MTF chart: bars don't line up.

[piersh]

i'm trying to get two overlapping bar series for the same instrument on one panel, but I can't get stuff to line up.

I'm using NT7b6

i have two ES 03-10 series on my chart:
- a 15-minute with a bar width of 65 (with thick grey wicks)
- a 1-minute with a bar width of 1

this image shows how the bars aren't aligned:


secondly. if you then stretch the horizontal axis, the relative widths of the bars isn't consistent. there's something fundamentally screwed up here:

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

Hi Piersh,

The bars look aligned to me. Here is what I see, let me know if you see something different.

- The second 15 minute bar represents 7:00:00 to 7:14:59 and is plotted at 7:15:00
- The high of this bar corresponds to the high of that time span which is marked on the 7:00:00 bar and not the 7:09:00 bar which you point at
- If you change the chart style of the 15 min series to use the new "Box" style, this will be easier to see

[piersh]

- The second 15 minute bar represents 7:00:00 to 7:14:59 and is plotted at 7:15:00

i can see that that's the range of time that the actual bar is calculated from, but visually the bar is centered on 7:15 and goes from 7:07 to 7:22. can you explain under which circumstances this could make sense, or even be useful?

also, can you explain the inconsistent/overlapping behavior when stretching the time axis?

[NinjaTrader_JoshP]

When you are using candlesticks the bar is placed at the end timestamp. When you expand the candlestick like you have it has no meaningful relationship between that and the underlying 1min series. Similarly, if you continue to expand the chart, the candle bodies will overlap because they are simply too big to be independent from each other. The only point in time that is relevant for candlestick styled bars is the center point. Where the candle body extends to does not represent that the candle is taking data from those points in time to build itself.

If you wish for any type of relationship in an overlay of different period intervals, you will need to switch the candlestick to Box.

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

i can see that that's the range of time that the actual bar is calculated from, but visually the bar is centered on 7:15 and goes from 7:07 to 7:22. can you explain under which circumstances this could make sense, or even be useful?

The outer bounds of candles have no relationship to the time range that it covers. That is what the "Box" style is used for. What is important is that the bar is centered on its time (closing time) which it is. How wide you make the bars is dependent on the width setting you specified. You can experience the same behavior on a a single series chart as well, if you zoom out enough, the candles will overlap each other. Just an example of the same thing but he reverse view.

also, can you explain the inconsistent/overlapping behavior when stretching the time axis?

I likely am not in sync with what you are trying to explain. I would appreciate any further elaboration on this. For sure, candles can overlap each other as they are not visually meant to span the time range they represent.

[piersh]

Ok, then please can you add a ChartStyle that's laid out on the time axis like Box, but has wicks like the Candlestick?

It seems to me like Candlestick, as currently implemented, is broken.

[NinjaTrader_JoshP]

Thank you for the suggestion for wicks on the box style. Candlestick works as expected. The concern being discussed in this thread is simply an interpretation difference for how you are reading the chart.

[eDanny]

Ok, then please can you add a ChartStyle that's laid out on the time axis like Box, but has wicks like the Candlestick?

It seems to me like Candlestick, as currently implemented, is broken.

Do this to see that the candlesticks are not broken. Use a single time frame chart or use one on NT6.5. Make the candles a bit wider than normal for visualization purposes. Drag the bottom of the chart to the right and see the overlapping. This is the same as what you are seeing and it is obviously not broken. Hope this helps. Dan

[piersh]

I still think the current candlestick is wrong - there's a box on the chart whose right hand side is after the time that the bar closed.

so... I've implemented a custom ChartType that implements how I think it should look

Compare the image below with those above to see what I mean wrt. overlapped charts:

[NinjaTrader_Ray]

I still think the current candlestick is wrong - there's a box on the chart whose right hand side is after the time that the bar closed.
]

Thanks for submitting another chart style. It is accurate that the right side of a candle stick is to the right side of its closing time. The candle stick center is what is aligned to time. The outer edges are user defined through width. As far as I know and seen, every charting application works in this manner.