INTRODUCTION
Welcome to our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section. Couldn't find an answer to your question in this FAQs list? Ask our support function directly in our Contact/Support section.
GENERAL
1. Do I need to download anything to access the FinGraphs service?
FinGraphs is 100% web-based. It uses HTML5 (the latest Internet language). FinGraphs works on all recent browser (see our Browser section) and does not require any Downloads and Plug-ins.
Although a formal App is not yet available, FinGraphs’ web-based feature will allow you to use it on almost any device (including Tablets and Smartphones).
2. How do I register/subscribe to the FinGraphs.com website?
Please turn to the dedicated Register/Subscribe section of this FAQs section.
3. Why is FinGraphs unique, new and innovative?
Based on many years of experience, FinGraphs 3D is based on Charles Dow's 2nd principle ("The market has three trends"), each chart is presented over 3 investment horizons. You can instantly visualize long, medium, and short term trends and position yourself in seconds.
This "all in one" methodology is straightforward with Bull and Bear indications for trend direction, visual price projections and a risk index to identify Overbought and Oversold positions.
FinGraphs adapts to your investment or trading profile by offering a choice of 3D views matching your investment horizon: An Investor's View, an Trader's Views and Scalper's Views
4. What does "Markets in 3D" stand for?
FinGraphs presents financial charts over 3 time horizons:
Long, Medium, and Short Term.
This presentation is inspired by Dow's second basic principle (Charles Dow is the grandfather of technical analysis) stating that the market has three trends - a primary trend, a secondary trend and minor trends.
Indeed, trends have to be put into context:
How does a specific trend relate to the Longer price movement?
How is it influenced by shorter price swings?
By presenting its charts over 3 time dimensions, FinGraphs offers an at a glance perspective of how potential trends interplay.
A FinGraphs analysis is based on three main evaluation criteria:
Potential Trends: expressed as FinGraphs Bull and Bear figurines
Possible price potential: visualized through FinGraphs’ Estimated price target beams (green for uptrend, red for downtrend)
Levels of Risk or Exaggeration: can be assessed through our Market Stress and Risk Index Indicators
5. Is FinGraphs providing financial advice?
NO. FinGraphs does not provide financial advice.
FinGraphs does not deliver recommendations, it offers a set of automatic and statistical analysis tools to help you position yourself in financial markets, monitor them and identify interesting risk/reward situations. The service does not provide any advice nor solicitations to trade or invest in any instrument or investment product. The analysis is delivered on an information only basis and is the reflection of the FinGraphs methodology (a purely automated set of statistical tools differentiated over different frequencies of observation).
In this respect, FinGraphs needs to be certain that all users understand the above. Hence, all FinGraphs users must first accept our Terms & Conditions of Use before they are given access to the Subscriber section of the FinGraphs’ website. It is also their responsibility to check these Terms & Conditions regularly for any updates as well as not to share their Login details with anyone who would not have previously accepted these Terms & Conditions.
6. Where do I learn how to use FinGraphs?
FinGraphs’ methodology and navigation features are described in the User Guide section of this website.
SUPPORT
1. Does FinGraphs have a support function?
You can contact FinGraphs through our chat box in the Contact / Support menu on the lower portion of the screen. As detailed below, FinGraphs will only answer questions within a certain scope.
2. What kind of questions will be answered by the support desk about FinGraphs?
As detailed below, FinGraphs will only answer questions within a certain scope:
Questions about registration and subscriptions.
Technical problems: please first consult the "Errors" section of this FAQS page to see if your technical problem is already mentioned. If not, please don’t hesitate to contact support, we will do our best to help resolve any issue.
Questions relating to current market conditions or market developments:
- FinGraphs does not deliver recommendations, it offers a set of automatic and statistical analysis tools to help you position yourself in financial markets, monitor them and identify interesting risk/reward situations. The service does not provide any advice nor solicitations to trade or invest in any instrument or investment product. The analysis is delivered on an information only basis and is the reflection of the FinGraphs methodology (a purely automated set of statistical tools differentiated over different frequencies of observation).
