$Account.OrganizationName
Brainy's BullCharts* TipSheets
Number 22
Published: 26 April 2010

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the 22nd edition of my BullCharts software Tip Sheets, focusing on tips and hints for BullCharts (the Australian charting software package).

I am sending this Tip Sheet to both the BullCharts users and my Toolbox Members for interest. If it is of no interest to you, then please just ignore and delete it.

And some of our BullCharts Tip Sheet subscribers would have received the last Tip Sheet (Number 21 - March 7) recently because I thought it would be useful to re-send it to all of the recently new subscribers.

I had originally intended to write these Tip Sheets on a fortnightly basis, but with the Weekly Market Analysis that I do now, and the Weekly email to all my Toolbox Members, there is not a lot of time left each week or fortnight.

At recent BullCharts User Group meetings there has been some discussion about the BullCharts IntelliCharts feature, and the occasional glitch. So I thought I should write something about IntelliCharts in this Tip Sheet edition.

So, read on!!.....


Make sure to see The Age on Tuesday this week (27th April). I have contributed to another of the regular technical analysis articles in the BusinessDay section working with journalist Lucy Battersby. This week we are talking about the megaphone, or broadening wedge chart pattern.

If you can't get the paper, then search for it online. Last time the article ended up on a number of Fairfax web sites - Brisbane Times, Sydney Morning Herald, WA News, and others.

Unfortunately there isn't enough space in the newspaper to write the full text of what I prepared, and to include the two charts; but you can see it all in this pdf file.

If you missed my earlier articles, or this week's one, you can see a list of scanned copies of all past articles, and view them here. (Four of us from the ATAA take it in turns to contribute weekly.)

You might have seen my last contribution a few weeks ago, talking about the possibility of "Bear Market Twins?" I have written about that topic in my Share Market Toolbox.
Don't forget I am now an authorised BullCharts reseller, offering free tuition to those who purchase through me. So encourage others to benefit from using BullCharts and to visit the BullCharts section of my Share Market Toolbox web site so they can benefit from the special offers (my Toolbox is an arsenal of weapons to help you tackle the share market).

And the Tip Sheet Archive Section for a chronological list of past Tip Sheets and the Index page for a detailed list of the topics covered.
I am always happy to receive feedback and suggestions for these Tip Sheets (and my Toolbox web site). Or if anything in a Tip Sheet is not clear, please feel free to contact me to ask about it (by email or phone). Or maybe I have made a mistake, which I will be pleased to correct in the next Tip Sheet along with an acknowledgement for whoever spots it first.

Please feel free to send me feedback, or requests for additional topics for these Tip Sheets or the monthly eNewsletter eBook Articles.

And now you can follow me on Twitter.

Good luck with your trading.

Robert Brain (aka Brainy)
(Contact details below.)


Topics in this Tip Sheet edition:
  • User Group Meeting Guest Speaker
  • IntelliCharts - Introduction
  • IntelliCharts - different time periods
  • Multiple time periods
  • Problem with multiple charts/periods
  • The work around
  • More information
  • This TipSheet might look strange?

  • IntelliCharts - Introduction

    There is already some good preliminary information about IntelliCharts in the earlier Tip Sheet #2.

    And my Toolbox Members can see detailed information in some of the eBook (pdf) Articles. You can see a list of all eBook (pdf) Articles here (and non- Members can view the first page of articles), or Members can go straight to Article BC-06-100, "IntelliCharts".


    IntelliCharts - different time periods

    Remember that IntelliCharts is turned on by default. And it will "remember" any line studies, text, annotations, etc that you put on a chart for a given stock. BullCharts stores this information in individual disk files, with one file for each stock.

    Now, one of the key features of IntelliCharts is that you can either turn it on full-stop, or you can turn it on "for each time period". That is, it can store one set of chart annotations for a Daily chart of a stock, and a different set of annotations for Weekly, and another for Monthly, etc.

    You might wonder why we would want to do this. Believe me, some people (like me) do have a use for this. Remember that we should not restrict our chart viewing to just one time period. It is very wise to view at least two periods, and preferably three.

    If you want to store different annotations for each time period, then change this setting in the menu option: Tools - Preferences - IntelliCharts (tab) so that "Save different IntelliCharts for each time period" is turned on. This is not the default setting.


    Multiple time periods

    Okay, now you might have a BullCharts Workspace set up to easily display a couple of charts of the same stock at the same time (using the Synchronise Chart Windows feature), perhaps on a second screen (using the Floating Window feature).

    [If you are not using the Workspace feature, then see Tip Sheet #18 for details.]

    And/or you might have these two charts set to display different time periods - Daily and Weekly, or Weekly and Monthly. This is good practise, and this will work fine. Even three or four charts of the same stock.

    This will work PROVIDED the time period for each displayed chart is DIFFERENT, AND PROVIDED you change the setting in the menu option (see notes above).


