Data source and reliability

dmason

Hi,

I have recently started using stockcharts.com to do weekly scans for particular setups. Having just checked the charts with others on two different feeds, the stockcharts charts show considerable differences from the other two. I was wondering about the source of the data used by stockcharts and how reliable it is? Obviously if 2 other feeds are showing different charts, something is not right on either stockcharts or the 2 other feeds.

Many thanks,
David

gord

Sounds like you are looking at Dividend adjusted charts at StockCharts and comparing them to unadjusted charts from other sites. StockCharts adjusts the historical chart data to remove the effect of Dividends etc, which cause chart distortions when performing Technical Analysis. This service requires alot of extra manual work and StockCharts is the only site I know of that provides it.

Here's a couple of articles which explain this in great detail.

Note you can also review your charts in an un-adjusted form by placing an underscore in front of the ticker symbol. SU vs _SU

http://support.stockcharts.com/entries/20634-Historical-Price-Data-is-Adjusted-for-Splits-Dividends-and-Distributions

http://stockcharts.com/articles/mailbag/2014/01/how-can-i-plot-dividend-adjusted-data-and-unadjusted-data.html

dmason

Thanks Gord, that's really helpful. This is indeed the case - viewing unadjusted charts shows the same as the other feeds. Thanks for clearing up the confusion!

Cheers,
David