How to use Streaming Charts

This tool enables you to chart real-time prices for a stock, index or sector of your choice.

The relative performance of shares can be viewed by plotting a chart against other indices, sectors and companies.

You can also view key technical indicators to help analyse price changes in more detail.

Getting Started

Starting the Chart

You can start up the chart by entering an epic/ticker (stock market code) in the box provided at the top of the screen. Then either press ENTER or click on the "Draw Chart" button to start.

There will be a short pause while the data is loading, and the chart and price data bar will then both start running. At this point, the tool's advanced features (comparisons, indicators, etc.) can now be used. Click on one of the tabs above to find out more.

Ticker Lookup

If you are unsure of the ticker for the company/index/sector that you want to chart, use the "Company Search" tool to find it. To access the search tool, click on the "Lookup ticker" link, located next to the "Draw Chart" button.

The search tool will appear in a new browser window. Enter a ticker or name and click "Search". Then, from the list of results, choose the ticker that you wish to chart and click "Select". The charting tool will then automatically start loading the data for your chosen ticker. Alternatively you can click on "Search again" if you want to try a different search.

Connection Status

The two lights in the top right-hand corner of the applet show the network connectivity status.

During market hours, the lights will flash green if there is good connectivity. This shows that the data is successfully being streamed.

The lights will flash red if there is bad connectivity. If this happens then it means the tool is having trouble streaming data from the server. Please see the troubleshooting guide for further help.

If the market is closed then both of the lights will remain off, as the tool does not stream data at this time.

The Chart

The main chart is a line chart that plots price data. When the chart is first loaded it shows the default view, which is for the last hour. In this view, the chart plots a price for each minute.

The "Streaming..." indicator in the top right hand corner of the chart shows that the chart is currently streaming real-time prices.

Mouse-Over

If you move the mouse over the chart, the value of the data point that is closest to the mouse pointer is displayed just above the chart.

Zooming In / Out

To zoom in, and see the data in more detail, click and drag on the chart with the left mouse button, to selected the required area.

Then when you release the mouse button, the zoom will happen. In this more detailed view, the chart plots the price for every second.

To zoom out, click anywhere on the chart with the right mouse button, and you will be returned to the previous view. If you continue to zoom out further, you will eventually reach the day view, which plots the prices for the whole day so far. In this less detailed view, the chart will plot the price every five minutes.

You can also zoom in and out using the buttons provided.

Scrolling

The three scrolling buttons, located in the panel just below the chart, allow you to move through time.

To scroll backwards through time, either click or hold down the left arrow button. To scroll forwards through time, either click or hold down the right arrow button. Click the double right arrow button to jump straight forward to live streaming.

Saving the Chart

The chart can be saved as an image file on your desktop.
This means that you can view it again later on, or even e-mail it to a friend!

To save the chart, click on the "Save Chart" button, located next to the scrolling buttons.

Note: This feature only works with version 1.4 or above of the Java plug-in.

Price Data Bar

The following data is displayed in the area above the chart:

Epic code
Name of stock/index/sector
Yesterday's closing price
Today's opening price
Today's high price
Today's low price
Today's latest price (or the closing price if the market has closed for the day)
Change on the day (red = down, blue = up, green = no change)
% change on the day (red = down, blue = up, green = no change)

During trading hours, the price data bar is continuously updated with real-time price data, regardless of whether or not the chart below it is streaming.

Note: Trading hours are defined as 08:00 to 17:15, as these are the official opening/closing times from the London Stock Exchange.

Comparisons

Note: This feature can only be used once the chart has been started up with an initial ticker, as described in the "Getting Started" section.

A useful feature of the charting tool is the ability to plot a ticker's share price against other indices, sectors and companies. This allows you to see in an instant how a share price is performing against its peers or the market as a whole.

To add comparisons to the chart, select an index and/or a sector from the drop downs located in the "Comparisons" tab of the control panel.

You can also enter one or more company ticker/s (put a comma after each company ticker if you want to select more than one company) in the appropriate box, or use the "Company Search" tool to find the companies you want (which can be accessed by clicking on the underlined "Tickers:" link in the control panel).

Note: You can select up to four comparisons in total. If you select more than four then some of them will not be plotted.

Once you have finished selecting the tickers that you wish to compare, click on the "Go" button to add them to the chart. There will be a short pause while the data is loading, and the comparisons will then be added to the main price chart.

Now the price chart will show the initial ticker that was already plotted, and the new comparison tickers that you have chosen. The colour key above the chart indicates which ticker each line represents.

When displaying comparisons the y-axis on the chart is rebased to 100 so that a meaningful comparison can be made.

Indicators

Note: This feature can only be used once the main price chart has been started up with an initial ticker, as described in the "Getting Started" section.

There are two technical indicators that can be plotted. These appear as a separate chart underneath the main price chart.

To draw an indicator chart, select the one that you want to view from the drop down list located in the "Indicators" tab of the control panel, and then click "Go". There will be a short pause while the data is loading, and then the indicator chart will be displayed.

Volume: Displays the total volume of shares traded as a bar chart.

Volume+: Is identical to the volume chart, except that the volume bars are colour-coded to indicate the type of trade. The blue part is the total volume of shares bought, the red part is the total volume of shares sold, and the green part of the bars indicates the total volume of shares traded where it is not known whether they were bought or sold.

Indicator charts have exactly the same functionality as the price chart (scrolling, zooming, etc.), which is described in "The Chart" section of this guide.