Posted by forex at 6:39 AM
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1. Find the charting software that best meets your needs. There are many free software programs available for investment charts. Some websites even focus on rating and reviewing these programs, or providing lists of software that you can evaluate yourself. Visit the links in the Resources section below to research some of the most popular choices for charting software.
2. Download and install the charting software. Once you have selected a software package, click the download link to download a copy of the installation file onto your computer hard drive. Once the file has been downloaded, you can double click on the file to run the installation routine. Simply follow the on-screen instructions to install the software onto your computer.
3. Launch the program. When the software was installed on your computer, the installation would have most likely created an icon on your computer desktop. Double click this icon to open the program. If there is no icon, you can find the software by clicking the “Start” button and looking through your list of programs.
4. Input the symbols for your investments. The charting software can track multiple investments. For exchange stock or Forex currency you invest in, input the symbol into the software to create a file that will track the trends and performance of that particular investment.
5. Enter the data that relates to the stocks you are tracking. Professional charting software usually has a mechanism to automatically import this data, but if you are using free charting software, you can expect to have to enter the information manually each day. You can update the information each day by importing an “End of Day” data file, more commonly known as EOD. These files can be obtained by free sources as well as paid subscription services. Your broker is often a good place to obtain a free EOD file (see Resources below).
6. Use the software to navigate through the various types of charts. OHLC, Candlestick and Line Charts are the most common chart formats to be found in these software programs. Additional types of charts may be available from product to product, depending on which charting software you selected. The charts will organize the data from all of the information that has been inputted, and display it in a format that gives you an “at a glance” assessment of how your stocks are performing.