How to read price charts
Technical analysis is one of the methods traders can use when making trading decisions. Newcomers to trading should know the basics of reading charts to understand and predict market trends.
BtcTurk | PRO uses renowned charting platform Tradingview’s infrastructure for its price charts.
To read charts you’ll need some basic knowledge, from there the more you practice, the better you will get. While there are different data providers and styles of charts, these concepts will apply to all of them.
Candles
Candles are the rectangles and lines on a chart. They provide snapshots of prices within a selected time period. The thick rectangles show general price movements within the selected time period, the thin lines show instant, low volume movements as the price moves outside the rectangle, before coming back within it later on.
Just a single candle can tell you a lot. For a chosen time period there are six pieces of data available:
Opening price: The point that matches the closing level of the previous candle horizontally. If the candle is green, its lowest level indicates the opening price. If it’s red, its highest level the opening price. (The letter A next to the trading pair at the top left of the chart is the opening price)
To see the current price, look at the price scale on the right or left of the chart or place your cursor on the candle you’re interested in. A dashed line should follow your cursor, making the price easy to see at various points.
Price direction: If the candle is green, the price has increased from its opening value. If it is red, it has fallen.
Highest price: Finding highest price for a timeframe is simple, it’s the highest point on the graph. This is visible from either the thick candlestick or the thin line extending upward from the candle. (The letter Y next to the trading pair at the top left of the chart shows the highest value the price has reached)
Lowest price: The lowest price for a timeframe is the lowest point on the graph. This is visible from either the thick candlestick or the thin line extending downward from the candle. (The letter D next to the trading pair at the top left of the chart shows the lowest value the price has reached)
Percentage of Change: This is the difference between the opening and closing prices. The rate of price change is visible above the chart. Next to the closing price (letter K), you’ll find the increase or decrease and the percentage change value.
The horizontal dashed line shows the price on the two sides of the chart in the area your cursor is. The vertical dashed line indicates the period of time in the area your cursor is.
The horizontal dashed line will correspond to the previous candle you’ve selected. This will help you see the price on the sides of the chart. If the dashed lines are green, it means the price is increasing in relation to the opening price. If they’re red it means the price is decreasing.
Volume
The candles below the graph show the trading volume over a certain time period. Volume refers to the amount of an asset that is traded.
Our example, above, has a timescale of one-day per bar. The total volume in the selected timeframe is 1,012 BTC and the average trading volume is 803 BTC. You can also see the volume and average trading volume as simple figures in the top left area of the chart, next to the volume indicator.
If the volume bar is green, then the transaction volume has increased compared to the previous bar, a red bar indicates that it has decreased.
Selecting pair
On the BtcTurk | PRO Advanced Trade screen, you can select a trading pair and see it’s price chart. When you switch to a different trading pair, the price chart will be switched to the newly selected pair too.
Time period
You can access the timescale list by clicking the letter D at the top of the trading pair (e.g. BTC/USDT) at the top left of the chart. You can choose between one, five, 15 and 30 minutes; one and four hours or one day, one week and one year timeframes.
When you select one hour from the timescale list, each candle on the chart shows the opening, closing, highest and lowest price values in a one-hour time range. If you choose 30 minutes, each candle will show 30 minutes of data.
You can use these cryptocurrency price charts on BtcTurk | PRO’s Advanced Trading screen and use drawing tools and indicators on the chart. If you are not yet a member yet, you can register on the BtcTurk | PRO website or mobile application.
