Class 3: History and Construction of Charts Trends, Breakouts, Stops Flashcards
What are charts?
graphical displays of data
4 types of charts
line
bar
candle
point and figure
Data needed to construct most charts
Open
high
low
close
volume
why do line charts use losing price?
Used to study long term trends.
why use less data on line chart
More frequent data leads to detailed, cluttered charts making trend less obvious
which is the economists chart
Line Charts
advantage of line charts
Easy to construct and maintain
disadvantage of line charts
Gives little information
exact time or trend change can be unclear
Bar charts _|¯
Displays high, low, closing prices or HLC.
Each interval represented by one bar
Range is difference between high and low.
Left tick=open, right tick= closing price.
which are the best bar charts
OHLC
include the open price
advantages of bar chart
HLC can give you a better sense of direction.
More versatile, volume usually included below
disadvantage of bar chart
Harder to maintain
requires more space if done by hand
real body in candlestick chart
the rectangular box formed by open and close price
Real bodies look like candles
shadow in candlestick chart
price extremes of the session
look like wicks
White/open real bodies in candlestick chart
price advance at close > open price
Black/closed real bodies in candlestick chart
price decline at close < open price
advantage of candlestick charts
More visual
positive and negative easily seen
disadvantage of candlestick charts
Harder to calculate and maintain by hand
patterns must be studied
which chart can be constructed using intraday trading data
Point & Figure (P&F) charts
in which chart is volume usually excluded
Point & Figure (P&F) charts
Box size meaning in Point & Figure (P&F) charts
what does a smaller box mean
dollar amount representing one box
The smaller the box size the more sensitive the chart
Reversal size meaning in Point & Figure (P&F) charts
Column of X’s change to O’s or vice versa when the price reverses by this amount ($ amount needed to record X or O)
advantage of Point & Figure (P&F) charts
Information is compressed
resistance and support levels are easier to spot.
They are better price targets for buy/sell signals
Good charting method for continuous markets (commodities, currencie, crypto?)
disadvantage of Point & Figure (P&F) charts
They do not use time and volume as a consideration.
There are many and unique patterns to P&F charts that must be studied.
Scale – Arithmetic vs. Logarithmic charts
Changes charts to include percent changes rather than absolute price changes.
i.e. an increase from $10 to $20, is $10 or 100%, an increase from $100 to $110 is the same $ change but only 10%.
Logarithmic best used for long term charts and for > 20% increases in security values.
A DIRECTIONAL TREND
one of rising or falling prices from which a profit can be generated with a trend following method.
Trends tend to continue, rather than reverse
as long as it continues, is how the technician profits (vag reason why)
what do we mean by TRENDS are FRACTAL
their behavior is the same regardless of period.
Long term, intermediate and short term minute trends all behave the same.
They are made up the same way. They all break down in the same fashion
what is the larger primary trend made of
made up of smaller intermediate corrections, of which are made up of even smaller minor trends
If we dissect these minor trends, we will again find that these same trends are made up of the same trend patterns though at a much smaller degree, such as to the minutes.
This comes back to the fractal nature of trends.
definition of a trending price
remain headed in one direction and they tell us that there is an imbalance of demand and supply
what type of trend if we have more aggressive buyers (and sellers)
we have an uptrend (downtrend)