TPO

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Understanding Time Price Opportunity Chart Type

TPO charts are constructed as follows: the trading period is divided into periods (e.g.: 1 day is divided into 30-minute intervals). The price range is also divided into price intervals. The size of the price interval is called Price Increment. By default Price Increment is calculated automatically to display the whole data series on the chart. After that all cells where market activity happened are marked with letters or blocks. Each time interval has a corresponding letter/block and color. As a result the following TPO chart representations are available:

Expanded representation:

  • letters

Untitled1.png

  • blocks

Untitled2.png

Collapsed representation:

This representation is formed from Expanded by grouping all blocks to the left. The resulting image displays the market activity for the period grouped by time and spread by price.

  • letters

Untitled3.png

  • blocks

Untitled4.png

Selecting TPO Chart Type

To select TPO as a chart type:

  1. Open the Format Instruments window:

    To open the Format Instruments window, click the Format Instruments Format Instrument.png icon on the main toolbar;
    if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.

    The Format Instruments window can also be opened by one of the following methods:
      - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; double-click once the Pointer Pointer.png changes into a Hand Hand.png;
      - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; once the Pointer Pointer.png changes into a Hand Hand.png right-click and then click Format Symbol Name;
      - Right-click on an empty area of the chart and then click Format Instruments; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button;
      - Select Format in the main menu and click Instrument; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.

  2. Select the Settings tab.
  3. Select TPO from the Chart Type list.
  4. Enter the Resolution and Block Size in the corresponding boxes.
  5. Select Tick Based to have a more detailed data series. Only use Tick Based if necessary as it will slow down that series construction.
  6. Click OK.

Selecting TPO Chart Style

Chart style can be selected from the Format Instrument window:

  1. The easiest way to change the appearance of a TPO chart is through the context menu. The following commands are available:
    • Expand Profile/Collapse Profile – to choose the Expanded or Collapsed representation of an individual profile;
    • Expand All Profiles/Collapse All Profiles – to choose the Expanded or Collapsed representation of all profiles;
    • Submenu TPO Visual Parts – to enable or disable any part of a TPO chart;
  2. Open the Format Instruments window:

    To open the Format Instruments window, click the Format Instruments Format Instrument.png icon on the main toolbar;
    if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.

    The Format Instruments window can also be opened by one of the following methods:
      - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; double-click once the Pointer Pointer.png changes into a Hand Hand.png;
      - Position the mouse pointer over the symbol's data series; once the Pointer Pointer.png changes into a Hand Hand.png right-click and then click Format Symbol Name;
      - Right-click on an empty area of the chart and then click Format Instruments; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button;
      - Select Format in the main menu and click Instrument; if the Format Objects window appears, select the symbol and click the Format button.

  3. Select the Style tab.
  4. In the Chart Style section click on the checkbox to enable/disable the corresponding element.
  5. For precise setting of elements’ styles click on the triangle next to the element’s checkbox to display the extended parameters. This allows for the precise configuration of the chosen component:
    • Display Method – allows for choosing the display method: Letters, Blocks, or Bars;
      • Force Price Increment – allows for automatic adjustment of the most appropriate TPO bars price increment (increments by 1);
        Note: TPO Force Price Increment can be incremented by 10 by pressing CTRL+Scroll Wheel, CTRL+LMB, CTRL+UP/DWN key, PgUp/PgDn key.
      • Show Blocks With Zero Trades – displays levels with no ticks;
    • TPO Counts – displays the number of blocks in one price level;
    • Value Area – displays the area which includes 70%* of blocks;
      • Second Value Area – displays additional user-defined value area;
    • Initial Balance Range – displays the price area which includes market activity for the first 2* time intervals;
    • Volume Profile – displays a histogram representing the distribution of volumes at each price level;
    • Open, Close, Midpoint and Point of Control – display corresponding markers.
  6. To use these style settings for all new charts of this type, select Use as Default check box.
* - default value; can be changed.

Auto trading orders on TPO Chart Type

There are some differences between Regular and TPO chart types with regards to order generation in real time and backtesting. New keywords are available.

Backtesting and Data Playback

Bar Magnifier is not available for TPO Chart Type. Data Playback works only in the "As is" mode.

Real-Time simulation

Type of the strategy TPO Chart Type
Buy next bar at market Order is placed on the first tick of the new bar, i.e. on the Open of next bar.
Buy this bar at close Order is placed on the last tick of the bar, i.e. on the Close of the current bar.
Price orders Order is placed at the price of the first tick that satisfies Stop and Limit conditions.

Auto Trading

Type of the strategy TPO Chart Type
Buy next bar at market When the first tick of a new bar comes, the market order is sent to the broker.
Buy this bar at close When the last, closing tick comes, the market order is sent to the broker.
Price orders When the auto trading is on, a price order is sent to the broker.

Analysis

You can analyze the market activity by adjusting the TPO construction options:

  • Choose the initial block binding: from Session Open or from Specified time;
  • Use Split and Merge functions on each block;
  • It is possible to adjust the parameters and the appearance of all TPO elements required for analysis by presenting the market activity in a convenient for a customer way;
  • From the contextual menu it is possible to expand and collapse individual bars, not the whole data series.