Charts are available on every contract within the Barchart.com database. The default dynamic daily chart contains six months' worth of price activity with the open, high, low, close, change, and volume for each bar presented in a display box above the chart. Each data point can be viewed by moving your mouse through the chart. This is also true for all information displayed on the chart, including the results of studies, stock splits, earnings and dividends data.

Splits are represented by the blue triangles on the bottom of the chart.
Earnings are represented by the green triangles on the bottom of the chart.
Dividends are represented by the purple triangles on the bottom of the chart.

When you create a barchart with an overlay, the first three numbers are the high, low and closing prices for the day, followed by "res = " which is short for results, then the results of the study selected as the overlay.

Volume is represented by horizontal lines beneath the open, high, low, close barchart. A green volume bar represents the last price increased compared to the previous trading session and a red volume bar represents the last price decreased compared to the previous trading session.

In general, all studies are in order: red, green, blue. Example: 5, 10, 15 day moving average would have three lines: the 5 day in red, the 10 day in green, the 15 day in blue. For secondary studies on the same chart the colors are in order: dark green, purple and black.

There is a difference in how Barchart.com compiles and display chart data for delayed quotes and for realtime quotes.

For delayed quotes the information is only available in 5-minute increments. The information is back dated to the start of the period, so on a 5-minute chart information in the period dated 12:45 includes all trades between 12:45 and 12:49 inclusive. A trade at 13:00 would be included within the next bar dated 13:00.

With delayed data, a qualifying bid or ask price, that is a bid price above the last price, or an ask price below the last price on CBOT, CME, KCBT and MGEX contracts will be included within the price data on the charts. This is not true for realtime chart data, which only includes trades.

For realtime quotes the information is available in ticks, or in any time increment from 1 minute through to 99 minutes. The information is front dated to the end of the period. So on a 5-minute chart information in the period date 12:45 includes all trades between 12:41 and 12:45. A trade at 8:30 for the S&P will be included on the 8:30 bar. A trade a 8:31 on a 5-minute chart will dated as 8:35 and included with any other trades between 8:31 and 8:35 inclusive.

To see a list of our our realtime products, please go to http://realtime.barchart.com

Basic quotes do not just cover the current day's trading activity. They include the previous four days of trading prices, open, high, low, close, change, volume and percent change figures.

Earnings information is displayed when available, as well as a listing of the weekly, monthly, quarterly, year-to-date, one-year high and low prices, and the date of their trades. Under the high and low prices is a table containing the number of times the stock has hit a new high and a new low price in the past X-days, along with percentage change from the current price to the X-day high or low price.

Technical reports contain the results of 12 common technical analytics over different periods of time. The analytics used are Moving Averages, Price Change, Percent Change and Average Volume, Stochastics Raw, %K, %D and %R, Average True Range, Relative Strength, Historic Volatility and MACD Oscillator.

Each study also links to its definition in the learning center.

The commodities volume figure used with these pages is the sum of all active contracts, not the individual contract volume.

Unique to Barchart.com, the Signals sections and all pages contained within are derived from the results and technical analysis of the Technical Opinion.

The opinions analyzes a stock or commodity using 13 popular analytics in short-, medium- and long-term periods. Results are interpreted as buy, sell or hold signals, each with numeric ratings and summarized with an overall percentage buy or sell rating.

Each Opinion requires six months' worth of trading activity and run the prices through 13 different technical indicators.

After each calculation the program assigns a buy, sell or hold value with the study, depending on where the price lies in reference to the common interpretation of the study.

For example, a price above its moving average is generally considered an upward trend or a buy.

Each study links to a chart to give you a graphical interpretation of the result of the study.

Calculations

The short-, medium- and long-term indicators are grouped together and calculated separately for their groups. The overall indicators includes all 13 studies listed on the page.

A buy is assigned 1 point
A sell is assigned -1 point
A hold is assigned 0 points

To keep the results in a more logical format, we factor the overall opinion by 1.04 to keep the end result in eighths, with the exception of a 100% buy or sells. This is why the opinions will be displayed {8%, 16%, ... 88%, 96% and 100%} rather the true calculated value over the number thirteen.

At the bottom of the opinion page is the price the opinion studies are based on, along with the support, pivot point, and resistance numbers.

