|
March 4, 2005
Free Charting
Websites Compared
by John Brasher, CallWriter Publisher
| One of
the frequent questions we get at CallWriter is where to find
a really good free charting site. The short answer is: there
aren't any. The longer answer is the following article. Using
free charting from any website is simply a matter of comparing
them and deciding what you can best live without. If your
requirements are high, the free charting on the web just won't
cut it. But some aren't that bad. You decide.
|
|
I decided to
do a thorough comparison of the free stock charting websites available.
I looked at Stockcharts.com, Prophet.net, ClearStation, BigCharts, Quote.com, AskResearch and WallStreetTape. Virtually every
charting site offers the basics, which include different chart styles
(OHLC, candle, etc.), different durations and frequencies, a volume
histogram (sometimes this is one of the available indicators), the
ability to add multiple indicators to the chart and to choose from
a strong selection of indicators, and the ability to adjust the
chart size. Other, more subtle features, however, are what really
separate the men from the boys so to speak, such as:
- Allows multiple
moving averages, with ability to choose the type and set the period
of each
- Allows the
instant chart to be compared to one or more other charts
- Permits user
to draw trendlines and even annotate the chart
- Offers Java
charts with cursor tracking (one or more lines move with cursor)
and daily data display
- Permits adding
Dividends, Splits and Earnings to chart
- Ability to
overlay moving averages or draw trendlines on the volume histogram
or indicators
- User ability
to store chart and indicator settings
- Will show
multiple views (different charts) on the same page
Some of these
features are picky, but if you use them, you want them. The ability
to store settings is nice, also - a good time saver. The ability
to look at multiple charts (ex: 60-minute, daily, weekly) on a single
page also is a time saver. But it is not my business to tell others
what they need in a chart package. So without further ado, here
are some of the most salient features of the major free charting
websites compared for you:
| Table 1 |
| |
Period |
Duration |
Style |
Volume |
Moving
Averages |
Adjust
Chart Size |
| StockCharts.com |
Daily
Weekly |
Min: 3 mos.
Max: 3 yrs. |
OHLC/HLC
Candlestick
Line
Point & Figure |
Options:
Overlaid on Chart
or Separate |
Permits 2 MA's
Big type selection
May select period |
Yes
- presets |
| Prophet.net |
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Quarterly
Yearly |
Min: 1 day
Max: 20 yrs.
Can customize |
OHLC
Candlestick
Line
Mountain |
Separate,
below price |
Permits many MA's
Big type selection
May select period |
Yes
- resize window or use presets |
| ClearStation.com |
Min. 1 day
Max. 10 yrs. |
Min: 1 min.
Max: 2 weeks |
OHLC/HLC
Candlestick
Line, Dot
Mountain |
Separate,
below price |
Permits 3 MA's
Small selection
- only SMA's
Can't select the
period |
Yes
- presets |
| Quote.com |
Min. 1 day
Max. 5 yrs. |
Min: 1 min.
Max: Quarterly
|
OHLC/HLC
Candlestick
Line
Mountain |
Volume
is one of the two indicators
- Separate, below price |
Permits many MA's
Also bands
May select the
periods |
Yes
- presents |
| BigCharts.com |
Min. 1 day
Max. 5 yrs. |
Min: 1 min.
Max: Quarterly
|
OHLC
Candlestick
Line, Bar, Dot
Mountain |
Volume
is one of the 3 indicators
- Separate, below price |
Permits many MA's
SMA, EMA + bands
May select period |
Yes
- presets |
| AskResearch.com |
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
|
Min: 1 month
Max: 5 yrs. |
OHLC
Candlestick
Line |
Volume
is one of the 9 indicators
- Separate, below price |
Permits 3 MA's
EMA's only
May select period |
Yes
- presets |
| Wall
Street Tape.com |
Daily
Weekly |
Min: 5 mins.
