Live Charts

The charts accessed through the InterTrader.com trading platform are built from our own historical price quotes. This in effect means that our charts will not include any market activity that has occurred outside of our trading times.

Most of the chart functionality is self-explanatory and you will find that you learn most of the features and charting possibilities by practice.

To open a chart in the desired market you merely click on the chart icon to the right of the ORDER button:

This will open the default chart selection for the desired market. The default setting is a 10-minute candlestick chart with no Technical Analysis (TA) attached.

The charting package has a number of features allowing you to manipulate the data and display it in different formats:

•  Full screen
•  Chart and mountain view zoom controls
• Line, candle, bar, area and bordered candle chart display options
• Track ball and cross hair display options for price and technical indicator values
• The ability to save a default price, technical indicator, chart interval settings
• Chart time zone setting options that adjust the chart display time to exchange, feed or the time of a selected city
• Dynamic candle and line updates as tick data arrives
• A range of technical analysis indicators that include Parabolic SAR, moving averages,
• Stochastic, MACD, RSI, Williams %R, TSI, Bollinger Bands etc
• Extensive range of drawing tools including trendlines, Fibonacci retracements, fans and arcs with the ability to save drawings so that they can be view on the next log-in
• Snap to open, high, low and close values when using the drawing tools, with the ability to toggle the snap to functionality on or off via settings or when using the charts
• Tick by tick display of all bid prices
• Dynamic resizing that hides display options as the chart is reduced in size

To navigate between the various Chart features click on the ‘Charts’,  ‘Alerts’,  ‘Back Test’, ‘Alert History’, ‘Help’ navigation links at the top-left of the chart window. The background colour for the currently selected tab is white.

To change the chart display options, such as add or remove technical analysis indicators, click on the ‘Settings’ cog button on the charts. The settings panel will appear to the right of the chart.  From here you can adjust the price and technical chart display to suit your preferred set-up.

Clicking the ‘Save’ button will store your chart and alert notification settings. Next time you use the charts the display will automatically default to your preferred set-up. Clicking on the ‘Save’ or ‘Settings’ cog will close the settings.  

To draw trend lines, Fibonacci retracements, fans, arcs or time zones, click on the appropriate drawing buttons at the top-right border of the chart. The drawing buttons remain selected until they are clicked again to release them from drawing mode. While drawing the snap to open, high, low, close feature can be toggled on/off by holding down the CTRL key. Alternatively the snap to can be toggled on/off by right-clicking on the chart screen.

To save drawings so that they are visible the next time the charts are opened for the selected market, click on the ‘Save’ button. If a drawing is selected additional buttons will appear that enable the drawing to be deleted or copied.  To select a drawing, click on the drawing on the chart screen.

Our charts allow you to perform many types of TA. Here is a brief overview of some of the main indicators available and how they might be used.

Simple moving average (MA)
The unweighted mean of the previous n data points in the time series. For example, a 10-day simple moving average closing price is the mean of the previous 10 days' closing prices. The larger the value of n, the greater the smoothing effect and the more the MA line is displaced from the original data.

Exponential moving average (EMA)
An exponentially weighted mean of previous data points. The parameter of an EMA can be expressed as a proportional percentage. For example, a 10% EMA has each time period assigned a weight that is 90% of the weight assigned to the next more recent time period.

Bollinger Bands
The Bollinger Bands are envelopes based on a moving average and a standard deviation which makes the bands widen or narrow relative to the current market volatility.

95% of price action will take place within the Bollinger Bands and thus the bands act as strong areas of support and resistance. It is possible at times like this to successfully trade the price rising or falling from one Bollinger line to the other.

When a trend begins and the volatility of the market increases thus the spacing of the Bollinger Bands will widen. As the trend slows down the Bollinger Bands will narrow.

Parabolic SAR
The Parabolic SAR is another indicator devised by J. Welles Wilder, who also created the RSI and DMI indictors. The Parabolic SAR, or 'Stop and Reversal' as it is otherwise known, is generally used for setting stops and following a trend in the market.