- Hence, FinGraphs support function will not answer any questions relating to current market conditions or market developments (and will avoid answering questions relating to "applied examples"). It is your responsibility to learn the FinGraphs methodology and tools and to make your own interpretations and come up with your own decisions.
- In this respect, FinGraphs needs to be certain that all users understand the above. Hence, all FinGraphs users must first accept our Terms & Conditions of Use before they are given access to the Subscriber section of the FinGraphs’ website. It is also their responsibility to check these Terms & Conditions regularly for any updates as well as not to share their Login details with anyone who would not have previously accepted these Terms & Conditions.
ERRORS
1. I am getting the following message: "Error while retrieving data". What does it mean? What should I do?
This error usually happens when there is a connection problem between the user and our servers. Please execute the request again. If the problem persists, try to logout and log back-in and/or refresh your browser tab. If problems persist for more than 15-20 minutes, please contact us providing us with some information as to how and when the problem occurred.
2. I am getting the following message: "No data available for this request". What does it mean? What should I do?
This error usually happens when there is a temporary communication problem between our servers and our data-basis. Try to close all open windows on specific instruments, request a totally different instrument to clear the "Cache" and try again. You can try login out and login back in or refreshing your browser tab. This error is a bit more resilient than the "Error while retrieving data", but should also be solved within minutes. If problems persist for more than 15-20 minutes, please contact us providing us with some information as to how and when the problem occurred.
3. I am getting the following message: "Internal server Error". What does it mean? What should I do?
This error usually happens when there is an unforeseen glitch in our internal procedures. You can try login out or login back in or refreshing your browser tab, but ideally please report it providing us with some information as to how and when the problem occurred.
4. I am getting the following message "Access denied for this request". What does it mean? What should I do?
It may be because, you have several FinGraphs tabs opened and that the one you are viewing is not the most recent one. It may also be that in the meantime, you have logged in from a different location or device killing the current session.
Please contact us if you cannot relate any of these explanations to your specific case. Please provide us with some details about the circumstances and we will look into it.
5. A chart (many charts) are flat-lined? Is there a problem?
Yes there is. Some of these problems we can solve quickly, others are more complicated, but usually temporary.
Here are some examples:
All instruments in a Directory are flat-lined:
There may be a problem with our price feed acquisition (although we have alarms in place, please report it as soon as possible, in case we are not aware of it)
It may be that a specific market was closed and that we weren’t aware of it (please report)
It may be that there is a mistake in the opening and closing hours referenced in our data management system. (please report)
A specific instrument is flat-lined:
For some reason, the quotation reference has changed. Has the instrument been de-listed? Has it changed market symbol? Has the quotation been suspended? There may also be a problem with our data provider for this instrument. Please report it and we will look into it.
6. It seems that I am having display problems on the FinGraphs website. What could be the problem? What should I do?
Display problems are usually due to the browser you are using. FinGraphs supports all main recent browsers. However, it is not always adapted to older versions. For example, you will need an Internet Explorer 9 and above to avoid such display problems. Please revert to the dedicated section of our website for more insight.
7. On the short term streaming charts, I am experiencing some delays in the update frequency versus the market?
By definition, there will always be a slight delay. Indeed, there are quite a few processes which take place between price origination and the delivery of the FinGraphs charts on your screen: receive the data from the source, stock it in our data-basis, receive the update request from your browser, fetch the data in the data-basis, compile the data into FinGraphs instruments, display them on your screen.
Please bear in mind that FinGraphs doesn’t aim to be a provider of very high frequency signals. Its highest frequency is a 5 seconds chart (an update every 5 seconds). We consider it to be mostly indicative and believe that it really needs to be put in the perspective of the 15 seconds and the 60 seconds charts.
That said, we aim to deliver Intrahour updates 1 or 2 seconds after they are quoted, which should be the case with most standard internet Internet connections.
