Market Carpets let you see "at-a-glance" what the entire market is doing. The performance of individual sectors and securities is easily determined in this organized method of charting.

Here, individual stocks are represented as squares that are colored on a green to red spectrum. With the standard color scheme, the green stocks are performing relatively well and the red stocks are performing relatively poorly. In this way, market carpets can show a lot of information in a condensed area, for you do not need more space to represent a stronger security, rather you need just a darker green.

A side bar on the right allows you to view the performance of a stock or sector on a line chart. Likewise, it displays the best and worst performers from the group you have selected.

Market Carpets are great for visually scanning and ranking a large collection of stocks at once, or quickly finding the best and worst performers for a given time period. They are designed to be graphically efficient and especially useful for sector analysis. Like securities, market sectors also trend, and Market Carpets are a fantastic tool for identifying the strength of a sector. Analysts can then use Market Carpets to determine the strong securities within the sector.

There are many options available that allow for Market Carpets to be very flexible in the information they provide. We strongly recommend adding Market Carpets to your list of tools for technical analysis.

StockCharts.com provides several predefined carpets on our website for anyone to view. Each carpet provides a different way of looking at the market. There are a few ways to create your predefined Market Carpet:

• From the StockCharts.com homepage, simply click the Market Carpets button and click on one of the seven predefined carpets listed.
  

• You can create a Market Carpet by clicking on the Free Charts tab and scrolling down to Market Carpets. Click then select from one of the seven predefined carpets listed.
  

• Finally, at the bottom of the Market Carpet results page are quick links to additional predefined carpets.
  

Here is a description for each of the carpets currently on the site:

This carpet contains all of the stocks in the S&P 500 Large-Cap Index, grouped into the nine different sectors as defined by Standard and Poor's. Which stock goes into which group is determined by its membership in the nine Amex Sector SPDR's as found on the Nasdaq-Amex website. This carpet gives you a broad view of the market from a large-cap perspective as well as from a broad sector perspective. It is great at finding quality companies whose stocks may be temporarily overbought/oversold. It is also perfect for seeing Sector Rotation activity and shifts in Market Breadth.

Want to learn why the Dow was down 100 points today, or why the Nasdaq shot through the roof? Then this is the carpet for you. The Major Averages Carpet contains the stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Dow Jones Transportation Average, the Dow Jones Utilities Average and the Nasdaq 100 Index.

This carpet contains all of the indices that make up our Market Summary Page. From major US market averages to bonds to currencies to world markets to sectors - this carpet has it all. It also includes over 30 different industry indices. It's perfect for getting the broadest perspective possible. Keep in mind that each grouping on this carpet is fundamentally different and so the "Top/Bottom Five" isn't too useful unless you drill down into a group by clicking on its title bar.

This carpet contains most of the mutual funds from Fidelity grouped by fund type. Growth funds, Select Portfolios, Index funds - they are all here. Even if you are not a Fidelity investor, this carpet can give you a sense of the overall market and which kind of funds have been doing well recently. Since Mutual Fund data is only provided after the market closes, this carpet is updated once a day.

This carpet contains all of the mutual funds from Rydex grouped by fund type: Dynamic funds, Index, International, and Sector funds. Since Mutual Fund data is only provided after the market closes, this carpet is updated once a day.

This carpet contains all of the investor class mutual funds from ProFunds grouped by fund type. Classic funds, Ultra, UltraSector, Inverse (Bear), and Bond Benchmark funds. Since Mutual Fund data is only provided after the market closes, this carpet is updated once a day.

This carpet contains the stocks that make up the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) 300 Composite. Use this carpet to get an overview of the TSE stocks.

Our Market Carpet tool presents a large collection of stocks as a "carpet" of colored squares. Each square represents a stock, mutual fund, or index. Squares are grouped together logically depending on how the carpet is organized – it could be by sector, by industry group, or some other system. Within each group, the squares are arranged by market capitalization (when applicable) from smallest (upper left) to largest (lower right).

This chart shows the S&P Sector carpet. Right away we can see that the Technology sector has outperformed the Energy sector in the past two days, with Corning leading the way at +12.60%. Clicking on the Corning box brings up the line chart in the top right, allowing us to get the details of its recent price movement.

The first set of numbers 1 thru 5 on the carpet represent the top 5 performing stocks (1 being the top).

The second set of numbers 1 thru 5 represent the bottom 5 performing stocks (1 being the bottom).

