Reading a chart
If charts have always looked like a wall of red and green confetti, this page is for you. A few minutes here and every chart in BreakoutScan — and everywhere else — will make sense.
One candle = one slice of time
A chart is made of candles. Each one sums up what the price did in one slice of time — a minute, a day, a week, depending on the timeframe. Four numbers, one picture:
- Green candle: the price ended the slice higher than it started.
- Red candle: it ended lower.
- Long wick: the price reached an extreme but got pushed back — often a sign of a fight at that level.
Timeframes
The buttons above the chart (1m … D W M) set how much time each candle covers. Day traders live on minutes; investors think in days and weeks. The daily view (D) is the calmest place to learn. The small timer under the price shows how long until the current candle closes.
Volume
The bars along the bottom are volume — how many shares traded in each candle. Tall bars mean lots of people took part, which makes a move more meaningful.
The lines we draw for you
BreakoutScan draws trend lines automatically when it finds a pattern: support (where dips kept stopping) in green and resistance (where rises kept stalling) in red. The patterns it found are listed under the chart with a confidence score. Turn the lines off with the slash button next to the timeframes.
Outside regular hours
On minute charts, Extended hours adds the pre-market and after-hours candles on a tinted background. On the daily chart a dotted line shows where the price is trading before the open or after the close.