Setting Up TradingView

Introduction

Welcome to your first hands-on lesson with real trading tools!

TradingView is one of the most popular charting platforms in the world. Millions of traders use it every day to analyze forex, crypto, stocks, and other markets. The best part? You can use it completely free.

In this section, you're going to set up your own TradingView account and learn how to open and customize your first chart. This is an exciting step because you're moving from theory to practice. You'll be using the same tools that professional traders use.

Don't worry if technology isn't your strong suit. We'll go step-by-step, and by the end of this section, you'll feel comfortable navigating TradingView like a pro.

Topic 1.1: Creating Your Free TradingView Account

Why TradingView?

Before we jump into the setup, let's quickly talk about why we're using TradingView:

Step-by-Step: Creating Your Account

1. Go to the TradingView website Open your web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge all work fine) and type in: www.tradingview.com. You'll see the TradingView homepage with charts, news, and a big "Get Started" or "Sign Up" button.
2. Click "Get Started" or "Sign Up" Look for the button in the top-right corner of the page. Click it.
3. Choose how to sign up TradingView will give you a few options: sign up with your email address, Google, Facebook, or Apple. Choose whichever is easiest for you. If you're not sure, just use your email address.
4. Fill in your details If you chose email, you'll need to enter your email address, create a password (make it something you'll remember), and enter a username (this is what other users will see if you share charts or ideas). If you chose Google, Facebook, or Apple, TradingView will automatically use your information from that account.
5. Verify your email (if needed) If you signed up with email, TradingView will send you a verification email. Check your inbox (and spam folder, just in case), and click the verification link.
6. You're in! Once you verify your email or complete the sign-up process, you'll be taken to your TradingView dashboard. Congratulations! You now have your own free TradingView account.

Understanding the Free Plan

TradingView offers different plans, but the free plan is more than enough for what you need as a beginner.

Here's what you get with the free plan:

• Unlimited chart viewing – Look at any market, any time
• Basic indicators – All the core indicators we'll use in this course (SMA, EMA, RSI, MACD, Volume)
• 1 chart layout saved – You can save one custom chart setup
• 3 indicators per chart – You can add up to 3 indicators at once
• Paper Trading – Practice trading with fake money
• Watchlists – Save your favorite trading pairs

Completing Your Basic Profile

After you sign up, TradingView might ask you a few questions like:

• "What are you interested in trading?" (You can select Forex and Crypto)
• "What's your experience level?" (Select Beginner if you're just starting)
• "What's your timezone?" (This helps show you market hours correctly)

These questions just help TradingView personalize your experience. Answer them honestly—there's no wrong answer.

Overview of the TradingView Dashboard

Once you're logged in, you'll see your dashboard. This is your home base.

Here's what you'll see:

Top Menu Bar:

• Home – Takes you back to this dashboard
• Chart – Opens the main charting screen (this is where you'll spend most of your time)
• Screener – A tool to scan for trading opportunities (we'll cover this later)
• Calendar – Economic events and news
• Community – Where traders share ideas and analysis

Left Sidebar:

• Watchlist – Your saved list of favorite trading pairs
• Alerts – Notifications when price hits certain levels
• Ideas – Trading ideas shared by other users

Center Area:

• News, trending charts, and featured content from the TradingView community

For now, don't worry about understanding everything. Just know that the Chart button in the top menu is your main destination.

Topic 1.2: Opening Your First Chart

Now that you have your account set up, let's open your first trading chart.

1. Click "Chart" in the top menu Look at the top of the page and click the Chart button. This will open the main charting interface. You'll see a big chart (probably showing the S&P 500 or some stock by default), with tools, menus, and buttons all around it. Don't feel overwhelmed—we'll break it all down.
2. Using the Symbol Search Bar At the very top-left of the chart, you'll see a search bar with a symbol name in it (like "SPX" or "AAPL"). This is the symbol search bar. This is how you find any trading pair or asset you want to analyze.

To search for a forex pair:

• Click on the search bar
• Type: EURUSD
• A dropdown list will appear with several options

You'll see something like:

• FX:EURUSD – Forex pair from various brokers
• OANDA:EURUSD – EURUSD from OANDA broker
• FXCM:EURUSD – EURUSD from FXCM broker

These are all the same pair (Euro vs US Dollar), just from different data sources. For forex, choose any option that says "FX:" or shows a well-known broker name. Click on it, and boom—your chart will change to show the EURUSD price movement.

Understanding the Difference: Forex Pairs vs Crypto Pairs

Now let's open a crypto chart to see the difference.

