A reading room for market dashboards

Gauge House

Field guide

A field guide to reading a market dashboard

A dashboard is a set of small claims. Each panel says something about a value, a period, and a comparison. This guide takes those claims apart one at a time, with definitions you can reuse on any screen. It explains. It does not advise.

A B C D E F
An illustration of an unlabeled panel. The letters match the list. No data is shown.

Anatomy of a panel

Most panels follow the same plan. Learn the six parts once, and you can read most screens without starting from scratch.

A. Title
The claim the panel makes, in a few words. Read it as the subject of every figure beneath it.
B. Unit
What is being counted or measured. The unit changes what a movement means, so check it before you compare two panels.
C. Time window
The span the chart covers. The same movement can look dramatic over a short window and ordinary over a long one.
D. Baseline
The reference line the eye uses to judge a move. Some panels draw one. Many leave you to find it.
E. Source and time stamp
Where the figures come from and when they were recorded. Without both, you cannot tell whether two panels describe the same moment.
F. Legend
The key to each line, shade, or marker. A legend should work without color, through labels, shapes, or line styles.

Levels and changes are different claims

A level is a value at one moment. A change is the difference between two moments. A percentage change is that difference divided by the value you started from. The formula is simple: take the new value, subtract the old value, divide by the old value, and multiply by one hundred.

Because the starting point sets the denominator, the same absolute difference can produce very different percentages. A move of a given size from a small starting value looks larger in percentage terms than the same move from a large one.

When a panel gives you a change, ask three things: from what, over what period, and expressed as what. If the panel cannot answer all three, treat the change as a rough signal rather than a measurement.

How scales shape a move

A vertical axis that starts above zero makes small differences look large. An axis that starts at zero makes the same differences look modest. Neither choice is automatically wrong, but the reader should be able to see which one was made.

The axis starts high. The three bars look like steep steps.
The same three values with the axis starting at zero. The steps look close together.

A logarithmic scale spaces equal proportional changes at equal distances. That suits a series that grows by percentages. It is useful, and easy to misread if you expect equal distances to mean equal amounts.

Look for the scale label, then look for the zero. If the chart does not show a zero and does not say why, read the movement as a shape rather than as a size.

Color conventions and their limits

Many dashboards use one color for a rise and another for a fall, often green and red. The convention is quick, and it is fragile. It fails for some readers, it fails under some display settings, and it fails when the same color means different things on different panels.

Two practical rules follow. First, every colored signal should also carry a label, a shape, a position, or a line style. Second, text and meaningful graphics should meet the measured thresholds in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Normal text
At least 4.5 to 1 against its background.
Large text
At least 3 to 1 against its background.
Graphics and control outlines
At least 3 to 1 against the surface they sit on, when they carry meaning.

Measure any pair of colors in the contrast lab.

A reading checklist before you draw a conclusion

This is a list of questions, not a recommendation. Working through it will not tell you what a figure means for your own situation.

  1. What exactly is measured, and in what unit?
  2. Over what period, and does that window match the comparison I am making?
  3. What is the baseline, and is it stated or assumed?
  4. Where do the figures come from, and when were they recorded?
  5. Does the scale start at zero, and if it does not, has the chart said so?
  6. Can I read every signal without relying on color?

Glossary of common terms

These definitions describe how the words are normally used on dashboards. Check the source of any panel for its own definitions.

Baseline
A reference value or date that a change is measured from.
Basis point
One hundredth of one percentage point. It is used to describe small differences in rates.
Change
The difference between two values, often expressed as a percentage of the earlier one.
Level
A value at a single point in time.
Logarithmic scale
An axis on which equal distances represent equal proportional changes, not equal amounts.
Moving average
The average of a fixed number of recent values, recalculated as each new value arrives. A longer window smooths more and responds more slowly.
Time stamp
The moment a figure was recorded or last updated. Check it before you compare two panels.
Volatility
A general description of how widely a value moves over a period. It describes movement. It does not predict direction.
Volume
The quantity traded or recorded over a period. High volume means many transactions, not a particular direction.

Not financial, legal, or medical advice. The terms and checks in this guide describe how dashboards present information. They are not an evaluation of any asset and do not replace advice from a licensed professional.