To display a chart, you must enter a contract into the "Contract" field. In addition, you may optionally add a SECOND contract to overlay on the chart using the "Compare To" field. There are four ways to choose the contracts to display:

1. Enter Full Contract: Type the full contract into the "Contract" or "Compare To" fields. The full contract includes the symbol, month, and year: (CZ03, NGG4, etc.). Entry of the full contract, regardless of the time series chosen in "Period", will display a chart only for the dates that the contract has traded. In this regard, a weekly or a monthly chart for a specific contract will show a limited amount of data.
   
   Examples: USM03, HON03, ESU03
   
   
2. Enter the Nearby Contract (the futures delivery month with the soonest delivery date): Enter the symbol and the string 1! (SP1!, C1!, etc.). You may also select a forward contract using the symbol and the string 2! (2 months forward), 3! (3 months forward), etc. A Nearby contract on a Tick, Intraday or Daily chart will display a chart only for the dates the contract has traded.
   
   Examples: ES1!, W1!, C2!, SP3!
   
   
3. Enter the Root: Enter the symbol root (W, SP, ES, etc.), to display a continuation chart. A continuation chart is an artificial time series built from the daily time series for active and expired contracts. A continuation chart will give you a true long-term view of the market, rather than a specific contract which has a start and expiration date. A continuation chart is not valid for Tick or Intraday time series.
   
   
4. Select Using the Drop-Down Lists: You may choose your contract from the "Top Symbols" list (on the left), or from the "Other Symbols" list (on the right) which display all symbols available on FutureSource. You may optionally select the Month and Year for the contract chosen. If you do not select a Month/Year, a continuation chart will be returned. (Note: To select an overlay contract using these lists, first click in the "Compare To" field, then select a contract using one of the lists.
   
   When using these lists, you may either scroll down to find the contract you are looking for, or you may type the first letter of the symbol's description to advance the list to that portion of the alphabet. For example, position your cursor in the "Top Symbols" list and type "W". You will automatically be advanced to the symbols whose descriptions begin with "W".
   

Spread/Expression Charts

An expression chart is constructed using one or more contracts, numerical constants, and simple mathematical operators (+ - * /). The calculations are performed and plotted on the chart using the "line" plot style.

Contracts used in an expression can be the explicit contract (WK03, SPU3, etc.), a nearby contract (W1!, SP1!, etc.) , or a forward contract (W3!, SP4!, etc.). Expressions are calculated from left to right. Use parentheses to change the order of the calculations, and make sure you use a space between each contract, numerical constant, and mathematical operator. Be aware that all expressions need to be enclosed by parentheses.

Examples:

• (DJY - SPY)
• (NG1! + NG2! + NG3!) / 3
• (W1! - (C1! + O1!))

1. Period: Use this field to modify the aggregation of the chart. Choose from Tick, Intraday, Daily, Weekly, and Monthly. If you choose Intraday,you may modify the number of minutes (chart uses 15 minutes as a default).
   



2. Size: Use this field to either shrink or grow the size of the chart. Choose from Small (575x300), Medium (650x450), or Large (800x550)
   
   
3. Density: Use this field to modify the density level of the chart. Choose from Low, Medium, or High.
   
   
4. Style: Use this field to specify an Area, Bar, Candle, or Line chart.

• Adding Studies: Adding studies to the chart could never be easier. Simply double-click on the study of choice in the "Available Studies" list. You can also highlight the studies you would like to add to the chart and click on the '>>' button to transfer them to the "Selected" list of studies.
  
  
• Removing Studies: Removing studies from the chart could never be easier. Simply double-click on the study you wish to remove from the "Selected" list. You can also highlight the studies you would like to remove and click on the '<<' button to transfer them to the "Available Studies" list.
  
  
• Changing study parameters: Once a study has been added to the "Selected" list, you can modify the parameters of that study. Simply highlight the study in the "Selected" list to see the parameters currently in place. Modify the parameters in the "Parameters" box below the "Selected" studies list.
  
  
• Resetting study parameters: To reset a study's parameters back to the default settings, simply highlight the study in the "Selected" list, and click on the "Reset Parameters" link.

Need more information about the available studies? If so, click click here for study descriptions, parameter definitions, and information on how the each study is calculated.

Always want to see your charts with the Bollinger Bands study applied? Prefer to see large-sized candlestick charts? With the click of a button, you can save your chart preferences and have your charts always appear using the personal settings you identify.

FutureSource ifs Charts allow you to save your preferred settings to a cookie on your personal computer. After you have made all of the changes you would like to save, simply click on the "Save Preferences" button to save your settings. The next time you visit our charts page, your settings will be remembered. For instance, you can set a Period, Style, Density and Study, check "Save Preferences", and all future charts you create will use these settings as a default.

To print the chart, click the "Print" icon (located on the bottom right corner of the chart image, just to the right of the "Monthly" text link).

To e-mail the URL of the current chart displayed, click the "E-mail" icon (located on the bottom left corner of the chart image, just to the left of the "Tick" text link).

Need more information about the available studies? If so, click click here for study descriptions, parameter definitions, and information on how the each study is calculated.