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January 2012

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How can I plot the yield curve?

by Arthur Hill

The yield curve is available at StockCharts.com with the Dynamic Yield Curve tool. This nifty Java application not only shows the current yield curve, but it can also be animated to show changes in the yield curve over time. Notice the options just below the yield curve plot. Click “animate” to see the yield curve change over time. The chart on the right shows the S&P 500 over the last eight years. The vertical red bar shows the current position (date). Users can click on the S&P 500 line chart to move the red line (date) and see the yield curve at a specific point in time. Hint: Read More 

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How can I narrow the focus when searching StockCharts.com?

by Arthur Hill

Users can search StockCharts.com for any word or symbol and then narrow their focus to a specific area of the website. There is a search box on the right side of most web pages at StockCharts. When working on a chart, users can search the site by using the dropdown list in the “create a new chart” box at the top of the page. Choose “site search” and then enter the search term. Users can search for references to a particular symbol, company name, ETF name, chart pattern, indicator or support issue. The example below shows some results when searching the term “energy”. By default Read More 

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Where can I find most actives, percent up/down and biggest SCTR movers?

by Arthur Hill

The bottom half of the home page features six windows with an array of top ten lists. The top three windows show the most active and biggest movers for the NYSE, Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange. The bottom three windows show securities with the highest and lowest SCTR as well as those with the biggest changes in their SCTR (StockChart Technical Rank). The image below shows four of the six windows available. Click this image to see the home page. These lists are full of hyperlinks for easy access to various charts. First, users can click the tabs at the top to see the different top ten Read More 

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How Can I Chart Relative Performance?

by Arthur Hill

StockCharts.com users can chart relative performance using ratio charts. In the symbol box, enter the first symbol, a colon and the second symbol (e.g. QQQ:SPY). The ensuing price plot shows the performance of the first symbol (QQQ) relative to the second symbol (SPY). QQQ is outperforming SPY when the ratio rises and underperforming SPY when the ratio falls. The chart below shows the QQQ:SPY ratio in the main window and the middle indicator window. As with any price plot, chartists can draw trendlines and mark support or resistance levels. It is even possible to apply an indicator, such Read More