Odd chart types for tiny timeframes, and why most add confusion
Posted: Sat Oct 31, 2026 6:33 am
Renko, range bars, and tick charts are popular among scalpers who want to filter time out of the picture. Each has strengths and quirks.
Range and tick bars form based on price movement or trade count, not elapsed time. They remove flat periods and highlight active stretches, which can make trends clearer.
The catch is data. Forex has no centralised tick count, so tick bars differ between brokers. Renko bricks hide the order of intrabar movement and often repaint on some platforms.
Backtesting these chart types is notoriously unreliable, since the platform's construction of bars may use assumptions that flatter results.
A fair approach is using them as visual aids while keeping execution and risk rules tied to real prices and times. Testing the strategy on standard time bars as a baseline shows whether the exotic chart adds anything real.
Whatever the chart type, the real trade still pays real spread and fills at real prices, and that reality is what any evaluation has to be anchored to.
Which non-standard chart types have been tried, and did they hold up in live trading?
Range and tick bars form based on price movement or trade count, not elapsed time. They remove flat periods and highlight active stretches, which can make trends clearer.
The catch is data. Forex has no centralised tick count, so tick bars differ between brokers. Renko bricks hide the order of intrabar movement and often repaint on some platforms.
Backtesting these chart types is notoriously unreliable, since the platform's construction of bars may use assumptions that flatter results.
A fair approach is using them as visual aids while keeping execution and risk rules tied to real prices and times. Testing the strategy on standard time bars as a baseline shows whether the exotic chart adds anything real.
Whatever the chart type, the real trade still pays real spread and fills at real prices, and that reality is what any evaluation has to be anchored to.
Which non-standard chart types have been tried, and did they hold up in live trading?