Price chart: types, timeframes and log scale

A price chart shows how an asset's price has changed over time. The most popular types are the line chart (connecting closing prices), the bar chart and the candlestick chart, which shows the open, close, high and low. Every chart has a timeframe, meaning the duration of one candle, for example 15 minutes, an hour or a day.

The same price looks different depending on the timeframe and scale. A logarithmic scale shows percentage changes equally, which makes long periods easier to judge, while a linear scale shows absolute changes. A common mistake is analyzing a single timeframe when higher ones show a different picture. A chart is a record of the past and does not predict price, and tools overlaid on it can be unreliable.