What does a fed tick look like? - briefly
A fed tick becomes markedly enlarged, its body swells to a balloon‑like shape that is gray‑white or pale and often appears smooth. The abdomen dominates the appearance, while the legs remain visible but relatively short compared with the engorged body.
What does a fed tick look like? - in detail
A fed tick appears as a narrow vertical line on a price chart, typically ranging from one to three pixels in width depending on screen resolution. The line is drawn at the exact price level where a Federal Reserve‑related event or data point occurs. Its visual attributes include:
- Color: Usually a contrasting hue such as bright red, orange, or blue to stand out against the chart background.
- Opacity: Often semi‑transparent (around 70 % opacity) so underlying price candles remain visible.
- Length: Extends from the top of the chart area to the bottom, or is clipped to the visible price range, ensuring the tick is visible across all time frames.
- Label: A short text tag (e.g., “FOMC”, “Rate Decision”) positioned horizontally adjacent to the line, with a font size of 10–12 pt and a background box for readability.
- Hover effect: When the cursor hovers over the tick, the line may thicken or change color, and a tooltip displays the exact timestamp and data value.
In addition to the primary line, many platforms add a subtle shadow or glow effect to improve legibility on dark themes. The tick’s coordinates are anchored to the precise timestamp of the Federal Reserve announcement, ensuring temporal accuracy. When multiple events occur on the same day, ticks are staggered horizontally to avoid overlap, each retaining the same visual style for consistency.