    Problem with multiple charts/periods

    Let's say you might like to have two chart price panes of the same stock, and the same time period - perhaps weekly. You might do this so that you can see a couple of different indicators on the separate charts so as to keep the views simple and easy to read.

    BUT, if you do this, IntelliCharts will NOT work properly.

    This is because when you put a line or chart tool or text onto one of these chart windows, IntelliCharts won't know which chart is the one to use to record the annotations. It can't handle two charts of the same stock and same time period.

    For IntelliCharts to work properly, you can only have one price chart displayed of a specific stock for a specific time period. If you have a second chart of the same stock and same time period, then IntelliCharts will work sometimes, and not other times. It depends on which window pane is the "active" window. (But you can have another chart window open of a different stock if you want.)


    The work around

    Okay, so what can you do if you want to have two charts of the same stock and same time period? Well, you shouldn't try to use IntelliCharts. You should turn this feature off (see above for the menu option).

    The other way to store text, line studies and annotations for a stock is much the same as when you save a word processing document - use the menu option File - Save, and save a file to disk. You will need to assign a name to this file, and indicate a specific folder to store it in.

    I use this feature a lot, with IntelliCharts turned off most of the time. I use a filename that includes the stock code. For example, I store a chart file for BHP and I call it BHP1. And the BullCharts software happens to add a file type (file name extension) with the two letters "bc", so the complete filename becomes "BHP1.bc".

    Why do I insert the digit "1" as well? Because I have a couple of different saved files for each stock. But more about this another time.

    To make it easy, make sure to select a specific folder to save these files. I use a folder called "My Charts", and I have it as a sub-folder in the BullCharts folder. This makes it easier to backup the files when I backup the various BullCharts files (custom scans and indicators, etc.).

    More information about this feature (BullCharts File Save As) is included in Tip Sheet#2.


    More information

    More details on some of the topics in these Weekly Tip Sheets are included in Brainy's Monthly eNewsletters that are now bundled into Brainy's Share Market Toolbox Membership privileges. Feel free to click on the relevant link at right to view samples and more details.
    These Tip Sheets for BullCharts* users are intended to be short, quick grabs of information. They are not a replacement for the monthly detailed eBook (pdf) Articles, which cover these same topics but in much more detail. The eBook Articles also cover Technical Analysis and Share Trading topics.

    Also see the BullCharts on-line help (in BullCharts, hit the F1 key), and the relevant User Guide Chapter for more details (this is supplied with the software and copied to your hard drive as a PDF file).

    Note: Any screen shots shown in this newsletter are snapped from BullCharts version 3.8.6.

    FEEDBACK? - I am very keen to receive feedback about these weekly BullCharts Tipsheets. Please feel free to email me with comments, or suggestions. Contact details are included below.

    * - BullCharts is: "...an innovative charting and technical analysis system. It provides a feature rich and powerful set of tools with access to the latest strategies from local and overseas authors in analysing the dynamics of the stock market."


    This TipSheet might look strange?

    This TipSheet has been composed in HTML and distributed using an online service, and is intended to be viewed in HTML (ie. web language) format. Some parts might look a little strange, especially if you are viewing a basically text-only version. I am working on a text-only version.

    We have also found that some web-mail clients (eg. Hotmail and Yahoo mail) can mess up some aspects.

    Please feel free to send me feedback if anything looks strange.

    Good luck with your trading.

    Robert Brain (aka Brainy)


    User Group Meeting Guest Speaker

    At this week's User Group meeting we will have Stuart McPhee as our guest speaker.

    Stuart's topic will be "Developing a Simple Trading Strategy".

    Stuart is a well-known trader, educator and book author, and is based in Melbourne. He speaks at a variety of functions in Australia and overseas, including various expos, and conferences.

    For background information see Stuart's web site, and in particular his About Us web page. Stuart will also have copies of his latest book for sale (autographed), "Trading in a Nutshell" - more details here.


    Quick Links...

    1. If you are reading this FREE Tip Sheet second hand, and you would prefer to get your own directly and without delay, you can REGISTER here...

    2. Tip Sheets Archive

    3. Tip Sheets Index of topics

    4. Brainy's monthly eBook (pdf) Articles

    5. More About Us

    6. BullCharts information

    7. Australian BullCharts User Group details

    8. The BullCharts users' Yahoo Forum

    9. Brainy's Stocks and Shares portal web page

    10. Brainy's new YouTube channel, includes BullCharts tutorial(s) and useful trading stuff

    phone: 0438 355 910

    Click here to forward this TipSheet to a friend with a personalised message -->


    This email was sent to brain@hotkey.net.au by robert@robertbrain.com.

    Robert Brain (Brainy) | 23 Nathan Street | Ferntree Gully | Victoria | 3156 | Australia