Chart Time Interval / Period

The Interval (sometimes referred to as the period) defines the amount of data represented by each bar. For example, selecting a Time Interval of "15 minutes" results in a chart with a bar drawn at every 15 minute interval. The visible amount of data that is displayed on the chart is determined by the Time Range. You can use EITHER of these two settings to display data on the chart:

  1. When you set a specific Time Interval (period), the Time Range (visible amount of data) is set by default depending on the physical size of the chart. You may view more data (older or newer) by scrolling the time axis.
  2. When you set a specific Time Range (visible amount of data), the Interval (period) is set by default. For example, you've set an Interval of 15-minute bars, but then change the Time Range to be 5 Years. The chart cannot show 5-years of 15-minute bars, so it adjusts to show you 5 years of data using monthly bars.

Range Bars

Range Bars were developed by trader Vicente Nicolellis in the mid 1990s to take ONLY price into consideration when analyzing volatility. Bars are drawn on the chart based soley on price and not on time.

Where a time-based chart always displays the same number of bars (regardless of volatility or volume), range bar charts will display any number of bars depending on the settings chosen. More bars are drawn with higher volatility, and fewer bars are drawn with lower volatility.

There are three range bar settings: Ticks per Bar, Volume per Bar, and Range per Bar.

Change The Interval

  • Click the Interval drop-down list at the top of the chart (this appears just to the left of the Time Range button) and select from an option shown.
    OR
  • Right-click on the chart to display the context menu, highlight Time Interval, and select from an option shown.

Intervals for Commodities Symbols

When setting the Interval for a commodity or futures symbol, be aware of the options available for long-range charts:

  • For Daily / Weekly / Monthly / Quarterly / Yearly: Shows the historical trading activity only for the contract specified.
  • For Daily Nearest / Weekly Nearest / Monthly Nearest / Quarterly Nearest / Yearly Nearest: Builds a historical chart using the nearest contract. The nearest contract is the closest unexpired contract for the underlying commodity, where every chart bar represents the front month at that point in history.
  • For Daily Continue / Weekly Continue / Monthly Continue / Quarterly Continue / Yearly Continue: Builds a historical chart using the same month specified for the original contract. For example, if the symbol is ZSX13 (Soybeans November 2013), the chart is built using all previous November contracts for Soybeans (ZSX13, ZSX12, ZSX11, ZSX10 etc).