Understand the indicators before reading the chart
MarketLens turns price and volume history into charts, indicator values, a simple condition score and illustrative backtests. This guide explains what those calculations do, what they leave out, and how to use the tool as a starting point for learning—not as a trading instruction.
Technical indicators, explained
Learn how moving averages, RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands, ATR and volume comparisons are calculated in MarketLens, and why no one indicator tells the whole story.
Read the indicator guide →How to read a MarketLens signal
See how the six-condition score and the separate MarketLens algorithm work, what their thresholds mean, and why a label is not a forecast or recommendation.
Read the signal guide →Backtesting: assumptions and limits
Understand the tool’s fill timing, transaction-cost inputs, long-only rules and the important market realities a historical simulation cannot reproduce.
Read the backtesting guide →Market data and simulated values
Learn how to distinguish provider data from simulated data, why prices can be delayed or incomplete, and what the app stores in your browser.
Read the data guide →Suggested way to explore the tool
- Check the data label first. Confirm whether the symbol is marked as live/provider data or simulated, and note the displayed date and currency.
- Choose a question, not a trade. For example, compare a short moving average with a longer one, or inspect how momentum changed over a selected period.
- Read the underlying conditions. The headline score compresses several different observations. Open the conditions and chart to see which ones contributed.
- Compare, do not cherry-pick. Indicators often disagree because they measure different features of past prices. A disagreement is information about uncertainty, not a reason to force a conclusion.
- Treat a backtest as a model check. Review costs, fill assumptions, sample period and data status before interpreting any result.
Technical analysis studies historical prices and related market data. It cannot establish what a security is worth, predict future prices with certainty, or account for an individual’s objectives or financial circumstances. For general investor education, see the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor.gov glossary entry on technical analysis.
What this site is—and is not
MarketLens is an independent educational charting and calculation tool. It does not execute trades, manage accounts, provide individualized investment advice, or guarantee that a displayed quote is complete or current. Outputs depend on the data available for a symbol and on fixed or user-selected rules. Historical patterns can fail to repeat, and a strategy that looks profitable in a past sample may lose money in practice.
The guides below document the tool’s present calculations and stated assumptions so visitors can inspect them rather than treating a color, score or backtest result as a conclusion.