Tracking Intrabar Ask and Bid Extremes on OHLC Candles

Summary

The document describes a modified OHLC candlestick display that records the highest ask and lowest bid observed during each bar. The candle’s upper extreme represents the highest ask, while its lower extreme represents the lowest bid. Showing these tick-level extremes is intended to reveal short-lived price movement that ordinary candles on a lower timeframe may obscure.

The display may help traders judge where stop placement needs to account for intrabar volatility. The document also notes an optimized version that retrieves tick data outside the bar-processing loop to reduce repeated calls and CPU load. It offers no data, test results, or guidance on how spreads, tick availability, or execution conditions affect the interpretation, so the display is an aid to inspection rather than a demonstrated trading rule.

Key ideas

• The chart records each bar’s highest ask and lowest bid from tick data.
• These extremes can expose intrabar movement that standard OHLC candles hide.
• Tick extremes may inform stop placement by showing how far prices moved within a bar.
• Retrieving tick ranges outside the processing loop reduces repeated calls and CPU load.
• The document supplies no evidence that the display improves trading outcomes.

Tags

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