Thinkorswim Options Chart Setup and Customization

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An African American woman studying financial charts and graphs in an office.
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To create a custom options chart, navigate to the "Chart" tab and select "Studies" from the top menu. From there, you can add various technical indicators and overlays to enhance your chart's functionality.

The "Thinkorswim" platform allows you to customize your chart's appearance by adjusting the color scheme, font size, and time frame. You can also add multiple charts to a single window for easy comparison.

Customizing your chart's layout can be done by dragging and dropping different studies and indicators into place. This flexibility allows you to tailor your chart to your specific trading needs.

By organizing your studies and indicators in a logical and visually appealing manner, you can quickly and easily identify key trends and patterns in the market.

Thinkorswim Setup

The Thinkorswim platform is a powerful tool that can be customized to suit your trading needs. You can add gadgets like charts, notepads, and even Minesweeper to keep yourself entertained on slow market days.

Credit: youtube.com, The Fastest Way To Trade Options on ThinkorSwim (Active Trader Setup)

To get started, you'll want to familiarize yourself with the Thinkorswim interface. The top left box displays your account information, while the gadgets below provide a range of customization options.

Here are some key features to look for in your Thinkorswim setup:

Thinkorswim Setup

Thinkorswim's platform can be daunting when you first launch it, but with a little setup and customization, you can make the most of it.

The top left box displays all of your account info, so you can easily keep track of your account status.

Below that, you'll find gadgets, which are customizable widgets that allow you to add features like charts, notepads, and even games like Minesweeper to keep you entertained on slow market days.

Trader TV is also available, allowing you to watch the Thinkorswim network or CNBC for real-time market updates.

A watch list of stocks is displayed below, so you can quickly see what's happening with your favorite tickers.

Credit: youtube.com, How To Setup ThinkorSwim For Day Trading (Full Walkthrough)

You can also add a quick chart, which lets you type in a ticker and pull up a chart in seconds.

The platform's send feature will notify you in the top left of your screen when an order fills.

To identify the ideal setup for scalping or intraday trading, follow these rules:

  1. Identify the pre-market high and low and draw horizontal lines.
  2. Use technical indicators like ATR levels, moving averages, Ripster EMA clouds, RSI, and TTM Squeeze to identify the trend.
  3. Check the direction of the market compared to the previous day.
  4. Check the direction of moving averages and the color of Ripster EMA clouds in the 3 min grid.
  5. Wait for a crossover of the moving averages.
  6. Check if a long candle breaches the moving average or if a small candle breaches the SMA and wait for the retest.
  7. Check the color of the Ripster EMA cloud changes from either red to green or vice-versa and they do a cross over.
  8. Based on the direction identified, enter into a call or put option and exit near the next ATR level.
  9. Consider VIX and SPY trends, which often move in opposite directions.

Thinkorswim's bracket mechanism is also a useful feature, allowing you to specify a profit limit or stop loss and adjust them as needed to minimize losses and maximize profits.

Using the Market Maker Move Tool

The Market Maker Move Tool is a valuable feature in Thinkorswim that helps you determine the Market Maker Move (MMM) for earnings gaps.

You can use this tool to analyze the potential price movement of a stock after earnings announcements.

To access the Market Maker Move Tool, you'll need to follow a specific tutorial or guide, such as the one found in "Thinkorswim (TOS) Tutorial: How to determine the Market Maker Move (MMM) for earnings gaps".

The tool allows you to visualize the potential price movement and make more informed trading decisions.

By using the Market Maker Move Tool, you can gain a better understanding of the market's behavior and make more accurate predictions about future price movements.

A fresh viewpoint: Pre Market Trading Stocks

Options Chain Overview

Credit: youtube.com, Master The Options Chain In ThinkOrSwim (ToS) | Trading Tutorials

The options chain is split into two sections, Calls and Puts, with strike prices in the middle. This can be customized to suit your needs.

You'll notice tabs labeled 1, 2, 3, etc., but these are actually customizable data points. To change them, click on the "Layout" tab and select "Customize" from the dropdown menu.