Opinions for subscribers are updated using the latest market information. Opinions for non-subscribers are updated once a day at 6 p.m. ET.

The Snapshot opinion graphically lists overall opinion of today, yesterday, last week, and last month.

The Snapshot page also contains the rating box, which ranks the overall strength and direction of the opinion taken from the Advanced opinions page.

Strength is calculated by adding the different "buy" signal strengths and subtracting the "sell" signal strengths, then factoring each number by the strength rating of the opinion. The direction rating is calculated by adding the different buy signal directions and subtracting the different sell signal directions, then factoring each number by the direction rating of the opinion. Signal strength and signal direction are independent of buy or sell ratings.

The totals are then compared to the average overall totals for all stocks and given a percentage figure of where they lie in relation to the strengths and directions of all other stocks, 0-10 being the lowest and 90-100 being the greatest. The top 1% of all stocks are also highlighted yellow. The higher the rating, the stronger the overall signal strength or direction.

Snapshot opinions for subscribers are updated using the latest market information. Snapshot opinions for non-subscribers are updated once a day at 6 p.m. ET.

Advanced opinions add market-timing information by calculating and interpreting signal strength and direction.

Signal Strength

The signal strength is a long-term measurement of the strength of the signal compared to the strength of the signal historically.

The strength can be one of the following five readings:

Maximum
Strong
Average
Weak
Minimum


Maximum is the strongest this signal has been in the historical period, and minimum is the weakest the signal has been in the historical period. The stronger a signal strength, the less volatile the signal. For example, a maximum buy signal is less likely to change to a hold or a sell signal than a weak buy signal.

A hold signal does not have any strength.

Signal Direction

Buy/Sell Signal Direction

The signal direction is a short-term (3-day) measurement of the current movement of the signal. Regardless if signal is a buy or sell, the direction is an indication of whether the most recent price movement is going along with the signal.

The buy/sell direction can be one of the following five readings:

Strongest
Strengthening
Average
Weakening
Weakest


A buy signal with a "strongest" direction means a buy signal which is becoming stronger. Similarly, a sell signal with a "strongest" direction is becoming stronger. The direction goes with the signal.

Hold Signal Direction

The signal direction of a hold signal is a short-term (3-day) measurement of where the signal is heading, be it toward a buy signal or a sell signal.

The hold direction can be one of the following five readings:

Bullish
Rising
Steady
Falling
Bearish


A bullish hold signal indicates that the signal is heading toward a buy configuration, and a bearish hold signal indicates that the signal is heading toward a sell configuration.

Performance Analysis will back-test the performance of each of the studies used within the opinions going back for a period of two years. The results are summarized for each indicator with the total number of trades, average days per trade and total profit or loss from the trades. The results of the indicators are then summarized at the bottom of the page, to give you an overall summary of how the opinions would have done over the past two years.

Each of the indicators also links to a breakdown to the trades that the indicator would have made. The page contains the entry date, price and action of the trade and the exit date, price and action as well as the number of days in the trade and profit or loss. You can also view a chart of the trade with the indicator overlaid by clicking on the "action" of the trade.

The Trading Calendar is a list of 44 commonly used technical indicators with the price projection for the next trading day that will cause each of the signals to be triggered.

The projected trigger prices of the signals are listed from highest price at the top of the page to lowest price at the bottom. These are shaded in green if the common interpretation of the signal is bullish, and shaded in red if the common interpretation of the signal is bearish.

Each projection on the trading calendar can be examined to determine if the price change to each trigger level will tend to confirm or reverse the price move.

Green areas above the current price will tend to provide support to confirm the upward move.

Red areas below the current price will tend to provide resistance to confirm the downward move.

Green areas below the current price will tend to provide support to limit the downward move.

Red areas above the current price will tend to provide resistance to limit the upward move.

The complete image can be used to give an indication of market timing: green below the current price and red above will tend to keep trading in a narrow band, whereas green above the current price, or red below can produce a breakout where each new price level is confirmed by a new signal.

Some of these signals such as Fibonacci Retracements have a fixed bullish or bearish interpretation. Others such as crossovers of a short-term and a long-term moving average are interpreted as a reversal of the current signal. Some of these projections will produce trigger prices so far removed from the price action that they can be ignored. The closer the trigger price to the current price, the more quickly it will come into play.