In case you are thinking of switching to the Sierra Chart platform, this section can be considered as type of quick start guide. However, SC has its own in-depth documentation on their website which is recommended to follow for the adaption of the platform to own preferences.

Getting one’s feet wet with SC doesn’t necessarily require a connection to a brokerage. A very cost effective way of learning and getting to know the platform and the various products that can be traded is by using SC in combination with their own Denali Exchange Data Feed. SC also offers a Free Trial version for 21 days.

A. Installation

1. Download the installer.
2. Install the platform on your system.
3. Open an account with SC.
4. Start SC and enter the login credentials. The first time opening the platform it looks similar to this:

Fig. 1: Initial start of SC. It might open an example Chartbook.

 

B. Open own chartbook and chart.

1. [alt], [f], [l]: Example chartbook closing. No need to save the chartbook.
2. [alt], [f], [n]: New chartbook opens.
3. [alt], [f], then select “Find Symbol” (Fig. 2). A window opens with available symbols as per connected data feed (Fig. 3).
4. Select the trading product as per preference (Fig. 4).
5. The chart opens and loads data if SC is connected to the data feed (Fig. 5).

Fig. 2: File menu contents. «Find Symbol» to add a new chart to a chartbook.

 

Fig. 3: The “Find Symbol” window. Opening “Futures CME” Folder (naming might be slightly different depending on connected data feed).

 

Fig. 04: Selecting required trading symbol then "Open Intraday Chart".

 

Fig. 05: A new chart opens of selected symbol. Standard is 1min OHLC bar chart.

 

C. Setup chart to own preferences

It won't hurt to familiarize with some of the settings in the beginning phase. The descriptions of the options don't always make it clear what a setting does or changes. However, it's always advisable to refer to the SC documentation and simply try it.

1. To open the chart settings [F5] or through the Chart menu (Fig. 06).
2. The buttons on the top row of the chart settings window are like tabs of different type of settings. The active tab is marked with asterix "*". Bar types for instance can be changed under "Bar Period" (refer to the pull-down menu in Fig. 7). In the same setting group the Graph Bar type can be changed (Fig. 8). For instance to a regular candlestick bar.
3. Changing the appearance of the chart (colors) can be done in the "Graphics Settings". This is accessible either for each active chart using [alt], [c], then selecting "Graphics Settings - Chart" or the global graphics settings through [alt], [g], [r] (will change all charts to the same look where "global" is selected). Note: If you open the graphics settings for current chart "Use Global Graphics..." is preselected. Therefore, the changes done here will only apply to the active chart and only if the tick in the box is removed (refer to Fig. 9).
4. The "Graphics Settings - Global" will apply globally to all charts where the chart graphics have the above mentioned box ticked. Here it is possible to save the changes as presets (Example in Fig. 10). Unfortunately, these presets can only be selected on global level and can not be applied/selected in separate charts individually.
5. Literally hours can go by to set up things to ones personal liking and preference. We recommend not to spend too much time on this in the very beginning. It will make more sense once familiarized with the various other type of charts (such as footprint chart, TPO charts, depth of market and the various bar charts that you like to work with eventually). Making use of the presets is also helpful for easier comparison when progressing with look and feel of the charts.
6. Other settings that we will apply and setting windows worthwhile to mention:

• Data/Trade Service [alt], [g], [d]. Depending on the services you use data and brokerage connections appear here to be selected (Fig. 13). Follow the instructions of your corresponding data provider or broker for proper setup. With an active SC package and Denali data feed it's best to use "SC Data - All Services" for testing and setting up everything.
• Applying the ofv studies on the charts we recommend to activate "Lock Fill Space" after pressing [alt], [c] from the Chart menu. Then scroll to the very last bar on the chart, press [ctrl] while scrolling up on the mouse wheel. This will move the last bar towards the center of the screen. It will leave sort of a blank space after the last bar (10% of the total chart width for example).
• "Draw DOM Graph on Chart" in menu [F5], [alt], [m]. This as an example to give purpose to the fill space. Adjust the "Width in Bars" at the bottom to own preference.
• Standard active is the "Pointer" tool. Click and hold left mouse button  on the price scale zooms vertically and the same while holding [ctrl] moves the chart vertically. Switching to the "Hand" tool let's you grab the chart and move it horizontally instead of scrolling with the mouse wheel. Better yet: [alt], [g], [t] under "General" - title "Tool Options" - "Support Vertical Scaling/Movement with Hand Tool" activate to "Yes" and now the hand tool let's you move the chart vertically directly. If doing so while [ctrl] is pressed zooms vertically, but you can still do it as well directly without [ctrl] on the price scale.
• We also like to have the crosshair active and chart X/Y values highlighted wherever our point is on the chart. This can be achieved through [alt], [g], [t], [alt], [c] - under "Action When Other Tools Selected (List)" select "Always On When Using Other Tools".
• Whenever you use a single tool such as "Line" tool and exit from this mode, you might want to have the "Hand" tool activated again right away. [alt], [g], [t], [alt], [g] - "After Single Tool Use Change To (List)" select the "Hand" tool. Or you want to stay in the selected tool to draw several lines, then exit to hand tool after right click, then [alt], [g], [t], [alt], [g] - "Right Click Exits Current Drawing Tool To (List)" select the "Hand" tool.

Fig. 06: Access to chart settings window. Press [F5] when a chart is active.

  

Fig. 7: Changing the bar type. We can switch for instance to a 500 volume bar type (a new bar forms after 500 contract have been traded).

 

Fig. 8: Changing Graph Draw Type from OHLC bars to for example Canglestick bars.

 

Fig. 9: The tick next to "Use Global Graphics Settings..." is removed. The changes will apply only to the active chart.

 

Fig. 10: Global Graphics Settings where in our example we make changes to make it more neutral (black/white candles instead red/green), change the background to bright gray for better contrast, and change the chart and scale text color to black. These settings we save as "Graphics01".

 

Fig. 11: Example chart with 500 Vol bar candles. In SC every detail can be changed in appearance, color and fonts. A piece of advice would be to keep things less "flashy" and less demanding for your mind. You will be more focussed. Eventually you might have markers or signals on the chart that you really don't want to miss. Those are the things that should stick out.

 

Fig. 12: Example chart and more settings applied.

 

Fig. 13: Data/Trade Service Settings window.