Bid, ask and midpoint: which price is on your forex chart?

A forex chart may plot bid, ask or midpoint prices. Identify the price series used to build its candles separately from the bid/ask labels or lines displayed beside them. A visible ask line does not, by itself, establish that the candles use ask prices. Check the selected provider, platform and chart setting before comparing a price level.

Once the chart is clearly identified, you can create a free ChartPilot account for an educational second opinion on its visible structure. Access checked November 3, 2026: New accounts receive 3 completed chart analyses in total, without expiry. No card is required and there is no automatic subscription or charge after the free allowance. Existing accounts keep their recorded access and billing under the current terms.

Separate the candle series from the quote display

A bid and ask are two sides of a quote. In OANDA Corporation’s mobile guide, the displayed bid is the sell rate and the ask is the buy rate. The arithmetic midpoint is their average: add the corresponding bid and ask, then divide by two. Use quotes from the same provider and observation time when doing that calculation.

Your screen can contain several price displays at once:

• Candles: the selected series summarized into each bar’s open, high, low and close.
• Quote buttons or labels: bid and ask values shown separately from the candle series.
• Overlays: additional lines or markings drawn on top of the chart.

Label each of these separately in your notes. Turning on an overlay may add information without rebuilding the underlying bars. Likewise, changing a line’s color tells you nothing about which prices produced the candle highs and lows. Do not identify bid or ask from red and blue styling alone.

Use the documentation for the platform you actually opened

OANDA’s US platform page says its web platform lets users choose candles drawn from mid, ask or bid prices. That makes the selected price basis something to check, rather than infer from the broker name. The page defines its average price as the average between bid and ask.

The mobile documentation is more specific: OANDA Corporation’s guide for v20 and v20 MT4 sub-accounts describes midpoint candlesticks with optional bid or ask line charts. That describes the OANDA mobile app covered by the guide; it is not a statement that every MT4 chart uses midpoint candles.

For OANDA charts on TradingView, TradingView’s OANDA help page describes midpoint-based charts and separate broker bid/ask quotes. Do not extend that description to every symbol or broker available on TradingView.

These are examples of documented behavior, not instructions to open a brokerage account. For your existing chart, match the help page to its provider, platform and account context. If the documentation does not settle the setting, record the basis as unknown.

Two fictional quotes, one unchanged midpoint

Every number and time in this example is invented. Assume the same fictional EURUSD provider supplies these two synchronized quote pairs. They are individual observations ten seconds apart, not completed candles, current market data or an execution record.

The first midpoint is (1.08420 + 1.08438) ÷ 2 = 1.08429. The second is (1.08428 + 1.08430) ÷ 2 = 1.08429. The bid rose and the ask fell, while their average stayed unchanged. A midpoint display can therefore remain at the same value while the two quote sides change.

Suppose your screenshot shows a chart value of 1.08429 beside those second bid/ask labels. That is consistent with the calculated midpoint at that observation. It is a useful arithmetic check, but it does not replace verification of the candle setting or establish how every historical bar was built.

The two rows do not tell you the interval’s high, low or closing quote. Other observations may have occurred between them or afterward. Do not turn this small table into a reconstructed candle, a claim that an order filled, or a suggested trading level.

Make a price-basis record for one chart

1. Record the source. Keep the full forex symbol, data provider and platform name. “EURUSD chart” alone leaves the price series unidentified.
2. Find the candle basis. Read the relevant setting and help page. Write bid, ask, midpoint or unknown. Record a selectable basis separately from the chart style, such as ordinary candlesticks.
3. Identify extra displays. Note which labels or overlays show bid and ask. Check their names rather than relying on color. If your platform supports separate labels and lines, keep that distinction.
4. Name the observation. Separate the current quote’s time from the selected candle’s interval and completed or still-forming state. An earlier close and a current quote are different observations even on the same screen.
5. Preserve the evidence. Keep the price scale, relevant labels and chart identity readable in the capture. Save a short note of settings outside the image; do not crop away the only evidence of the selected basis.

TradingView documents separate controls for bid/ask lines and labels. Its announcement is from 2020, so use the current interface’s setting names rather than relying on that older menu path. The important distinction is between displaying an additional quote and selecting the series behind the candles.

A useful note might read: “EURUSD, provider named in chart header, web platform, ordinary fifteen-minute candles, midpoint setting confirmed; bid/ask labels also visible; capture time recorded.” If the basis is unknown, retain that word instead of filling the gap with an assumption.

Review the same price basis with ChartPilot

Upload the prepared screenshot and compare ChartPilot’s BUY or SELL explanation and reference levels with that same image. Keep your source note beside the result. The product can help explain visible structure, but it cannot recover a hidden setting or certify that an unlabeled candle is bid-based.

When a returned level appears different from a quote button, first identify what each number represents. If your question is about an actual order price, continue with the spread and slippage guide; recognizing a chart’s basis does not verify execution. For differences between two providers, use the separate feed-comparison worksheet.

Create a free ChartPilot account to review a clearly labeled chart. Screenshot analysis is an educational second opinion, not a live price feed or trade execution service. Confidence describes visible evidence, not a win probability, and AI can be wrong.