technical Indicators' or 'Pro Trading Tools'.
You can select as many or as a few of these as you wish at any one time.
For the indicators that appear below the chart, you can also choose to reposition these above the chart – this is done by clicking on the arrow that appears in the top left corner of the indicator when you hover over it.
You can remove the indicators from the chart by either deselecting from the drop down menu or clicking the ‘x’ next to the indicator’s name and setting options in the bottom left hand corner of the chart.
Below is an overview of some of the most popular indicators and overlays:
Aroon: This draws an indicator screen below the chart designed to reveal the beginning of a new trend. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length.
Bollinger: This draws ‘Bollinger Bands’ around your product on the chart. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the bottom left hand corner of the chart – this will allow you to change the period length, standard deviation and channel fill.
Candlestick Chart Pattern Recognition: This will automatically display Candlestick patterns on the chart.
Chaikin Volatility: This draws an indicator screen below the chart and depicts volatility by calculating the difference between the high and low for each period or trading bar. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length and rate of change.
Commodity Channel Index: This draws an indicator screen below the chart that can be used to identify overbought/oversold levels or trend reversals. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length.
Detrended Price Oscillator: This draws an indicator screen below the chart to show a displaced moving average which does not react to the most current price action. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length.
Directional movement: This draws an indicator screen below the chart which measures the ability of bulls and bears to move a price outside the previous day's trading range. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length, smoothing period, shading and series. There is also an option for a histogram.
Linear regression Intercept: This plots the intercept for a trend line - which uses the least squares method so as to minimize the distances between the prices and the resulting trend line - for each data point. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the bottom left hand corner of the chart – this will allow you to change the period length.
MA Envelope: This draws an envelope on the chart formed by two moving averages that define upper and lower price range levels. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the bottom left hand corner of the chart – this will allow you to change the period length, shift, shift type and channel fill.
Exp. Moving Average: This draws up to three exponential moving averages on the chart, which weight more recent prices more heavily than a simple moving average. This is different from an EMA as the rate of decrease between prices is exponential. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the bottom left hand corner of the chart – this will allow you to select up to three EMA and their period length.
MACD: This draws an indicator screen below the main chart with the level of ‘Moving Average Convergence Divergence’, an indicator of how far a stock is deviating from its moving average. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length for fast MA, slow MA and signal MA.
Momentum: This draws an indicator screen below the main chart showing momentum of a chart’s trend and can indicate when a trend is running out of steam. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length.
Moving Average: This draws up to three Simple Moving Average lines on your chart, which are the simple average of a security over a defined number of time periods. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the bottom left hand corner of the chart – this will allow you to select up to three SMAs and their period length.
Parabolic SAR: This draws ‘Parabolic Curves’ around the share price movements on your chart. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the bottom left hand corner of the chart – this will allow you to change the initial, maximum and minimum AF levels.
Price Oscillator: This draws an indicator screen below the main chart based on the difference between two ‘Moving Averages’, and is expressed as either a percentage or in absolute terms. The number of time periods can vary depending on user preference. For daily data, longer ‘Moving Averages’ might be preferred to filter out some of the randomness associated with daily prices. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the long and short cycle period lengths or percentages.
ProTrend Lines: Our ProTrend Lines tool automatically draws trend lines on the chart for you.
Price Rate of Change: This draws an indicator screen below the main chart which is a pure momentum oscillator that measures the percent change in price from one period to the next. The ROC compares the current price with the price “n” periods ago. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length.
RSI: This draws an indicator screen below the main chart showing a ‘Relative Strength Index’. The RSI is an indicator of the relative strength of the current trend and can indicate when a stock is overbought or oversold when the RSI lines are above or below the black horizontal lines. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length.
Schaff Trend Cycle: This draws an indicator screen below the main chart, which is a product of combining Slow Stochastics and the Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD). You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period, long cycle and short cycle sizes.
Standard Deviation: This draws an indicator screen below the main chart as a measure of market volatility, measuring how widely prices are dispersed from the average price. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length and number of standard deviations.