If you do experience longer delays, you can test your Internet connection using the following website:
speedtest.net tests three main items:
PING: the time it takes to get a response from a specific server
Download speed: the speed at which your connection downloads data (e.g. downloads data to create a FinGraphs chart, must be done for each update)
Upload speed: the speed at which your connection uploads data (e.g. makes a request to FinGraphs to receive the data, must be done for each update)
Note: see support function on their website for more information
For example, please find our connection speeds (from our Geneva office) to several local servers around the world (PIG/Upload/Download). Please note that all these tests are indicative and may vary slightly depending on when your perform them. They should however remain pretty much in the same magnitude over time:
Geneva: 17ms/92.46Mbps/10.90Mbps (SIG Telecom Geneva)
Zurich: 14ms/90.24Mbps/10.97Mbps (Netstream AG Duebendorf, Zurich area)
London: 42ms/92.27Mbps/11.08Mbps (Vodafone UK, London)
Frankfurt: 20ms/93.36Mbps/10.85Mbps (Vodafone DE, Frankfurt)
Paris: 31ms/90.73Mbps/10.77Mbps (Orange France, Paris)
New York: 106ms/86.81Mbps/10.68Mbps (Towerstream, New York City)
Toronto: 122ms/82.70Mbps/10.60Mbps (TELUS, Toronto)
San Francisco: 167ms/53.07Mbps/9.98Mbps (Unwired, San Francisco)
Rio: 281ms/40.73Mbps/8.02Mbps (Claro, Rio de Janeiro)
Johannesburg: 212ms/35.12Mbps/10.68Mbps (Vodacom, Johannesburg)
Moscow: 71ms/91.19Mbps/11.01Mbps (Rosttelecom, Moscow)
Mumbai: 165ms/70.50Mbps/10.09Mbps (Reliance Com., Mumbai)
Singapore: 204ms/24.79Mbps/10.18Mbps (SGIX, Singapore)
Hong Kong: 338ms/19.78Mbps/7.62Mbps (Telin, Hong Kong)
Tokyo: 273ms/4.85Mbps/2.29Mbps (Alocac, Tokyo)
Sydney: 349ms/14.49Mbps/8.82Mbps (Telstra, Sydney)
Auckland: 300ms/12.77Mbps/9.15Mbps (Vodafone NZ, Auckland)
Please check your connection to the SIG Telecom, Geneva and/or Netstream AG, Duebendorf, Zürich area (the ones nearer to us) to evaluate how fast your connection to us may be.
From what we have experienced up to now, the main negative feedback we have had was with Upload speeds well below 1.0 Mbps often due to "last mile" connections at the client. This seemed to lead to update delays between 10 and 15 seconds. Unfortunately then, there is not much we can do to solve such problems.
We would welcome further feedback.
REGISTER / SUBSCRIBE
1. How do I register for a FinGraphs account ?
In order to register for a FinGraphs account, you must complete the dedicated registration section of the FinGraphs.com website.
2. Is there a trial subscription in order to test the FinGraphs website?
By default, when you register for FinGraphs, a 7 days subscription to the FinGraphs website will be automatically activated.
FinGraphs may also run some Promotional campaigns which will allow you to test or use FinGraphs over longer periods. These specific plans will be communicated to you by email or made available on Social Network or partner websites.
3. I have received a Promotional Code, what should I do with it? How can I activate it?
If you have not already registered, please enter this Promotional Code in the dedicated box in the Registration mask (the Box is labelled: "Coupon") and the Coupon Voucher will be automatically activated once you first Login into the FinGraphs website.
If you have already registered, please enter this Promotional code in the dedicated mask ("Apply Coupon") in the MY ACCOUNT/My Space mask of the FinGraphs website. Please be aware that any coupon may only be used once for each User account.
4. I have completed the Registration mask and pressed the "Register" button. What should I do next to activate my account?
The registration process will last a few seconds. You will then be asked to check the email box relating to the email address you have entered when you registered for your FinGraphs account (please note that this email address will be used as your Username on the FinGraphs website). Through this email you will be receiving an authentication email with an authentication link. You will need to follow this link to finalize your registration.
5. I have gone through the Registration process, but never received my authentication email to activate my account.
The authentication link should have been sent to the email address you have entered when you registered for your FinGraphs account. Please check your SPAM folder. If you still can’t find it, please contact us through our chat box in the Contact / Support menu on the lower portion of the screen.
