Mutual funds price once a day, at EOD, and don’t report volume. Therefore, they can be charted with a simpler format than stocks or ETFs. But that same simple format can also be used for stocks. Here’s what one ETF looks like using the chicken tracks --aka, colored OHLC bars-- you used to prefer.
Here’s how to set up the chart template. Go to ‘Settings’. Select ‘Display’. Pick any bar format you want and then turn it off. Next, go to ‘Studies’ and select ‘HA Smoothed’. Lastly, save the chart as a ‘Template’. (Free accounts are allowed five templates.)
Pretty obvious how to trade such a chart, right? and the same ‘Wait One’ rule would apply.
Here’s a chart for the ETF --or maybe it’s an ETN-- that tracks base metals.
BINGO! Andy. Now you’re catching on and making this charting stuff your own.
So, the next thing to do is this. Park an image of that chart somewhere and apply the same template to other stocks, ETFs, indexes, and ask whether you’re seeing the same pattern. Most of the time, you are, Like sheep or lemmings, stocks herd and move together, be that up, down, or sideways on any given day, week, etc.
Therefore, you’ve got two choices. Do you want to be owing the ones that offer the most “juice”? Or do want to be owing those that pattern in orderly ways and offer fewer nasty surprises?
If you want (and use) the tool bar in the left-hand side of the chart, leave it there. If you want to make it go away, select ‘Settings’, and from the drop down menu, select ‘Appearance’. Then select "Hide the tool panel’ (which still can be accessed in the chart header).
Outstanding! What timing by the GOAT. Just happen to be drinking a Strawberry Smoothie. Well, I named my new chart HA Smoothie. Or Simon Sez IV because we are following the leader. That is Sell after the last posted GREEN bar and then buy back after the last RED bar. The shortie traders would love this kind of chart. Granted there will be some head fakes.
Since I own large amounts of COST, CELH and HD. I am now looking at a 2-month chart of COST.
I added the TSI 16, 8, 4 for confirmation.
Now we have a bonus for the folks who use the Smiley Faces or lower or upper ARC.s Slide the chart right to left or left to right to at least see two (2) ARCs on a page and use Simon’s rules. However, with the HA’s buy or sell the very next new coloured bar. No waiting at the TSL (traffic signal light) and press on the gas or EV pedal. You do not care about the short distanced moved. Your here to make money the olde fashion way. (You earn it).
I own 5000 shares of CABA since 10/4/23 since CABA in the 2.5 percent theory play strategy and had to ignore the TSI because CABA is still climbing. Sold and move on when CABA hit 1.00. Patience and Discipline will always win every time.
Yea this is really amazing. Thanks to you and Quill for the great tool. I put the Spy on top of the Brk and they look almost identical. I have been setting up all my stocks on my watchlist and in my portfolio to get an idea of what is going on. Very, Very cool.
So Quill and Arindam, I just want to make sure I understand the basics. So when I get a red candle I wait for the next day and if the candle is red I sell, then, I keep patient and wait for the next green candle , If the next day I get another green candle I buy? Is that correct?
I can’t wait to try this on Arkk and Sark, I set up the Schwab account and should be able to start tomorrow or the next day. Putting it into a Roth.
Ok one more question and then I will stop. What is the hat over a candle for? It looks like this ) only it sits either directly over or under the wick.
go to the top at the upper right-hand corner and click on help ? and then kruz on down (about way) until you see the follow werds.
High/Low Price Markers with two (2) red boxes viewed. It will give a short explanation in 22 words.
Looked at the ARKK. to many short bursts of green bars. SARK is a little better but again to short of the green bars… Id pass.
Hi Charlie, Every chart that I am looking at for today is showing low volume. Maybe it’s because the chart can’t catch up that fast? Maybe tomorrow I will get a better reading of the volume?
BarChart (henceforth just BC) offers at least three ways to do relative strength comparatives, plus chart overlays, plus one can always build correlation matrixes.
But the easiest, fastest way to see how similar two (or more) stocks or ETFs might be is to use Yahoo’s charting feature and to do comparatives. Hint: don’t accept Yahoo’s default colors. As you add stocks to the chart, make sure they are plotted with a color quite different from your base symbol.
The arc’s --Quill calls them Smiley Faces-- are the highs and lows for the lookback period being used in the chart.
They are a mixed blessing and can be difficult to use with unsmoothed bar types, because they are repositioned as the chart is scrolled forward. And, because they are based on the intraday low/high, which is often an out-of-the-blue anomaly that is utterly untradable, their positioning can give a distorted view of where support and resistance really are.
With smoothed bars, the arcs seem useful. But that would need to be confirmed by charting dozens of stocks and trying to find exceptions.
" I just want to make sure I understand the basics. So when I get a red candle I wait for the next day and if the candle is red, I sell, then, I keep patient and wait for the next green candle . If the next day I get another green candle, I buy? Is that correct?"
Andy,
I have no idea whether that is “correct”, because I haven’t yet hammered out a set of rules for trading with HA smoothie.
Finding a good set of rules means hours and hours of trying to find exceptions and trying to figure out how to get myself out of trouble once I get myself in it.
Nothing works all the time. Head fakes and whipsaws have to be expected, accepted, and managed.