Wilder himself recommended establishing that a trend is in position first by use of other indicators such as the ADX indicator and then using the Parabolic SAR to trade in the direction of the trend. If the trend is up, then buy when the indicator moves below the price. If the trend is down, then sell when the indicator moves above the price.

The SAR direction is always the same during a trend and the trend stays in place while the SAR points stay above or below the price. When the price penetrates the SAR then a signal is given to exit the current trade and possibly look for a position to take up a new trade in the opposite direction.

The dotted line produced on a chart by the Parabolic SAR can be used for setting a trailing stop on a trade. At the beginning of a move there is always a greater distance between the price and the SAR giving much needed leeway. However, this will narrow as the trend continues, therefore giving tighter stops as the price moves in a favourable direction.

MACD
MACD measures the difference between two moving averages. A positive MACD indicates that the 12-day EMA is trading above the 26-day EMA. A negative MACD indicates that the 12-day EMA is trading below the 26-day EMA. If MACD is positive and rising, then the gap between the 12-day EMA and the 26-day EMA is widening. This indicates that the rate-of-change of the faster moving average is higher than the rate-of-change for the slower moving average. Positive momentum is increasing and this would be considered bullish. If MACD is negative and declining further, then the negative gap between the faster moving average and the slower moving average is expanding. Downward momentum is accelerating and this would be considered bearish.

There are three common methods to interpret the MACD:

• Crossovers: When the MACD falls below the signal line it is a signal to sell. Vice versa when the MACD rises above the signal line.
• Divergence: When the security diverges from the MACD it may signal the end of the current trend. For instance, price may continue to make higher highs while MACD makes lower highs. This is an example of bearish, or negative divergence and a warning that the up-trend may soon be finished.
• Overbought/Oversold: When the MACD rises dramatically (shorter moving average pulling away from longer-term moving average) it is a signal the security is overbought and will soon return to normal levels.

RSI
RSI is an extremely reliable indicator which is favoured by many traders, and it is generally an overbought/oversold indicator. In practice below 30 is considered to be an oversold indication and when the RSI crosses 30 to rise, this is a buy signal. At the other end of the scale a value above 70 is considered overbought and when the RSI crosses to fall below 70, this is a sell signal.

It should be noted that the RSI will form chart patterns similar to those found on the main chart, such as a double top, head and shoulders etc, which may not show up in the instrument's price but which will give an indication as to pending changes.

The RSI will also form support and resistance levels, just like the main chart, and it may also diverge from the main chart direction indicating change. For example, the instrument may make a new high while the RSI does not: a bearish indication. Conversely, the instrument may drop to a new low while the RSI moves sideways or upwards: a bullish indication. In these cases the price will usually follow the direction the RSI has just shown.

Williams %R
One use of the Williams %R can be on trending days, when the indicator can help establish entry points into the trend.

It should be remembered that the Williams %R is just an indicator and an overbought or oversold indication does not necessarily mean that the price is about to turn. It is better to wait for the price to show a marked reversal and then use the Williams %R for confirmation.

Momentum
Refers to 'momentum' as the impetus or increased activity of an instrument. This may be described as gaining momentum or losing momentum.

Volatility
For this indicator we must chose the period (the last 10 days, for example). Then we calculate the variation of every day during this period. Then we calculate the Napierian logarithm and the variation on this data. By extrapolation we obtain the historic volatility in %.

Price Oscillator
The Price Oscillator is calculated by subtracting the long moving average from the short moving average. If the short moving average is higher than the long moving average then the indicator will be positive. If the short moving average is lower than the long moving average then the indicator will be negative. In its percentage form, the absolute result is divided by the short moving average and multiplied by 100. The key parameters are the periods of both moving averages.

Standard deviation
The units of the standard deviation are the same as the units of the original data, making the standard deviation a linear value. The standard deviation is the square root of the variance. It is a measure of dispersion and often used as a volatility indication.