The Chart Markup functionality allows you to add shapes, lines, and/or text directly to a chart. These annotations can be used to assist with presenting information to clients, highlighting important levels on the chart, providing yourself with relevant reminders, or any other reason you would want to add custom content directly to the chart.
Where do I find it?
You can find the markup tools within the toolbar at the top of a chart.
The markup tools are collapsed by default. Click the Markup button to reveal the annotation controls available to you.
Adding Shapes and/or Text Boxes
To add a shape or a text box, hover over the text box icon among the markup controls and click on your desired shape in the dropdown
Adding Text
Once you select the text box option from the dropdown, place the text box by clicking wherever you would like it placed on the chart. The text box can be moved to another position later if it is not placed in your desired location on your initial click.
To customize the text box, click inside the text box and select Edit from the list of options that appears.
Customize the content, background color, text size, and text color then click Save.
To close the color selector, click anywhere within the editor pop-up window. Be careful not to click outside of the pop-up window before you are done editing as this will delete your unsaved changes.
You can adjust the location of your text box by changing the location it points to on the chart, its position relative to that location, or a combination of the two.
Drawing Shapes
When adding a shape to the chart, the shape will appear wherever you first click within the chart. Move your mouse to adjust the size of the shape and click a second time to place the shape on the chart.
To customize your shape, click inside of it and select Edit from the options that appear. You can adjust the outline color, outline thickness, and fill color of your chart shapes.
To draw a shape with only an outline, open the fill color selector, select any color, and drag the transparency bar all the way to the left.
To adjust the position of your shape, click within the shape, hold the mouse button down while you drag it into your desired position, and release to lock it into place. To adjust the size of the shape, click within the shape, click and hold the white circle along the outside of the shape, drag the mouse to resize, and release to save your changes.
Drawing Lines
There are three different line types that can be drawn on charts- line segments with two fixed endpoints, rays with one fixed endpoint and one side extending infinitely, and horizontal lines.
Line Segments
To draw a line segment, select the first option under the line annotation dropdown. Click on the chart to place the first endpoint, then click a second time to place the second endpoint.
To move the line, hold down left click on your mouse and drag the line to your desired position. To edit the color or width of the line, left click the line and select edit in the options bar that appears at the top of the chart. To change the length or slope of the line, click and drag either endpoint to move it to a new position on the chart.
Rays
To draw a ray that extends infinitely in one direction, select the second option under the line annotation dropdown. Click on the chart to place the first endpoint, align the ray at your desired slope then click a second time to place it on the chart.
To move the ray, hold down left click on your mouse and drag it to your desired position. To edit the color or width of the ray, left click the ray and select edit in the options bar that appears at the top of the chart. To change the length or slope of the ray, click and drag either point to move it to a new position on the chart.
Horizontal Lines
To draw a line segment, select the third option under the line annotation dropdown. Click once on the chart to place the line at your desired chart level. To move the line, hold down left click on your mouse and drag the line to your desired position. To edit the color or width of the line, left click the line and select edit in the options bar that appears at the top of the chart.
Line Intersection Alerts
Line Intersection Alerts allow you to set alerts for a changing price target that cannot be captured with traditional price or activity alerts. A good example of when you might use an intersection alert is for a chart like the one below. Notice how at the beginning of 2025 the chart established a trend line starting at the $45 chart level and subsequently rose and traded in a pretty consistent linear pattern several levels above its established trend line. In this case, setting a traditional trend alert would force you to wait until the price moved below the dotted red line and a price alert would have to be updated as the chart continued to switch columns moving forward. However, drawing a new "trend line" and enabling intersection alerts would allow you to monitor if the trend established by this stock over the last several months were to break down without having to constantly update your alert or monitor the chart manually.
To enable intersection alerts, toggle the Intersection Alerts option on under the "additional options" dropdown among the chart display options.
Intersection alerts can only be set for lines drawn on Point & Figure Trend and Point & Figure RS charts
Overlay Moving Averages, Bollinger Bands, and Other Indicators
The chart markup functionality also allows you to overlay the following indicators on line, RS line, and candlestick charts:
- Simple Moving Averages (SMA)
- Exponential Moving Averages (EMA)
- Bollinger Band (BB)
- Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD)
- Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP)
- Relative Strength Index (RSI)
Moving Averages, Bollinger Bands, and Volume-Weighted Average Price will appear directly on the chart along with the security's price. MACD and RSI indicators will appear in the section below daily volume highlighted in the below screenshot.
Indicators can currently only be added to Line, RS Line, and Candlestick charts
To add an indicator to a chart, select the icon highlighted below, choose your desired indicator in the popup window, and enter your preferred timeframe or other relevant data.
The unit for all time periods is trading days. If, for example, you want to include the 10-week simple moving average, select SMA from the options on the left, enter 50 into the Period field, and click Add.
Multiple indicators can be added to the same chart, and you can see the value of each indicator at any point in time by hovering over that point on the chart. The values will appear in the upper left corner of the chart.
To edit or remove an existing indicator, click the indicator icon to open the popup window, select the edit tab, and choose the indicator you would like to edit or remove. To edit, edit the data and click the save button. To remove it from the chart, simply click the Remove button.
Printing Charts with Annotations
Any annotations visible on the chart will be included in the printed output
Annotations can be hidden from the chart to be excluded from printed output without needing to be deleted.
To show your chart annotations on the printed output of a chart, make sure the eye icon above the chart appears like this.
To have your chart annotations hidden from the printed output of a chart, click the eye icon so it shows as below.
Deleting Annotations
To delete a single annotation, click on the shape or text box you want removed and select Remove from the options in the pop-up window.
To delete all annotations on that chart, click the trash can icon within the Markup controls on the chart toolbar.