"I find P&F charts only seem to come in one time period, dependent on the individual security, and I cannot change the time period, e.g. by changing box size. I am surprised that Gold in U$ (London Spot) e.g. only charts back to end 2005.

"Is there a trick I don't know?

"Also although colour is ticked, many P&Fs come up in B&W..."

Eoin Treacy's view Thank you for this question which I'm sure will be of interest to other subscribers looking at p&f charts. One of the consequences of increasing the functionality available in the Chart Library is that it may be less easy to find the options you wish to use, so let me suggest a simple rule; whenever you want to customize anything in the Chart Library start with the Charting Tool, located in the black bar above the chart.

Let's take gold as an example. If prices only go back to 2005/06, I suspect your box size is set at 10. (Please note the box size used is quoted in the lower left hand corner just below the chart.) There are two ways of looking at more history for a p&f chart, you can either increase the box size, making the chart less sensitive, or reduce the size of the font used to draw the X's and O's which makes them less distinct. This means that getting the best p&f chart for one's purposes often requires a certain amount of customisation. I would also recommend that if you are focusing on point and figure charts then looking at a range of box sizes from more condensed to less condensed would be a good idea.

To change the box size, click on the Charting tool, located in the black bar above the chart. A pop-up window will appear. There is a dropdown menu for Box Size with options ranging from 1% (rounded) to Custom. The 1% chart will default to a box size of 20 which may be less sensitive than one might like. Personally I prefer 12 because it provides more back history while remaining reasonably sensitive. To choose your own box size, select Custom from the Box Size dropdown menu. An additional box will appear where you can enter your box size. When you have chosen your parameter hit apply and the new chart will be drawn.

You can also fit more back history in by using the Zoom dropdown menu located at the top of the page just to the left of the Filter button. Our default is 60% which will draw blue and red charts if you have the colour option selected in the Charting tool. If you would like to draw down additional history you can select either 40% of 20% from the zoom dropdown menu. However because the chart needs to fit more data into a smaller space, it will display the chart in black and white regardless of what other option you might have selected.