Stochastics: This draws an indicator screen below the main chart which shows the location of the current close relative to the high/low range over a set number of periods and can indicate when a product is oversold or overbought. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the %K periods, %K smoothing periods and %D periods.
Weighted Moving Average: This draws up to three exponential moving averages on the chart, which weight more recent prices more heavily than a simple moving average. This is different from an EMA as the rate of decrease between prices is consistent. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the bottom left hand corner of the chart – this will allow you to add up to three WMAs and their period lengths.
Williams %R: This draws an indicator screen below the main chart measuring overbought and oversold levels, similar to a stochastic oscillator and can indicate buy or sell entry points. You can adjust the indicator by clicking on the settings icon at the top left hand corner of the indicator screen – this will allow you to change the period length.
HOW TO
DRAW TRENDS ON A CHART
Clicking on the 'More' dropdown menu in the top left hand corner of the chart will display a drawings option.
Hovering over the word ‘drawings’ will allow you to select from a number of drawings tools.
The arrow tool will allow you to overlay an arrow onto your chart. Click and drag where you wish to position your arrow, selecting the size in the process. You will then be able to choose the direction of the arrowing by dragging the cursor. Once the arrow is drawn you can edit its size, position and direction by hovering over the drawing and clicking on the appropriate small black arrows. Right-clicking gives you the option to duplicate or delete.
The doodle tool allows you to draw any continuous trend line on your chart. Click and drag to draw your line. Right-clicking gives you the option to duplicate or delete.
You can draw a Fibonacci retracement by clicking the point from which you would like the retracement lines to start. Drag and hold to stretch the lines out until you are at the other point of the retracement you would like to plot. You can edit the drawing by clicking and moving these two points. Right-clicking gives you the option to duplicate or delete.
You can draw a Gann Fan by clicking the point from which you would like to start. Drag and hold to select the angles. You can edit the drawing by clicking and moving your original start and finish points. Right-clicking gives you the option to duplicate or delete.
Horizontal, vertical point to point and trend lines all are used in a similar fashion – select each to use. A single click at any point will draw a horizontal line or vertical line based on which you selected. Click and drag to draw a point to point line. You can edit each line by clicking on it (it should turn red) and dragging. For trend lines, a single click will draw a vertical line at that point. Click and hold to draw a diagonal line. Click and drag to move the trend line or click either of the two original points to change the angle and/or direction. Right-clicking gives you the option to duplicate or delete.
You can draw a rectangle by clicking the point from which you would like to start. Drag and hold to stretch the shape to your liking. You can edit the shape by clicking and moving these two points or move the shape as it is by clicking and dragging anywhere. Right-clicking gives you the option to duplicate or delete.
The text box tool allows you to make notes on the chart. Click on the chart where you would like to add text. You can save or delete your comments.
You can clear all your drawings at once by using the ‘clear drawings’ tool.
HOW TO
SAVE CHART SETTINGS FOR FUTURE USE
You can save a certain set of chart settings under a given name.
Click on More > Templates > Save in order to save your current settings, you also have the options to load saved settings, reset or delete your chart settings.
HOW TO
Place and edit trades and orders directly from the chart
You can place, monitor and edit trades and orders to open directly from the chart.
Click on either the red or green current price buttons in the top right to open the deal ticket.
After placing your trade or order, you will then see your trade as a line across your chart.
To edit and close positions or orders directly from the chart click on the trade or order and you can then drag and drop any stop/limit orders to a new level, or you can click the green close button to close the trade.
HOW TO
FIND MARKET INFORMATION IN THE EVENT OF A TRADE QUERY
You cannot rely on information in our charts in the event of a trade query. Please email us at [email protected] or call our trading desk on 08000 526 570 if you wish to enquire about the exact details of any historic price movements.
Our charts are provided as a tool to aid market analysis and trading decision making. The data displayed cannot be used in the event of a dispute.
HOW TO
FIND MARKET INFORMATION IN THE EVENT OF MARGIN CALL QUERY
As above, the charts are provided as a tool to aid market analysis and trading decision making and cannot be relied upon for information in the event of a query regarding margin calls.
Please refer to the customer agreement for further information on our policies and procedures regarding margin, and contact us at [email protected].
