Customizing Charts

Study Notes:

You can view a thumbnail chart on an expanded quote line from the Watchlist, Portfolio or Scanner screens. When you tap the quote line, you’ll see the Quote Details screen display. This is where you view the full chart in either portrait or landscape mode.

Turn your device on its side to view the chart in landscape mode.

Tap the time period at the top of the chart to change the time period. You can tap from 2 hours to 5 years. Once you change the time period – all subsequent financial instruments will display this time period.

Prices are on the y-axis and date and time on the x-axis. The date and time will change based on the time period of the chart. If you tap and hold on the chart, you’ll see a data point with crosshairs on the chart showing the price and date at the top.

If you have added studies, you will see a snapshot of the study information as well. By swiping to the right on a chart, you can see more data going back in time and the date and time on the x-axis will update accordingly.

Tap the Settings Gear icon to modify all chart settings including bar type and size, time period, outside RTH trades, volume chart, annotations and indicators. Use the green slider to toggle these settings.

If I change the bar type, time period to 1 year and turn on the volume chart, you will see it immediately in the chart. These settings are applied to all charts within IBKR Mobile.

To add studies to your chart, tap Indicators, followed by Add Indicator. You can view studies by categories or in sorted order. When you choose sorted, a text box will appear so that you can search for a study.

Let’s tap Groups. If I tap Momentum Studies, I can see a full list of studies based on this type. For this example, I’ll select Relative Strength. The indicator section now displays a list of items that may be adjusted, for example Source – trades or midpoint and period. You can enter a new timeframe or use the Plus (+) and Minus (–) icons to increase or decrease the range. Click on the arrow icon to choose from a list of periods. The chart updates automatically as you make the changes.  At the bottom, you can tap the red icon to remove the indicator or tap the plus icon to add another study.

In the next example, I’ll select Moving Averages. Once again, swipe up to see the different studies for this type. I’ll choose Bollinger Bands. Now you will see Bollinger Bands in the indicator section. Bollinger Bands has defaulted to a source of Trades, Extended Moving Average with a period of 20 and deviation of 2. I can change any of these inputs simply by tapping on the word or arrow: Trades and Midpoint, Base Average, Period and Standard Deviation. You’ll see a short explanation of the study below the inputs and you can choose to remove or add another indicator at the bottom.

When you’re finished adding indicators, swipe down to view the chart.

Now, you’ll see the studies display on the chart and you can easily change the time periods at the top of the chart and the studies will automatically adjust.

If you tap and hold on the chart, you’ll see the high, low, open and close, plus data on any indicator that you’ve defined.

If you want to turn off a study temporarily, tap the settings gear again, and then just tap the slider to turn it on or off. To turn off all studies, use the slider next to indicators and slide left.

This concludes the Lesson two in the IBKR Mobile for iOS online course. When you continue, we will give you a short quiz to test your understanding of the material we covered today.