The customizable data points include Last Price, Last Size, Low, High, Volume, Open Interest, %Change, Net Change, Delta, Theta, Bid, Ask, Implied Volatility + Expected Move, Prob. ITM, and Prob. Touch.

Each data point has a specific definition, such as Last Price being the last price at which the option contract was traded. The data points can be added or removed to suit your trading needs.

The options chain also displays the number of contracts traded during the session, known as Volume. This can give you an idea of market activity and interest in the option contract.

The Implied Volatility + Expected Move data point is particularly useful, as it shows the potential movement of the underlying stock. This can help you make more informed trading decisions.

If this caught your attention, see: Thinkorswim Relative Volume

Chart Customization

Credit: youtube.com, Master Think or Swim (ToS) Custom Charts | Trading Tutorials

You can display multiple charts in the same window on Thinkorswim. This can be helpful for comparing different assets or time frames.

Show rollover lines to highlight the end of the trading day with a vertical "rollover line". This can be useful for tracking daily market closures.

To make your charts even more informative, you can add ATR and Expected Move to the Chart corner. This can help you gauge volatility and potential price movements.

Broaden your view: Charts Display Bias

Chart Aggregation

Chart Aggregation is a powerful tool in thinkorswim that allows you to customize your charts to suit your trading needs.

To enable time aggregation, choose "Time" from the Aggregation type dropdown list and select a time interval such as WTD (week to date) or YTD (year to date).

You can also use a custom time interval, which is useful if you want to analyze a specific period in the past or a number of years/months/days up to today.

Credit: youtube.com, Customize your charts with Chart.js and React Lesson 4 - Custom tooltips

For example, if you want to view all available chart data for the past year, you can choose Custom from the dropdown and specify a time period in the past.

Tick aggregation is another option, where you can choose the number of trades corresponding to a single bar, ranging from 1 to 10,000.

Range aggregation is also available, with two modes: Range Bars and Renko Bars, where you can set the price range to be accumulated for a single bar.

For instance, choosing ATR (Average True Range) will produce a chart with aggregation equal to the arithmetical mean of True Range calculated for the whole chart.

To keep the defined time axis scaling after chart manipulations, select Keep time zoom.

Adding ATR and Expected Move to Chart

Adding ATR and Expected Move to Chart can be a game-changer for traders.

Thinkorswim, a popular trading platform, offers a feature to add Average True Range (ATR) and Expected Move to the chart corner, as shown in the Thinkorswim Tutorial by Coach Gino Poore.

Credit: youtube.com, TOS Tutorials: add the ATR on Chart to top Left Corner to TOS charts

This feature is particularly useful for technical analysis, as explained in the article "Tales of a Technician: How to Use Average True Range (ATR)".

To use ATR and Expected Move effectively, you need to understand how they work behind the scenes, which is also covered in the "Tales of a Technician" article.

With ATR and Expected Move on your chart, you can better identify potential trading opportunities and make more informed decisions.

In fact, the author of "Summary" recommends using ATR and Expected Move as part of a comprehensive trading strategy.

To get the most out of this feature, it's essential to have a solid understanding of chart patterns and candles, as emphasized in the "Summary" article.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to see options in Thinkorswim?

To view options in Thinkorswim, open the Chart Settings window and select the Options tab to customize your chart display. From there, you can choose the price type and select the Open interest study plot to gain more insights.

Is there a chart for options trading?

Yes, there is a chart for options trading, known as the Option Contract History chart, which displays price, volume, and other key metrics over time. This chart helps traders analyze historical trends and make informed decisions.

Ann Lueilwitz

Senior Assigning Editor

Ann Lueilwitz is a seasoned Assigning Editor with a proven track record of delivering high-quality content to various publications. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for storytelling, Ann has honed her skills in assigning and editing articles that captivate and inform readers. Ann's expertise spans a range of categories, including Financial Market Analysis, where she has developed a deep understanding of global economic trends and their impact on markets.

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