Visualizing the price evolution
1. Visualizing the price evolution
At this point, you have the minimum and maximum historical prices together with the dates at which they occurred. What is missing is a visualization of historical prices, to get an idea about the dynamics of the time series.2. Line chart
A useful tool that traders and financial analysts use to visualize and understand the past movements of stock prices is a line chart. A line chart represents a series of values as points, called "markers",3. Line chart
connected by linear segments.4. Line chart
The result is a line plot showing the values of the historical prices during the period under analysis. The time is represented on the horizontal axis, in chronological order, from left to right. The price level is displayed on the vertical axis.5. Building a line chart
Building a line chart with spreadsheets is easy. First, you select the range of cells that you want to display. Next, you click on "Insert" and then on "Chart".6. Building a line chart
You should already see a line chart because the software will suggest to you the most appropriate graph for the data you selected. If not, in the "Chart editor", select "Line chart" under the section "Chart type", and you're done.7. Chart editor
The "Chart editor" is like the palette for a painter. You can use it to improve your graph and make it more detailed, nicer, and more informative. The "Chart editor" is composed of two sections. The first section is "Setup", where you can add series to your graph. For example, you can include historical prices of other stocks for comparison purposes. Or you can display the dates corresponding to each price on the horizontal axis.8. Chart editor
The second section is "Customize" where you can modify the titles, the legend, and other graphical parameters.9. Improving a line chart
Let's say that you want to improve this chart and make it more explanatory.10. Adding dates on the horizontal axis
First, you decide to add the dates on the horizontal axis. To do so, double-click on the chart to access the "Chart editor". In the "Setup" section, you can click on "Add X-axis", select the range of cells with the date, and click on "OK".11. Modifying the title
Changing graphical parameters like titles, background color, and axes is even easier. To change the title, go to the "Customize" section of the "Chart editor" and click on "Chart & axis titles". You can decide which title you want to modify. In this case, since the goal is to change the main title, choose "Chart title".12. Modifying the title
Then, type the name on the bar. In this case, "Price". If you don't want a title, you can leave the section empty.13. Changing the background color
To change the background color, simply click on "Chart style", and then select the desired color on the appropriate section.14. Modifying the axes
Finally, you can modify the axes. You can define the upper and lower bounds of the vertical axis. To do so, click on "Vertical axis" and enter the desired values on the bar right below "Min" and "Max".15. Modifying the axes
Moreover, you can change how the values appear on the horizontal axis. For instance, you can treat labels as text16. Modifying the axes
and modify their slant for better readability.17. Before...
This was your chart before the customization.18. ...After
And this is the same chart after the customization. It looks much better, doesn't it?19. It's time to practice!
Now that you know how to build a line chart, in the next few exercises, you will display the historical prices for stock ABC. Time to practice!Create Your Free Account
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