u/Sniperpirate

Chart freezing in real-time creating gaps

Futures data to show what the above chart is supposed to look like

EDIT: next day with a forced refresh of the broker data the gaps magically disappear as they didn't even exist in the first place!

I want to raise a serious data-integrity issue that I do not think gets enough attention.

This is not a post about whether TradingView is a good charting platform. This is about something more basic: the data on the chart is what traders use to make decisions. If the chart’s Open, High, Low, Close, or live price is different from the broker/execution feed, then the decision is being made from the wrong data.

I have seen cases where TradingView chart candles do not match the broker feed I see directly through MetaTrader / the broker platform. I have also seen the TradingView chart freeze or stop updating correctly while the broker feed continues moving. I have reported this through support tickets multiple times, but the response I keep getting is basically that it is a third-party data-provider issue. That is not good enough when people are using these charts for real trading decisions.

The key problem is this:

All technical analysis depends on the underlying data.

If the OHLC is different, then moving averages, RSI, MACD, VWAP, pivots, ATR, market structure, support/resistance, candle patterns, breakouts, liquidity sweeps, stop-loss decisions, and alerts can all be different. TradingView’s Pine Script documentation shows that scripts use built-in price and volume variables such as open, high, low, close, and volume, and its technical-analysis functions operate on those series. So if the chart feed is not the same as the broker feed, the indicator output can also be different.

This is especially dangerous for short-term traders, scalpers, CFD/forex traders, and anyone trading around exact levels. A candle high being a few points different is not a cosmetic issue. It can change whether a breakout happened, whether a stop was “hit,” whether an alert fires, whether a strategy enters, and whether a backtest appears profitable.

TradingView’s own documentation shows why this concern is real. TradingView says that after connecting a real broker, the quotes shown in the order panel or buy/sell buttons come from the broker, not from TradingView chart data, and that this can lead to unexpected execution prices during volatile or fast-moving markets. TradingView also says that DOM data originates from the broker, but the DOM and chart can vary because different data sources are used.

For forex, TradingView says different forex providers are not all the same. ICE symbols are composite feeds made from dozens of contributors, while other symbols come from separate forex brokers; volume data and trading hours can also vary by provider. For FOREX.com specifically, TradingView says its charts are based on mid-price, while execution is based on Ask/Bid. In other words, the chart touching a level does not necessarily mean the broker’s executable price touched that level.

This is the exact disconnect I am talking about: chart feed vs execution feed.

And this matters because MetaTrader / broker platforms are usually showing the broker’s tradable feed. MetaTrader’s own documentation says OTC forex/CFD charts are based on Bid prices, while exchange-traded instruments use Last prices; it also explains that bars are built from quotes/ticks. That means if I am executing through Broker X, then Broker X’s Bid/Ask stream is the relevant feed for whether a trade could actually be entered, exited, stopped, or triggered.

To be clear: I am not saying every TradingView chart is always wrong. I am saying TradingView needs to make it much clearer when the chart feed is not the same feed used for execution, and it needs to provide tools to compare or use the broker’s real feed directly on the chart.

TradingView already acknowledges similar source differences in other markets. For U.S. stocks, TradingView says default U.S. stock-market data is provided by Cboe and can be slightly different from primary exchanges unless the user adds real-time data from NASDAQ, NYSE, or ARCA. TradingView also documents intraday discrepancies caused by things like odd-lot filtering and late prints. So data-source differences are not theoretical. They are documented.

The same principle applies to broker-connected trading: if the chart is one feed and the broker execution is another feed, the trader should see a clear warning and have a way to verify the difference.

The freezing issue is separate but related. If a chart freezes or lags while the broker feed continues moving, the trader is still making decisions from stale data.

TradingView’s own disclaimer says its market data and information should not be relied on as a substitute for independent market research before actual trading decisions. That is fair as a legal disclaimer, but the platform is still widely used by traders to make live trading decisions. If the chart data can differ from the broker feed, users need better warnings and better tools.

If you trade using TradingView charts but your order executes on a broker feed that does not match those charts, your analysis may be based on data that was never actually executable at your broker. That can change candles, indicators, alerts, backtests, entries, exits, and stop decisions.

This requires more attention because trading decisions are only as good as the data they are based on.