Reading the live chart

When a challenge goes live, the main chart tracks every player's portfolio performance in real time. Here's what you're looking at:

• Each colored line represents one player's portfolio return (as a percentage gain or loss from their starting value)
• The zero line (dashed) is break-even — above it means profit, below it means loss
• Your line is thicker so you can always spot yourself in the field
• End dots mark each player's current value, with their name label beside it

The chart updates every tick (roughly every 12 seconds during market hours). As stock prices move, the lines diverge — creating the race.

You can switch between three chart views using the toggle in the upper-right corner of the chart:

• Line (default) — clean traces for every player. Best for tracking individual trajectories and crossovers
• Area — gradient fill under each line. Makes it easier to see who's dominating the field and where clusters form
• Stacked — layers each player's return on top of the others, with your line highlighted. Useful for gauging the overall field momentum

All three views use the same underlying data. Switch freely without losing your place.

Use the time-window buttons to zoom the X-axis:

If a challenge spans overnight or a weekend, the chart compresses market-closed gaps automatically. You won't see long flat stretches of dead time — the chart stitches trading sessions together so the action stays visible.

Shorter windows are useful for reading recent momentum: did a player just surge into the lead, or are they fading? All gives you the full narrative arc.

The line style tells you whether the market is live or closed:

• Solid lines — the market is open and data is updating in real time. A green pulsing dot and "Portfolio performance" label confirm the live state
• Dotted / dashed lines — the market is closed (after 4 PM ET, weekends, holidays). An amber "Market closed" badge appears, and line opacity drops slightly

When the market reopens, lines automatically switch back to solid and the live indicator returns. Dotted lines mean standings are frozen until the next session — no movement is expected.

Below the line chart sits the Live Race — a horizontal bar visualization of the current standings:

• Rank badges — a crown icon for 1st place, numbered badges for the rest
• Race bars — each player gets a horizontal bar whose width is proportional to their performance spread. The leader's bar stretches to ~88% width; last place shrinks to ~5%
• Your row has a subtle highlight and glow so you can find yourself instantly
• P&L values on the right show both percentage return and dollar equivalent
• Spread (top-right) shows the gap between 1st and last place — a wider spread means a more decisive race

When a player gains or loses rank, the rows animate into their new positions with a spring-physics transition. You'll see a brief green flash for a player moving up and red for moving down.

Several small icons and badges help you read momentum at a glance:

• Green up-arrow — the player gained rank since the last tick (they overtook someone)
• Red down-arrow — the player dropped rank
• Faint trending-up icon — rank hasn't changed, but the player's portfolio value is trending upward over the last few data points. They may be about to overtake.
• Faint trending-down icon — rank stable, but value is trending down. They could drop soon

These micro-signals are especially useful in tight races. If you see a trending-up icon next to the player right behind you, watch out — they're gaining.

The position banner at the top of the chart section shows your current rank and return at a glance (green for profit, red for loss).

The current chart shows portfolio-level performance — how your overall selection is doing relative to the field.

In a future update, we plan to add individual stock chart tools during live challenges, including:

• Candlestick patterns — OHLC bars for each stock in the universe so you can read price action
• Support and resistance levels — key price zones where stocks tend to bounce or break through
• Technical signals — momentum indicators and trend overlays to help you evaluate your picks in real time

These tools will give you deeper insight into why your portfolio is moving and help you develop stronger conviction for future drafts. Stay tuned.