6. Once I have finalised my registration and authentication, how do I activate my account?
Once your registration and authentication are complete, you must Login using the Username and Password you entered when you registered for FinGraphs and on this first entry read and accept our Terms & Conditions of Use (by pressing "I agree" at the bottom of the dialog box which will pop-up only on your first Login into a FinGraphs website).
7. I have followed the Registration and authentication process, but am having problems with Login in or with the Display of the Terms & Conditions (for example I am getting a blank page)
FinGraphs supports most recent browsers, but unfortunately isn’t adapted to older versions, especially Internet Explorer 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0. Please view the browsers we support in the dedicated section of our website. For any other problems, please don’t hesitate to contact us through our chat box in the Contact / Support menu on the lower portion of the screen.
COVERAGE
1. Any Tips for using the Filter functions?
The Filter function is meant to Search for instruments available in FinGraphs data-basis using a specific filtering request (a few letters, a word, …). All instruments which name includes this specific item will be displayed in the alphabetical order of their whole name. The Filter function will allow you to search through a specific directory for your specific filtering request.
2. What does FinGraphs mean by "Live Streaming"?
All FinGraphs charts update automatically if you leave them displayed on your screen. However, FinGraphs definition of "live streaming" is more precise. It relates to directories and instruments which are accumulated in real-time and for which according to FinGraphs the granularity (quality) of the data is sufficient enough to deliver short term intra-hour charts as featured in our Scalper’s and Super Scalper’s Views (i.e. 60 seconds, 15 seconds and 5 seconds charts).
The data for these Directories is usually sourced directly from brokers or liquidity providers. The instruments they comprise are all Over The Counter instruments as quoted by these specific market participants (i.e. not official market prices, rather the specific quotes of these data providers). On FinGraphs, this data is quoted as a mid price to avoid spread comparison between these specific market participants.
3. Why is it that on FinGraphs most instruments are offered in delayed mode only?
Again, FinGraphs is a market analysis tool, not a data provider. It also aims to keep its subscription price within reasonable boundaries and hence cannot offer you real-time access to listed markets.
Hence, for listed markets, FinGraphs mainly covers instruments on a delayed basis using a price feed which is sourced from one of the major providers. The delays vary from market to market according to their respective policies.
These delays do limit the scope of the FinGraphs analysis for very short term frequencies. Indeed, it would make no sense to offer 5 seconds chart on a delayed basis as the related investment horizon is too short to deliver an analysis which is meaningful considering the delay. Hence, most listed markets on FinGraphs are available only on an Investor’s View and a Scalper’s View (frequencies ranging from a Weekly to a 4 minutes chart). Despite the delay, we consider that the FinGraphs analysis is still meaningful on a 4 minutes chart. This isn’t the case for higher frequencies (60 seconds, 15 seconds, 5 seconds).
4. What are the delayed times which are applied to the various markets?
Each stock exchange official delayed price requirement is noted below the latest delayed price information and performance on the top right corner of each FinGraphs’ View. Obviously, FinGraphs chart on markets quoted in real-time will not display this information (Forex for example, which is updated in real-time).
5. Why are last prices on FinGraphs often displayed as previous End of Day plus the price differential during the day?
All stock exchanges have different requirements when it comes to displaying last price information on a chart. Most stock exchanges are not comfortable with FinGraphs displaying last price. Hence, as a standard, FinGraphs has decided to display the previous Closing price (previous End of Day) plus the price differential to that previous Closing during the current session.
Note 1: some markets are quoted as a regular session and then also as an extended hours session. The last price of the day (effective End of Day - extended hours) may then differ from the Official Closing price (official End of Day – regular session). FinGraphs uses official End of Day prices to create its Daily charts as well as the basis for displaying last price information and the current session differential to the previous End of day price (i.e. the official close)
6. Why is it that some instruments have shorter term coverage but no coverage on for example a Weekly or a Daily basis?
This is the case when the history of quotation is not long enough for us to create one of these longer term charts (e.g. a recent IPO.). Please, don’t hesitate to inform us if you believe that we have not included all the available historical data. We will look into it and revert.
