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2015issue C0558

Point-and-figure time and volume limits are conventions to test

Point-and-figure charting has kept the same column construction for more than 130 years. The usual charge is that a chart without a uniform time axis cannot host a time-based tool, and that a chart without a volume component cannot judge how important a column is. A 2015 marketplace description said neither charge is decisive if other techniques are added, including a point-and-figure oscillator that can also sit on a time-based chart. This archive note treats that claim as a convention to test, not as a property of the method.

  • Point-and-figure construction has been left unchanged for more than 130 years: directional X and O columns continue until price reverses by the chart's chosen reversal amount.
  • The recurring objections are that a missing time axis blocks time-based tools and that a missing volume component blocks any judgment of how important an individual column is.
  • A 2015 marketplace description argued that neither objection is decisive if other techniques are added, and it introduced a point-and-figure oscillator that can also be applied to time-based charts.
  • Editorial reading: keep the reversal-column logic first, then require a clock overlay or a column-weighting rule to add a signal the columns themselves do not already give.
Entries in this reading1 entry
Current trackPoint and figure chart37 readings

Columns first, then the add-ons

Point-and-figure charting is described as more than 130 years old, with its basic construction principles left unchanged. A point-and-figure chart is a price chart built from directional X and O columns that records moves and reversals without a uniform time axis. A column is a vertical run of Xs or Os that continues until price reverses by the chart's chosen reversal amount.

Editorial note: that construction is the method. What often travels with it is a stronger claim, that the chart cannot host a time-based tool or a volume-aware reading at all. This article treats that stronger claim as a convention to test, not as a property of the method.

The two objections and a marketplace reply

A recurring objection holds that the missing time axis on a point-and-figure chart blocks the use of time-based tools and indicators. A time-based tool is an indicator or overlay that depends on a regular clock or bar interval rather than on price-reversal columns.

A second objection holds that the missing volume component blocks any judgment of how important an individual column is. A volume component is a measure of traded size used to judge how much weight an individual price column should carry.

A 2015 marketplace description argued that neither objection is decisive if other techniques are added to point-and-figure charts and analysis. The same description introduced a point-and-figure oscillator, a derived reading built from column structure that can be plotted on either a point-and-figure chart or a time-based chart.

What an overlay would have to add

Editorial interpretation follows. The archive notice says other techniques can be added. It does not specify the test those techniques must pass.

Keep the reversal-column logic. A clock overlay does not belong on the chart if it only redraws the same X and O sequence against a regular interval. It would have to add a signal the columns themselves do not give, such as how long a column took to form, or whether a reversal arrived because the clock moved rather than because price reversed by the chosen amount.

A column-weighting rule that uses a volume component has the same burden. It does not belong on the chart if it leaves the start and end of every column unchanged and only restates the same reversal. It would have to change how much weight an individual column carries when two columns look alike on price structure alone.

The point-and-figure oscillator already shows that a reading built from column structure can leave the point-and-figure chart and sit on a time-based chart. The open question runs the other way: whether a time-based tool or a volume component can come onto the point-and-figure chart without replacing the column as the unit of the chart.

Educational research material, not investment advice. Historical source context does not establish present-day performance.
27 of 30 in the Point and figure chart track
201632-36 pp.Next on Point and figure chartMeasurement-first critique of indicator defaultsA technical indicator can mark a candidate entry and also score how far an already-open trade has traveled relative to that indicator's typical path, and the second reading can change the first.
All readings on this track · 30 readings
  1. 1988Constructing trend definitions with filters and lines
  2. 1989Reversal count as the clock on point-and-figure charts
  3. 1989Point-and-figure setup and session-average entry windows
  4. 1989Two-scale point-and-figure trendlines and stop placement
  5. 1989Adjusted net asset value, tighter reversals, and written stops on a fund point-and-figure chart
  6. 1990Stack option odds after point-and-figure signals
  7. 1991Constructing a point-and-figure downtrend-break
  8. 1991Constructing point-and-figure box and reversal charts
  9. 1991Constructing a close-tested one-two ladder on a point-and-figure chart
  10. 1992Point-and-figure, breadth, and volume as falsifiable hypotheses
  11. 1992Three-gate stock selection with ranks and point and figure
  12. 1993Constructing combined stochastics and point-and-figure relative strength
  13. 1997Point-and-figure box scale and reversal construction
  14. 2000Cotton weekly point-and-figure: late-stage decline, named weekly close
  15. 2000Constructing point-and-figure charts for support, resistance, and breakouts
  16. 2001Swiss franc: seasonal permission and a weekly point-and-figure breakout
  17. 2001Constructing point-and-figure boxes and reversals
  18. 2002Point-and-figure construction: box, live column, and three-box reversal
  19. 2003E-mini point-and-figure box-size and a descending-triangle breakout
  20. 2003A reconstruction critique of point-and-figure daytrading
  21. 2004Point-and-figure column moving-average crossovers
  22. 2005Box-series transforms for trend and channel work
  23. 2006Constructing bearish point-and-figure support breaks
  24. 2008Point-and-figure forex breakouts and triangles
  25. 2012From tactile charts to written trade rules
  26. 2013Combine a Point and figure chart and Moving-average crossover inside one System optimization procedure
  27. 2015Point-and-figure time and volume limits are conventions to test
  28. 2016Measurement-first critique of indicator defaults
  29. 2017Point-and-figure construction, reversals, and column-based overlays
  30. 2019A 2019 charting case as a three-check trend classroom
By fieldTrend and channels181 readingsBy year201585 readings
All 37 readings tagged Point and figure chart
Also on Point and figure chart5 readings
1988Constructing intradaily point-and-figure boxes and pivot ladders1988Constructing trend definitions with filters and lines1988Remaining life on a percent-filtered swing chart1989Adjusted net asset value, tighter reversals, and written stops on a fund point-and-figure chart1989Two-scale point-and-figure trendlines and stop placement