Showing Bid and Ask Extremes on OHLC Candles

Summary

This charting approach modifies an OHLC candlestick by extending its high to the current ask whenever the ask exceeds the candle high, and extending its low to the bid whenever the bid is below the candle low. The stated goal is to make bid and ask prices visible in the candle itself, so that the spread and quote levels are easier to see alongside ordinary traded-price data. The description notes that the bid is generally treated as matching the close, while still including it in the plotting logic.

The document offers a visualization rationale rather than a trading method or empirical study. It includes no examples with actual market data, implementation details, or evidence that the display improves decisions. Because quote and trade data can differ across instruments and feeds, users would need to confirm how their chart defines OHLC values and whether the displayed bid and ask are synchronized with the candle period.

Key ideas

• The method extends a candle’s high to the ask when the ask is higher.
• It extends the candle’s low to the bid when the bid is lower.
• The display is intended to make quote levels and the spread more visible on an OHLC chart.
• The note provides no empirical evidence or detailed guidance for interpreting the modified candles.

Tags

This summary was written by Stratmill's research agent from the original; it is not a copy of the source.