7. How does FinGraphs take into account stock splits and extraordinary dividends?
FinGraphs adjusts for these on a case by case basis. Please, don’t hesitate to inform us if you believe that we have missed such adjustments or if we have erroneously adjusted for something that should not have been. We will look into it and revert.
8. What happens if a quotation is suspended or if the remaining free float is not meaningful any more?
Again FinGraphs will treat such events on a case by case basis and will hide instruments for which it considers its analysis not to be meaningful any more due to such corporate events. Please, don’t hesitate to inform us if you believe that we have erroneously hidden some instruments which should not have been. We will look into it and revert.
9. How does FinGraphs account for the Roll-over of futures?
FinGraphs uses quite a simple methodology to account for the roll-over of Futures. FinGraphs usually shifts from one future contract to the next nearest one on the day prior to contract expiration. It uses prices from the new contract as a reference and extrapolates historical prices from the historical price movement of the previous contracts. Again, we are open to suggestions, but do want to keep a standard process across all contracts.
METHODOLOGY
1. What’s the difference between the Hourly chart featured in the Investor’s View and the 60 min chart featured in the Traders View?
The Hourly chart featured in FinGraphs’ Investor’s Views is a standardized Hourly, the 60 minutes charts in the Trader’s View represents a true 60min chart.
The standardized Hourly is calculated over 8 points a day whatever the stock exchange and market opening hours (these 8 data points are spread out during the day’s opening hours, hence the time lapse between these data points will be dependent on how long each market is open). Hence, with 8 data point fixed per day, it offers a frequency of observation which can be used as a common denominator across all markets where intraday coverage is available. The investment horizons will always be the same, i.e. 3 to 5 weeks for impulsive price moves, 1 to 2 weeks for corrective price moves. This comparability is well adapted to the needs of investors reviewing many different assets using a standardised approach in terms of investment horizons.
The investment horizon for the true 60min chart differs according to each stock market’s opening hours: for example the market for an FX pair is open 24/24h and will have more 60 minutes points every day than a market which is open only 6 ½ hours a day like the US equity market, i.e. the investment horizon for the FX pair will be shorter as it will need more point to make up a whole day. A 60 minutes chart will hence not be comparable in terms of investment horizon between markets with different opening hours. We hence reserve this frequency for FinGraphs’ Trader’s View, a combination of a true 60 minutes chart with a true 15min and a true 4min chart. The Trader’s View is better suited for the shorter term, more specialised/focused market participants, which are used to working with true 60 minutes charts and know what they represent in terms of time horizon for the various markets and their respective opening hours. FinGraphs’ price/time target estimated projections zones can also help users in assessing the investment horizon which is considered for each instrument on each frequency of observation.
2. How should I understand the "potential trend duration" mentioned below each chart?
This timing indication is meant to give a broad assessment of how long on average a trend might last for the different frequencies of observation. The trends which serve as reference here are "impulsive trends" (see User Guide / Indicators / Targets section), i.e. confirmed trends that have made it past the correction stage. The timing indications measures how long such trends last on average from bottoms to tops and vis-versa for each frequency.
This timing indication is more precise for Investor’s view frequencies (Weekly, Daily, Hourly) for which investment horizons are standardised across all markets. For Trader’s views, these indications represent a broader approximation as they depend on the respective opening hours of each market.
Beware not to misinterpret these timing indications. They represent a standard approximate impulsive trend length, not the true investment horizon. The latter is better assessed by using the potential price and time target estimated projections zones within the charts.
3. How do I go about setting up a Private List (Favourites’ list)?
The "Private Selection" tab at the bottom of the "Markets" will allow you to create a list, manage it (reallocate the order of its constituents or delete some of them) and access it to view the charts. However, it does allow you to populate it.
Hence, if you want to create a Private List it is often better to start from the directories directories themselves, select some specific instruments and then attribute them to a New List which you can then name. Please find below a detailed explanation of this process:
1) Go to "Markets"
2) Then for example to the "FinGraphs FX" directory
3) Choose a market and a submarket (e.g. Forex/Dollar Rates)
4) Then on the left side of the Dollar rates listings, you will see tick-boxes, click in the ones corresponding to the instruments you want to select. Please select only instruments on the same page at any one time (1st page of 2), you will always be able to add pairs from the 2nd page afterwards into your private list.
