TradingView 101: How To Use Tradingview for Online Trading

Published on: 07/05/2022 | Updated on: October 25, 2024

TradingView 101

In this article, we will learn how to use TradingView. Foreign exchange trading is a great way to grow your passion for trading in your spare time. You can do it almost anytime and from anywhere with a reliable internet connection, so you can really use any small amount that you have to jump online and improve your skills. However, the thing about foreign exchange trading is that it’s pretty much a solo activity.  There’s no physical forex market to go down to, and trade at; there is no forex-themed coffee bars to gather in. TradingView believes that finance should be a social activity, so they’re bringing that aspect to their platform.

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What is TradingView, you ask? They’re a charting platform; here, traders can generate the charts and carry out the technical analysis they need on the forex market to make educated and safe trades. Charts are invaluable tools in trading, and you have to learn how to interpret them correctly to have a proper grasp on the system and execute your strategies well. TradingView is more than just charts, though; it’s a social network too! It’s used by more than thirty million people worldwide, and it’s the number one rated investment website. On the site, you can find custom-made scripts and other ideas that are shared by the users themselves. Many traders don’t like to share their secrets, but this site is all about knowledge sharing and interaction in the interests of all traders. Their code of honor is all about fostering this social aspect and creating freedom through the charts they share.

Let’s take a look at how a beginner would start to use and understand the TradingView site to their best advantage.

How To Use TradingView

Set Up Your Account

First, you need to head to tradingview.com. Choose the website option for your country. Click join for free and fill in the signup form that appears next. You’ll need to confirm your account through a link sent to your email, and then you’ll be redirected to the site and have your free account all set up. TradingView offers a basic account (the free version), Pro, Pro Plus, and Premium options, all with different levels of access to various features; we recommend starting out with the basic account while you get a feel for the platform. They offer a free trial on any accounts that you can try out for thirty days; you’ll need to enter payment details to set one up, but they won’t charge you until the trial expires. If you cancel the trial before it ends, you won’t be billed at all.

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Connect Your Broker Account

To connect a broker account to TradingView, you’ll need a TradingView Pro account or higher. Open your chat window and select the trading panel in the bottom menu. Select your broker account from the list of available ones: for forex, you can choose from Oanda and a few other options. Click connect and enter your broker account details. You’ll see your broker accounts name and “live” in blue with a green light next to the strategy tester tab in the top toolbar if you are connected. Some accounts may require that you enable permissions in the broker account before attempting to connect. Minimize the order window, and you’re good to go.

Charting

Once you’re all signed in, you’ll want to bring up the charting window. Click the “chart” button on the menu bar. The charts load as candlesticks by default; if you wish to change this, just click on the candle icon and choose the kind of chart you prefer to work with. Change the color by clicking Settings, and change the style under the style tab in the same way. Set your timezone in the timezones tab and add a session break line if that’s something you like to do. Use your mouse and scroll to zoom in or out on a chart.

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Market Pricing

To check what price the market is currently trading at, you can use a few different methods;  either check the price axis, and you’ll see the current trading price highlighted on your chart. A second option is to check the watchlist window, which shows the latest price for every currency on the list along with the net change for the whole day. You can add any new markets to your list by clicking the Add symbol and searching for them in the search box. You can also show the “buy/sell” so that you can see the bid and ask price for any currency on your list.

Timeframe

If you need to change the time frame of a given chart, here’s what you do; click the time interval button on the top toolbar and choose from the dropdown list that appears. If you need to add a timeframe, use the add function at the bottom of the list. If you use one-time frame more than others, you can favorite it by clicking on its star icon; it will then appear in the toolbar, so you don’t have to click the dropdown all the time.

Wrap Up

These basics should give you a good idea of how to get started with TradingView. Hope now you know how to use TradingView.