To search for a crypto pair:

• Click the search bar again
• Type: BTCUSD or BTCUSDT
• A dropdown will appear with options like:

• BINANCE:BTCUSDT – Bitcoin vs Tether on Binance exchange
• COINBASE:BTCUSD – Bitcoin vs US Dollar on Coinbase
• BITSTAMP:BTCUSD – Bitcoin on Bitstamp exchange

Which one should you choose?

• For crypto, choose Binance (BINANCE:BTCUSDT) if you see it. Binance is the largest crypto exchange, so its data is very reliable and has the most trading volume.
• For forex, any of the major broker sources (OANDA, FXCM, FX:) work fine.

Click on BINANCE:BTCUSDT, and now your chart shows Bitcoin's price movement.

Navigating Between Different Assets and Markets

You can switch between any market at any time using the search bar:

• Forex pairs: EURUSD, USDJPY, GBPUSD, AUDUSD
• Crypto: BTCUSD, ETHUSD, BNBUSD, SOLUSD
• Stocks: AAPL (Apple), TSLA (Tesla), GOOGL (Google)
• Indices: SPX (S&P 500), DJI (Dow Jones)

Just type what you want to see, select it from the dropdown, and the chart updates instantly.

Basic Chart Interface Orientation

Let's quickly get familiar with what you're looking at:

The Chart Itself (center of the screen):

• This is where price movement is displayed
• The horizontal line at the bottom is the time axis (shows dates and times)
• The vertical line on the right is the price axis (shows the price levels)

Top Toolbar:

• Chart type selector (we'll use this next)
• Timeframe selector (1m, 5m, 15m, 1h, 4h, 1D, etc.)
• Drawing tools (trend lines, shapes, etc.)
• Indicator button (this is how you add indicators like RSI and MACD)

Right Sidebar:

• Watchlist
• News related to the asset you're viewing
• Economic calendar

Bottom of Chart:

• Volume bars (we'll explain these later)

For now, just know that the big chart in the middle is your main focus, and everything else is a tool to help you analyze it.

Topic 1.3: Switching to Candlestick Charts

By default, TradingView might show your chart as a line chart or bar chart. For trading, we want to use candlestick charts because they show us much more information.

Locating the Chart Type Menu

Look at the top-left area of the chart, just above the price graph. You'll see a row of icons and buttons.

One of these buttons shows the current chart type. It might look like:

• A line icon (if you're on a line chart)
• Bars (if you're on a bar chart)
• Candles (if you're already on candlestick)

Click on this button. A dropdown menu will appear showing different chart types.

Selecting "Candles" from Available Chart Types

In the dropdown menu, you'll see options like:

• Bars – Traditional OHLC bars
• Candles – Candlestick chart (this is what we want)
• Line – Simple line connecting closing prices
• Heikin Ashi – A modified candlestick type
• Renko – Block-style chart
• And several others...

Click on "Candles."

Your chart will immediately change to show candlestick bars. You'll see green and red candles (or white and black, depending on your theme) with bodies and wicks, just like we learned in Chapter 2.

Understanding Why Candlestick Charts Are Preferred by Most Traders

Why do traders love candlestick charts?

Brief Comparison with Other Chart Types

Just so you understand your options:

Chart Type	What It Shows	Best For
Line Chart	Only closing prices connected by a line	Very simple, big-picture trends
Bar Chart (OHLC)	Open, High, Low, Close as vertical bars	Same info as candles, just harder to read quickly
Candlestick	OHLC with colored bodies and wicks	Best for most traders—shows emotion and patterns
Heikin Ashi	Smoothed version of candles, reduces noise	Spotting trends, but hides some price details
Renko	Blocks that only form on specific price moves	Filtering out time and noise, advanced technique

Quick Summary

Let's recap what you just learned:

• You created a free TradingView account – You now have access to professional charting tools used by traders worldwide.
• You learned how to search for and open charts – You can find any forex pair (like EURUSD) or crypto pair (like BTCUSDT) using the symbol search bar.
• You understand the difference between forex and crypto data – Forex pairs come from global brokers, crypto pairs come from specific exchanges like Binance.
• You switched to candlestick view – You know where to find the chart type menu and why candlesticks are the best choice for trading analysis.
• You're familiar with the TradingView interface – You know where the main chart is, where the tools are, and how to navigate around.

Common Mistakes & Tips

What's Next?

Great job! You've successfully set up your TradingView account and learned how to open and customize charts.

In the next section, you're going to learn how to add your first technical indicators to your chart. We'll start with Simple Moving Averages (SMA) and Exponential Moving Averages (EMA), and you'll see how they can help you spot trends and potential trading opportunities.