5) Then click on "Add to private selections", under the Dollar rates listing (button below the directory on the left)
6) You are now in the "Private selection" page. There is an empty white box at the bottom left of it labelled "New List". Name your list and click on "New List"
7) Your Private list is done.
8) You can now go back to the directories, select other instruments and add them to that list or any other
Note: if you wish to reorder instruments within a "Private List", drag and drop them up or down
CANDLES
1. Where can I find FinGraphs Candle charts?
On each FinGraphs 3D View, you can click on a specific chart (e.g. a 15 minutes chart in a Trader’s View) to display it in a Zoom. In the top right hand side of this Zoom, you will spot a Candle Icon, which will pop-up the Candle chart for this frequency when it is available.
2. Why are there Candles on some assets and not on others?
Some assets presented on FinGraphs feature live streaming real-time coverage (this includes all instruments featured in our “live streaming” directories). Prices for these instruments are accumulated in our data-basis on a second by second basis. Hence, although not a true tick by tick, this frequency of acquisition is high enough to create Candles which are sufficiently precise.
On the other hand, at present, the rest of our coverage (non live streaming) is accumulated on a minute by minute basis. This frequency of accumulation is not high enough for now to create Candles with the required level of exactitude for these instruments. We are currently working on increasing our frequency of accumulation and hope to soon be able to present Candles on our whole coverage.
3. Why are there no Candles for Investor’s view frequencies?
We will gradually roll-out Candle charts on all Weekly and Daily charts where we have intraday coverage as for these longer term frequencies, it doesn’t make much difference if the granularity of price accumulation is done on a second by second or minute by minute basis (i.e. coming soon).
For instruments where our coverage is only End of Day, it will depend if a reliable source of Open/High/Low/Close is available in our price feeds (depends on the various instruments).
On the Hourly charts (standardised Hourly – 8 points a day, see methodology section of these FAQs), we will soon roll out Candles on all instruments that have a 24/24h continuous quotation. For all other assets, this standardised Hourly is a theoretical construction where 8 points a day are distributed over the market opening hours. Hence for each market, the Candles could be of different time length, which would make them difficult to use. We have decided to leave them out for now.
4. How are the Intraday Candles constructed for the "live streaming" instruments?
Instruments in "live streaming" mode are accumulated on a second by second basis, hence they do not reflect a true tick by tick market. One may argue that for our 5 seconds chart this lack of granularity may distort the Candles. We would respond that it is hard to use Candles in a meaningful way on a 5 seconds chart anyway. For all other frequencies, we believe that this approximation is sufficient to deliver a true and fair view of the market. It may however exclude some very short term spikes and hence cannot be used as a reference to assess if certain price levels have been reached within each second or not (e.g. in case you are arguing with your broker on orders having been executed or not).
One advantage we would see in using second by second Candles, is that our time sampling is not continuous. This means that our Candles show some closing and opening gaps. We think that gaps are essential to Candle analysis as they reflect certain market characteristics (e.g. news impact, intensive runaway accelerations, breakouts). Many Candle programs today assume that with continuous electronic quotations, there is no such thing as a intraday gap anymore. Hence often, on Intraday Candles, Open = previous Close per definition. We believe that although this assumption may be theoretically correct, some valuable Candle insight is lost along the way, i.e. even if theoretically prices may continuously quote within the second, a noticeable price differential from one second to the next does have some significance in terms of market characteristics.
Hence, although you may argue on the theory, intraday Candles with Gaps are a useful tool.
5. When they are available, Candles are presented only over a portion of the chart. Why is this?
Presenting Candles over a whole FinGraphs chart would require us to squeeze too many candles on the screen, making them difficult to read. We hence present the Candles only over a portion of the chart (circa the last third of the chart, a period represented by the frame highlighted in the FinGraphs chart). Apart from their configurations, Candles are also useful to identify high and low points with more precision. Hence FinGraphs allows the user to move this frame back and forth on the FinGraphs chart in order to view the Candles over previous periods.