Charts Overview

Charts provide a quick way to absorb data and understand a security's performance. They provide vast amounts of data in an efficient, user-friendly, customizable format, making it easy to analyze price and volume movements in real time.

Full-featured charting is available in both the stand-alone Chart tool accessed through the Launch Tools menu and in the Symbol Hub.

StreetSmart Edge® has advanced charting features that give you the freedom to customize your charting experience to your precise specifications. Features available include more than 30 customizable studies; the ability to draw trend, support, and resistance lines and symbol overlays; chart types, including mountain, bar, line, and candlestick; and much more.

You may display up to 20 charts across with up to 20 tabs in each. You can also save up to 20 tabs to the software (but save as many as you wish to a local hard drive using the Save as File feature).

For a demonstration and more information on using Charts, visit the Training page.

Getting Around the Chart Tool

Each important area of the Chart tool is displayed in the image below.

Stock symbols and price and volume data shown here and in the software are for illustrative purposes only. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., its parent or affiliates, and/or its employees and/or directors may have positions in securities referenced herein, and may, as principal or agent, buy from or sell to clients.

TIP: For more information on getting the most out of your chart display, see Chart Display Tips.

The following table explains each major element of the Chart display:

Chart Features
Price Chart	The heart of the Chart window is the price chart itself. It displays the main symbol's chart with your Type and Style specifications (see Chart Settings). The right side of the chart shows the price ranges. Price Scale Adjustment: You can adjust a chart price scale to optimize the visual results of the chart. Move the mouse over the price scale, and then click and drag the scale up or down to adjust the display scale. The bottom shows the time or dates the chart spans The left side can show the percent change from the lowest point to the highest point when displayed. Across the top of the chart are Chart Keys which represent the symbol overlays, studies, or drawn objects you have added to the chart from the Chart Settings panel. To Hide/Show ALL overlays, drawn objects, and studies, click Hide in the upper left corner of the chart. Click Show to display them again. For more on overlays, drawn objects, and studies, see Chart Settings. Study Panes Studies and overlays can display in a separate pane below the price chart if you wish. Right-click on a study or overlay and select Edit. In the Edit window, change the Show In setting to New Pane to separate it out from the price chart. If you want to add another study or symbol overlay to an existing pane, choose the name of that pane instead. TIP: You can move study panes around the chart. While pressing CTRL on your keyboard, click on the study pane. Drag the pane up or down, either to place it above the price chart, or if you have multiple panes, to place it above or below other panes. Release the mouse when the pane is positioned where you want it. Order, Position, and Note Indicators: The chart can display Order , Bracket , and Position indicators, as well as any Notes related to the symbol being viewed. For more on these features, see Activity Display Options in the Chart Settings.
Title Bar	Enter the symbol you want to view a chart for and click Go or press Enter. The Title Bar is available in several tools, and includes some basic price data as well as the Tool Link Icon. For more on these features see Title Bar. You can also Duplicate an entire Chart window by right-clicking in the title bar and selecting Duplicate Chart Window.
Tab Bar	Shows the tabs open in this Chart tool. Tab Names: Charts are named by their SYMBOL:DURATION:TIMEFRAME by default, but you can double-click on the tab and it will change to a field that you can edit and supply a name of your choice. Add a new tab: Click the + symbol next to the tabs. It will open a duplicate of the last tab in the window, which you can then edit. Right-click menu: Right-click on the tab label to see a menu of actions you can take on the tab, including creating a chart template, saving, deleting, duplicating, and more. More on Chart Tasks... Tab Sync On/Off: If Sync is On, all tabs in that Chart tool will display a chart for the same symbol. If Sync is Off, each tab can display a different symbol and when you enter a new symbol in the Title Bar, only the top tab will display that symbol. If you switch to Tab Sync is On from Tab Sync is Off and have different symbols in each tab, the symbol in the active tab will populate all the tabs in that Chart Tool. Zoom: Click the magnifying glass and then click and drag across a portion of the chart to zoom in on that portion. You can achieve a similar result using the History Control feature described below. Save: Click the disk icon to save the active chart. You can also right-click on a tab to select a save option. You have a choice of saving your chart as a Template or as a File. Choose to save as a File if you will want to access the chart outside of the software. For instance, you can back up your chart files or even share the file with someone. Charts saved as Templates essentially become part of the software and are accessible by selecting Open Chart from Template in the right-click menu. This is useful when you want to use the settings of this chart as a template for other charts.
Level I Data Bar	Shows the Date/Time, Open, High, Low, Close, and Volume for the point your mouse is aligned with. You can also do this by holding down the Alt key as you hover your mouse pointer over points within the chart. If your mouse is not over the chart area, the data bar displays the last (most recent) value for those fields. TIP: You can turn off the Level I Data bar via the Chart Settings panel. Under Settings, uncheck Show Level I Data Bar.
Chart Settings	The chart settings panel is accessible by either clicking one of the icons or by clicking the arrow to open the "drawer" and view all the settings choices. Set the type and style of chart, add overlays, draw trend lines and other objects, change the colors, and more from the Settings panel. For detailed information on each feature in the Settings panel, visit Chart Settings.
History Control	The bottom panel under the chart shows the full range of historic chart data for the Type of chart you've selected. There are several ways to specify which portion of that data you want to display: Sliders: On the timeline, you can see left and right slider handles, which you can drag to the date or time to which you want to isolate the chart data shown. The starting point in the large chart view will begin at the point of your left slider, and the end point will be the location of your right slider. You can also click between the sliders and drag the active area left and right across the timeline to change the dates but keep the same overall length of time displayed. Quick Jumps: Above the History Control are time frames in a range of unit sizes. The choices depend on the Type of chart you are displaying. Click any of those time periods to display only that period on the chart. This will also adjust the Sliders along the timeline to your selected time frame. Date Selection: You may also just type or choose from the calendar the start and end dates for which you want to isolate chart data shown. Click Go or press Enter to apply the date selection. Number of Days: Enter the number of days/years/minutes you wish to view and click Go or press Enter. Additions or subtractions to this number either by typing a number or using the up/down arrows will be added to or taken from the start date. The end date will not change. TIP: You can hide the History Control via the Chart Settings panel. Under Settings, uncheck Show History Control. The Year Spans, Date Selection, and Number of Days remain visible.