Reading Charts . Lesson 1 of 12
How To Set Up A Company Share Price Chart
A beginner TradingView walkthrough before you start looking for buy or sell signals.
Quick Answer
How Do You Set Up a Company Share Price Chart?
Open TradingView Supercharts, search for the company’s correct ticker and exchange, select a candlestick chart and set the timeframe to 1D. Keep volume visible, add a 200-day Simple Moving Average and save the layout. This clean setup helps beginners identify basic support, resistance, breakouts, breakdowns and possible changes in trend. You can apply this to a live chart in our AI technical analysis tool.
Before you can read a chart, you need to know how to set one up properly. A lot of chart lessons jump straight into indicators, patterns, and complicated trading language. That is not the right starting point. First, you need a clean chart that shows price, time, trend, and volume clearly.
This lesson shows you how to open TradingView, search for a company, choose the right chart type, set the timeframe, add volume, add one basic moving average, and save the layout. After that, you will learn the simple difference between a possible buy signal and a possible sell signal without overcomplicating it.
Lesson Goal
By the end, you should be able to open any listed company chart, make it readable, and identify the first basic areas where buyers or sellers may be taking control.
Part One
Open TradingView and go to Supercharts
Open your browser and go to tradingview.com. From the top menu, choose Products, then click Supercharts. This opens the main charting screen. If a chart already appears, that is fine. You are going to replace it with your own company chart in the next step. TradingView may ask you to create an account. You do not need to connect a broker or place trades to use the chart. For this lesson, the free charting view is enough.
Beginner Note
Do not worry about watchlists, alerts, screeners, social posts, or broker buttons yet. In this lesson, the only thing that matters is the chart.
Part Two
Search for the company ticker
Every listed company has a short code called a ticker. Apple is AAPL. Microsoft is MSFT. NVIDIA is NVDA. To open a chart, click the symbol search box in the top left of TradingView and type the ticker. For US shares, you may see more than one result. Choose the result from the correct exchange. For example, Apple will usually appear as NASDAQ:AAPL. JPMorgan may appear as NYSE:JPM. If you are unsure, choose the result with the main US exchange next to it.
Common Beginner Tickers
| AAPL | Apple | NASDAQ |
| MSFT | Microsoft | NASDAQ |
| NVDA | NVIDIA | NASDAQ |
| JPM | JPMorgan Chase | NYSE |
| SPY | S&P 500 ETF | NYSE Arca |
| QQQ | Nasdaq 100 ETF | NASDAQ |
Part Three
Set the chart to candlesticks
The chart type controls how price is displayed. Beginners often start with a line chart because it looks simple, but a line chart hides useful information. A candlestick chart shows the open, high, low, and close for each period. At the top of TradingView, click the chart type button and select Candles. This should be your default chart type for learning technical analysis.
What One Candle Tells You
A green candle usually means price closed higher than it opened. A red candle usually means price closed lower than it opened. The wicks show how far price moved up or down before the candle closed.
Part Four
Set the timeframe to 1D
The timeframe controls what each candle represents. On a 1D chart, each candle represents one trading day. On a 1W chart, each candle represents one trading week. On a 5m chart, each candle represents five minutes. For beginners, start with the daily chart. Click the timeframe selector near the top left and choose 1D. The daily chart is slow enough to reduce noise, but detailed enough to show trends, pullbacks, breakouts, and support areas.
| Timeframe | Best Used For | Beginner Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| 5m / 15m | Short-term trading | Too noisy at first |
| 1H / 4H | Swing trading detail | Useful later |
| 1D | Daily trend and signals | Start here |
| 1W | Long-term direction | Use for context |
Part Five
Turn on volume
Volume shows how many shares were traded during each candle. Price tells you what happened. Volume helps you judge how much participation was behind the move. Most TradingView layouts already show volume at the bottom of the chart. If you cannot see it, click Indicators, search for Volume, and add it. Keep volume visible at all times.
Simple Volume Rule
A price move on higher-than-normal volume is usually more important than a price move on quiet volume. This does not make it automatically bullish or bearish, but it tells you more people were involved.
