Beginner's Guide To Tradestation Trading Software: Charts And Settings

Opening a New Chart
To open a new chart in TradeStation, select File from the main menu > New > Window. A pop-up window appears allowing traders to choose the type of window to open, including Basket Order, Browser, Chart Analysis, Hot Lists, Market Depth, Matrix, News, OptionStation Pro, Quick Trade Bar, RadarScreen, Research, Scanner, Time & Sales, TradeManager and TradeManager Analysis. For a new price chart, highlight "Chart Analysis" and click "OK" to close the pop-up window.

Figure 14 - New Price Chart

Alternatively, a new price chart can be opened by clicking on the "New Chart Analysis Window" in the Tools Toolbar.

Chart Properties
To adjust a Chart Analysis window's Settings, Style, Scaling or Properties, right-click over the active chart and select "Format Symbol." In the Settings tab, traders can change the Symbol, Interval, Interval Settings, Range and Display. The Style tab allows traders to select the Bar type (such as OHLC Bar or Candlestick) and the Bar Components. Traders can make changes in the Scaling tab that alter the way the price bars appear on the chart. The Properties tab allows traders to view symbol properties and adjust the Session.

Figure 15 - Format Window

By right-clicking on an active Chart Analysis window and selecting "Format Window," traders can customize the appearance of the chart. The General tab allows changes to the appearance of the price bars. The Status Line tab allows traders to select the data that appears in the top of the price chart by adding or removing listed fields. Traders can adjust the font, font style and size in the Font tab. All of the colors on a Chart Analysis window can be customized in the Color tab and the Style tab permits grid and axis selections.

Figure 16 - Format Window

Drawing Tools
TradeStation supports a wide variety of technical and non-technical drawing tools, including trendlines, Fibonacci Cycles, Gann Fans and Text. To open the Drawing toolbar, select View from the main menu > Toolbars > Drawing. The toolbar appears by default on the left edge of the Desktop. However, the toolbar can be repositioned by clicking and dragging. To use a drawing tool, click the appropriate icon and then click on the price chart, or click, drag and release (depending on the tool) to achieve the desired effect. Adding Indicators and Studies

To add an analysis tool to a price chart:

• Click the "Insert Analysis Technique" icon in the Chart Analysis toolbar, or
• Select Insert from the main menu and select the desired tool (such as Indicator or Show Me), Or
• Right-click the active chart and select "Insert Analysis Technique"

Select the appropriate tab from the Insert Analysis Techniques pop-up window (Indicator, ShowMe, PaintBar, ActivityBar or ProbabilityMap), highlight the desired item and click "OK" to close the window. Once an item has been added to a chart, it can be formatted by right-clicking on the active chart and selecting "Format Analysis Technique." Traders can choose a particular study to format by right-clicking on the study itself within the Chart Analysis window and choosing "Format …." The study can be removed in a similar fashion, by right-clicking on the study and selecting "Remove …."

Figure 17 - Chart Analysis

Adding Strategies
Strategies can be added to a Chart Analysis window by:

• Clicking the Insert Strategy icon in the Chart Analysis toolbar
• Selecting Insert in the main menu > Strategy…
• Right-clicking the active chart and selecting "Insert Strategy"

Strategies can be formatted by right-clicking the active window and selecting "Format Strategies…" Next, highlight the particular strategy and click "Format." Make any changes and click "OK" to close the window.

SEE: Using Technical Indicators to Develop Trading Strategies and Analyzing Chart Patterns: Introduction