Navigating the Market Carpet is very intuitive. At the highest level, the grid will be separated into only the sectors, allowing you to see the best and worst performing sectors. At this point, the side bar displays the best and worst performing sectors. Clicking on the box will also display a line chart that tracks the past performance of the sector.

You can then click on any grey sector title bar to fill in the colored boxes for the stocks. The side bar will now display the best and worst performing stocks in the entire carpet. Clicking on the grey title bar again will now zoom into the specific sector, showing the best and worst performing stocks in that sector alone.

To go up one level, click the at the top of the chart.

This is the value of Market Carpets; an analyst can quickly glance at a picture and immediately determine the leading sectors and stocks, and can then proceed to get further information on any individual sector or security.

The side bar serves two functions:

1. Providing more detail about an individual sector or security
2. Displaying the best and worst performers.

The line chart located at the top of the side bar allows you to get a quick look at the recent price action of the sector or security. The name, date, and close price for that day are all displayed at the top of the chart.

You can click at any point on the graph to find data for that specific point. The day and close price will adjust accordingly.

The Top 5 and Bottom 5 list at the bottom of the side bar make it easy to identify the leaders and laggards. The Top 5 correspond to the 1 thru 5 on the Market Carpet, and the Bottom 5 correspond to the -1 thru -5.

Clicking on any item on the list will bring up its price line in the chart above.

MarketCarpets work in two different modes: absolute and change. The mode is controlled by the button at the top left of the carpet.

• In Change mode, the color of each square reflects the value of the selected indicator for the range of days shown at the top right of the carpet. "(Chg.)" will appear beside the button, and the button itself will be depressed. This mode is useful for spotting multi-day changes, such as which stocks have had the biggest RSI improvement over the past week.
  

• In Absolute mode, the color of each square reflects the value of the selected indicator for the single day specified at the top right of the carpet. In this mode, you'll notice the date slider no longer shows a number of days and cannot be stretched. Use this mode for single-day analysis, such as seeing which stocks have the strongest RSI today.
  

Note: By default, all predefined carpets use the Price Performance indicator. Price Performance measures a stock's closing value for a specific date range, therefore it ONLY works in Change mode. Once you select a different indicator, the button will appear and you can change the mode accordingly.

At the bottom left of the Market Carpet, you can toggle Market Cap Mode and Long Term Mode.

Market Cap Mode: Each square is sized according to the market cap of that stock so that it is easy to identify market capitalization. Square Mode is used by default and makes the squares fairly similar in size.

Long Term Mode: Lengthens the color range for the chart. In some cases, your carpet may have very large sections of red or green, making comparisons between individual stocks difficult. Switching to Long-Term Mode will lengthen the color range and give you a better perspective.

Short-Term Mode

Long-Term Mode

The drop-down menu at the top left of the Carpet allows you to select from a variety of technical indicators. In order to interpret the carpet results properly, it is important to know exactly what each of the indicators on the carpet really means:

Price Performance is simply the percent increase or decrease in a stock's closing value over time. Unlike most of the other indicators, it requires a start date and an end date, thus it only works in Change mode. It is calculated by subtracting the starting closing value from the ending closing value, dividing that difference by the starting closing value and then multiplying the result by 100.

Price Performance shows you the bottom line. Stocks that have been increasing in price will be green, those that have been falling are red. Dark green is good (for longs), dark red is bad.

Note: Don't forget to switch between Short-Term and Long-Term coloring mode as you lengthen or shorten the date slider, by clicking on the color-range bar.

As its name implies, this indicator counts the number of days that a stock moves higher and then subtracts the number of days that it moves lower during the specified time span. Like Price Performance, this indicator only works in Change mode. To get good results, the date slider really needs to include 4 or more days in the calculation.

This indicator is often the best indicator for measuring overall market breadth and sector rotation effects. If you are interested in finding stocks with consistent increases or decreases, this indicator can help.

See our ChartSchool articles on Indicator Analysis for detailed explanations of the other indicators.

The range scale at the top center of the carpet shows the range of values used to color the squares.

• Here, the darkest green boxes would represent at least a 10, while the darkest reds would represent at most a -10.

• Left-click on the range scale to switch between short-term mode (the default) and long-term mode.

• Right-click on the range scale to swap the high and low colors.

