Getting Started with TWS Charts

Study Notes:

In this lesson, you’ll see that TWS charting offers a tremendous array of capabilities. We’ll provide you with just a taste to help you get started. We’ll show you how to adjust timeframes and chart types, see chart parameters that can be easily adjusted and explore some useful short-cuts to get you started.

Mosaic Charts

Now, let’s take a look at the Mosaic Chart window. On the broadest level, this panel enables you to see a visual track of financial asset prices at a glance.

• Just click on any ticker symbol in a Watchlist to populate a chart. Now, let’s enlarge the chart by clicking the maximize icon.
• Some of things you can do here include altering the timeframe of the chart to view intraday, daily, weekly and monthly periods. Let’s alter the candle size of this chart to hourly.

Adjusting Candle Sizes and Time Periods

Alternatively, we could adjust the time period.

• Use the expansion arrows to the right to break a Time Period into desired time frames. Click to select one.
• You may also want to change the display from bar type to candle type.

Adjusting the Chart Parameters

• To do this, click the Edit dropdown menu and select Chart Parameters.
• As this is the nerve center for Chart configuration, this is where you can access most functions to drive charts. You’ll likely want to remember how to access it.
• You will see a series of tabs along the top. Using the Chart Parameters tab and section below, access the Bar Type dropdown menu to choose from bars, candles and Heikin-Ashi.

• The additional data and features area enables you to add various details to the display, either directly or as subplots below the chart.
• Make sure you click Apply to add to the display.

Adding Studies, Secondary Series and Index Comparisons

The Studies tab contains groups of common studies, averages and oscillators that may be added to your chart.

• Expand a group by clicking the plus symbol or type directly into the search box.
• Highlight a particular study, for instance, under Momentum, select Relative Strength index and click the Add button.
• To the right, you can tailor the inputs as required. Click Apply at the bottom when done.

• The Secondary Series tab, for example, allows you to display additional symbols to a chart.

• The Index Comparisons tab allows you to select from a list of common global benchmarks to add to the chart. Let’s select SPX and view the chart.

• Now if you access a different instrument from the monitor panel, you’ll see the chart information and studies adjust. This occurs because the monitor and the chart are linked together.
• The View dropdown menu provides shortcuts to a series of configurable display settings such as chart legend, quote and bar details zone, as well as the toolbar.

• The toolbar is also configurable, and you may select additional icons from within chart configuration.

Watch Next:

For a deeper dive into TWS Charts, refer to the Introduction to Charts course from Traders’ Academy.