Part Six
Add one moving average
Do not overload the chart with indicators. Start with one simple trend guide: the 200 day Simple Moving Average. It smooths out price movement and helps you see whether the stock is generally trading above or below its longer-term trend. Click Indicators, search for Moving Average, and add it. Open the settings and change the length to 200. You can leave everything else simple for now.
A clean chart gives you fewer opinions, but better questions.
StockEducation Principle
Part Seven
Save your beginner layout
Once your chart shows candlesticks, the daily timeframe, volume, and the 200 day moving average, save the layout. This means every company chart you open can use the same clean setup. Click Save or the layout cloud/save icon near the top right of TradingView. Name the layout something simple, such as Beginner Stock Chart.
Beginner Chart Setup Checklist
Your chart should now look like this
| Platform | TradingView Supercharts |
| Company | Correct ticker selected |
| Chart type | Candlesticks |
| Timeframe | Daily, 1D |
| Volume | Visible at the bottom |
| Indicator | 200 day Simple Moving Average |
Part Eight
The first simple buy signals to notice
Now that the chart is set up, you can start learning what a possible buy signal looks like. A buy signal is not a guarantee. It simply means the chart is showing early signs that buyers may be taking control. At this beginner stage, focus on three simple ideas: price moving up from support, price breaking above resistance, and price holding above the 200 day moving average.
| Beginner Buy Signal | What It Looks Like | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Bounce from support | Price falls to an area, stops falling, then turns up | Buyers may be defending that level |
| Break above resistance | Price moves above a level it previously struggled to pass | Demand may be stronger than supply |
| Holding above the 200 day average | Price stays above a rising 200 day moving average | The longer-term trend may still be healthy |
Part Nine
The first simple sell signals to notice
A sell signal is the opposite. It does not mean a stock must crash. It means the chart is showing early signs that sellers may be taking control, momentum may be weakening, or the previous trend may be breaking down. At this stage, focus on three simple warning signs: price falling from resistance, price breaking below support, and price falling below the 200 day moving average.
- Rejection at resistance. Price reaches an area where it struggled before, then turns down again.
- Break below support. Price falls under an area that previously held as a floor.
- Below the 200 day average. Price moves under the long-term trend guide and fails to recover quickly.
Important
These are educational chart-reading signals, not personal financial advice. A chart signal should never be used alone. Later lessons will teach confirmation, risk management, false signals, and how to combine evidence before making any decision.
Practice Walkthrough . NASDAQ:AAPL
Set up Apple as your first practice chart
Apple is a useful beginner chart because it is heavily traded and easy to search.
- Open TradingView Supercharts.
- Search for NASDAQ:AAPL.
- Set the chart type to Candles.
- Set the timeframe to 1D.
- Make sure Volume is visible.
- Add a 200 day Simple Moving Average.
- Look for basic support, resistance, bounces, breakouts, and breakdowns.
Key Takeaways
What to remember from this lesson
| 01 | Start with the platform setup before trying to read advanced indicators. |
| 02 | Use TradingView Supercharts, search the correct ticker, and choose the correct exchange. |
| 03 | Use candlesticks on the daily timeframe for your beginner setup. |
| 04 | Keep volume visible because it shows how much participation is behind a move. |
| 05 | Start with one moving average, the 200 day SMA, instead of loading the chart with too many indicators. |
| 06 | Basic buy and sell signals begin with support, resistance, breakouts, breakdowns, trend, and volume. |
Practice Task
Set up three charts before moving on
This lesson is only finished once you can repeat the setup without guessing.
| I. | Open AAPL, MSFT, and SPY in TradingView. |
| II. | Set each one to Candles and 1D. |
| III. | Add Volume and the 200 day Simple Moving Average. |
| IV. | Mark one possible support area and one possible resistance area on each chart. |
| V. | Write down whether price is above or below the 200 day moving average. |
End of Lesson
Reading Charts . Lesson 1 of 12 . Continue to Reading a Stock Chart.
Primary sources and further reading
Use these references to check the definitions, methods and risks discussed in this guide. Examples are for learning and do not predict investment results.- FINRA: Stocks
- FINRA: market timing and buy-and-hold strategies
- FINRA: Investment Risk
- SEC Investor.gov: Introduction to Investing
Education only. This guide provides general information, not personal investment, financial or tax advice. Check current rules and official filings before making a decision. All of the free market tools are collected on one page.