Max: 3 yrs. |
OHLC
Candlestick
Line
Mountain |
Options:
Overlaid on Chart
or Separate |
Permits 3 MA's
Small selection
May select period |
Yes
- presets |
| Table 2 |
| |
Chart
Comparison |
Annotations |
Multiple
Views |
Cursor
Tracking |
Indicators |
| StockCharts.com |
YES
Allows multiple
comparisons |
YES - sophisticated
Draw Trendlines
Numerous tools
May annotate |
YES
Daily, Weekly, P&F
on one page
Click Gallery View |
Yes, on annotated
chart
Daily historical
price data on the
annotated chart
Can't seem to get
both together |
Permits two
OK selection
Above or below |
| Prophet.net |
YES
Several different
symbols |
Draw Trendlines
Can't annotate |
YES
Multiple
Click Chartscope |
YES
Daily historical
price data |
Permits several
OK selection
Below chart |
| ClearStation.com |
YES
Several different
symbols |
No
No Trendlines
Can't annotate |
No
|
No
|
Permits four + bands
Small selection
Below chart |
| Quote.com |
YES
Several different
symbols |
No
No Trendlines
Can't annotate |
No
|
No
|
Two
Small selection
Below chart |
| BigCharts.com |
YES
Several different
symbols |
Draw Trendlines
Can't annotate |
No |
YES
Daily historical
price data |
Three
Good selection
Below chart |
| AskResearch.com |
No
|
No
|
No
|
No
|
Total of 9
Below chart |
| Wall
Street Tape.com |
No |
Draw Trendlines
Good selection of
lines and dots
Can't annotate |
No |
No
- also does
not display daily historical data |
Three
Good selection
Can be above or
below chart |
| Table 3 |
| |
Intraday
Charts? |
Add
Dividends, Splits
and Earnings to Chart? |
Store
Settings? |
Will
Chart Options? |
| StockCharts.com |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| Prophet.net |
No |
No |
No |
No |
| ClearStation.com |
Yes - good selection |
Yes - can show
all, or only one type of event |
No |
No |
| Quote.com |
No |
Splits
and earnings only |
Yes |
No |
| BigCharts.com |
Yes - small selection |
Yes - very sophisticated |
Yes |
No |
| AskResearch.com |
Yes - separate
chart |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Wall
Street Tape.com |
Yes - 5 minute bars on daily chart only |
No |
Yes - with free
registration |
No |
Regarding abbreviations,
"MA" means moving average; "OHLC" means open/high/low/close; and
"P&F" means point and figure charts. By "selection" of indicators,
I am referring to the number and variety of types offered, not to
the number of indicators available (which is stated). In preparing
these comparisons, I did not consider really fine points, such as
whether the chart allows you to select the color of each moving
average - generally, the answer will be "no" for such fine flexibilities.
I focused on the major features we all expect of charts. None of
the free charts will chart options; this is not a feature I use,
but one that some traders prefer. Some services, such as Wall Street
Tape, give you more powerful and flexible charts if you register
with them as a free user.
For me, there
is no clear favorite. BigCharts generally is excellent and puts
the dividends, earnings and splits in, but offers scant intraday
charts and does not allow annotation, nor could I see any way to
save settings. StockCharts.com, another good system, allows only
two moving averages, does not give you dividends, earnings and splits,
does not provide intraday charts and does not allow settings to
be saved; yet it allows multiple chart views on one page. It also
offers the best and easiest-to-use annotation with great cursor
tracking. Prophet.net, an excellent free system overall, allows
you to draw trendlines but does not appear to give dividends, earnings
or splits. ClearStation allows dividends, splits and earnings, but
does not allow you to select the sensitivity of indicators, it requires
you to use preset MA periods, the indicators are cheesy looking,
and it does not provide a way to draw trendlines. It is a matter
of what you prefer in a chart. As I noted above, using free charts
is a matter of what you are willing to live without.
The quality
and usability of the free charts varies widely. The three most powerful
free sites in my view are Stockcharts, BigCharts and Prophet.net.
The above survey does not include all free charting sites, only
the major ones offering enough usability and power to be worthwhile.
Many (such as Yahoo), by comparison to the above charts, are limited
and crude - not worth mentioning. If I missed a good one, please
email me the information so that I can
include it in future updates to this article.
Some of these
services (e.g., Prophet.net, Stockcharts.com) offer a paid charting
service that offers far more power and flexibility than the charts
available free. Expect to pay $9.95 to $19.95 a month for them.
We don't recommend any particular service. Most web-based charting
packages offer a free trial, so you can try them without risk. The
more powerful services, such as TeleCharts and Quote.com's QCharts,
offer great power and flexibility but are quite expensive - over
$100 monthly with options data. Paid charts offer far more variety
and power than most web-based ones (even the paid ones), but are
slower to use, since selecting all those great things takes time.
But once you have it set up and saved the way you prefer, you are
set to go.
The other alternative
is to buy and install charting software and then buy the monthly
data to run the charts. There are many alternatives here. For many
this is the way to go, since the charting software also usually
will do scanning and screening and can be extensively customized.
But this approach also is expensive.
Question and Answer
Question: What chart system does CallWriter use
in its Research Page on the members site?
Answer: AskResearch.com provides the charts
used in CallWriter's Research Page. We didn't select them because
they were the best, but because they were simple to use and offer
intraday charts. Many traders use a charting package of their own
choosing, usually not a free charting service, so the charts used
on CallWriter are basic ones. While they are limited, they are good
and let traders assess the stock's direction in light of moving
averages and standard indicators, about as well as any. We are always
looking for a better charting setup and, as always, welcome suggestions.
|