Note Different indicators use different scales. For example, RSI uses a range of 10 to 90 in absolute mode, but Full Stochastics uses 0 to 100. In addition, most indicators let you change the range to accommodate larger variations in value. Thus, if large parts of the carpet are either bright red or bright green, switching to "Long-Term Mode" will lengthen the range and give you a better perspective.

The Date Slider Bar allows you to select the number of days the Market Carpet should cover. Market Carpets typically contain 45 days worth of data. The number of days is shown on the center of the slider, and the selected time period is shown on the top right of the carpet.

• To move the date range, grab the center portion of the slider and shift it left or right. You can also click on either of the slider's end arrows to go back or forward one trading day.

• Right-click on the date slider to select one of several pre-defined date ranges.

Note: In Absolute mode, the slider will not display any days and cannot be stretched.

• F1: see the past week's data

• F2: see the past month's data

• Arrow Keys: move the slider left or right

• Shift + Arrow Keys: move the left-hand end (changes the beginning date shown)

• Ctrl + Arrow Keys: move the right-hand end (changes the end date shown)

Hover your mouse over any square to view a summary box for that company showing the company name, ticker symbol, and dates/prices.

Right-click a square for more options:

• Animate is an instant slide-show of the carpet for each day of the date range. The date slider moves automatically through the entire range, giving you a quick overview of pattern and color changes within the carpet over time.

• Hide Info Boxes hides the pop-up summary boxes for each stock. If you find the info boxes distracting when running your mouse over the carpet, use this option.
• Show Popups will display some addition options when you left-click on the square. See below for details.

• Show Ticker Symbol displays each stock's ticker symbol in its colored square. This helps you find a particular stock quickly, or get a quick summary of all the stocks included in the carpet.

• Show Values displays the value of each stock's comparison indicator in its colored square.

• Hide Top/Bottom 5 hides the markings (1 thru 5 and -1 thru -5) in the squares of the top and bottom 5 stocks for the technical indicator being used. These markings are displayed by default to help you quickly analyze the carpet.

• Market Cap Mode makes identifying market capitalization easy, because each square is sized according to the market cap of that stock. Square Mode is used by default and makes the squares fairly similar in size.

• Long-Term Mode lengthens the color range for the chart. In some cases, your carpet may have very large sections of red or green, making comparisons between individual stocks difficult. Switching to Long-Term Mode will lengthen the color range and give you a better perspective.
• Color Scheme: By default, most of the indicators work on a percentage scale (0-100) where low values are typically dark red and high values are dark green. However, you can select other color schemes such as Vanilla or Monochrome if you prefer their appearance.

With Show Popups enabled, you can left-click anywhere on the chart for some additional charting options:

• Show… opens the corresponding chart for that stock.

• Search… checks the entire StockCharts.com site and returns a list of pages the stock is mentioned in.

• Zoom in… helps you analyze a specific market sector by magnifying that sector's section of the carpet. To return to the original carpet, click the button beside the carpet title at the top, or click on any square and select "Zoom out."

The Action Bar is located below the chart. It contains convenient links that perform common and useful tasks with the chart.

• Instructions: Returns you to this help page.
• Understanding: Opens a page where you can learn how to interpret Market Carpets.
• How to print this chart: Opens a help page that explains how to print Java charts properly.
• Java Problems?: Opens a help page for troubleshooting Java-related problems.

To view the chart in a separate, re-sizeable window, click the Detach icon in the bottom left corner. Detaching the chart allows you to resize it (even to full-screen). Closing the detached chart sends it back to the original page.

When you click on a stock and plot the line chart, you also have the option of opening a SharpChart, PerfChart, or Point and Figure Chart in a new window for that stock.

Click the button to open a SharpChart in a new window.

Click the button to open a Point and Figure Chart in a new window.

Click the button to open a PerfChart in a new window.

As an Extra! member, you can create a custom Market Carpet from any of your Favorites Lists, so you can see at a quick glance how your list is performing. There are two ways to view your favorites in a CandleGlance group:

From your Extra! page in the Members tab, scroll down to the Your Favorite Charts section and click on the MarketCarpet link for the list you want to use.

From inside any Favorites List, use the Format drop-down menu at the top of the page and select MarketCarpet.

Extra! members can also create a carpet directly from a user-defined scan for a more visual analysis of the scan results.

From the User-Defined Scan Results page, scroll down under the blue Criteria box and click on Display these results in a Market Carpet.

Use this tool now!