Category: Charting

Fed dot plot / FOMC policy dot plot

Overview

There is no dedicated chart type for this, but it's possible to use Time chart with a bit of formulas and get a proper Fed dot plot.

How to create a Fed dot plot?

  1. Set whole chart to Weekly frequency.
  2. Add on Series list:
  3. Add Formula analysis. These formulas set position of the dot on Time chart.
    • Disable 'Include input series...'.
    • Add usrate2176 - series for 'Projection for 0' - if you want to use it for constructing a date later.
    • Add last(fx:sALIASNUMBER) - last target rate value - if you want to see a flat line on chart.
    • For each series (representing number) add below formula: 
      if(if(mod(fx:s1 , 2)=0, (abs(counter()-startofyear()-24.5))*2, (abs(counter()-startofyear()-25))*2)<fx:s1, fx:s66, null())

      this will position dot on x-axis in the middle of each section on chart. You can control the shift with two numbers in it - 24,5 and 25. The bigger these numbers are the more to the right dots will be.

  4. Add Time chart.
  5. Click outside of chart area and under Presentation properties > Chart elements disable 'Legend'.
  6. Click on x-axis.
    • Under Presentation properties > Scale > Display range, add -4y and +0.
    • Under Presentation properties > Labels > Detail limit, select 'Year'.
  7. Open Graph layout (Ctrl+L). Make two Line graphs for clarity:
    • Under one put last value for Target rate.
    • Under second, all if() series.
  8. Now you need to turn lines into dots. Click on a line and under Presentation properties > Appearance > Graph style select 'Custom'. You can also catch non-visible lines with Chart (upper menu) > Select. Under Appearance set Line to 'None' then select Marker style and its size. You need to do this for each if() series.
  9. To add vertical line go to Chart annotations > Annotations > Vertical line and add in on a chart. You can adjust its position by clicking on it and changing date under Presentation properties > Line > Position.

Examples

Fed Dot Plot

Recreation of the Fed dot plot.

Fed Dot Plot - double meeting

Recreation of the Fed dot plot with last and previous meeting values.

Fed Dot Plot - Alternative version

In this example we created alternative equivalent of the Fed dot plot.

Waterfall chart

Overview

With a little bit of arranging series you can show series as a Waterfall chart on a Category chart.

How to create a Waterfall chart?

  1. On Series list add series and same amount of '0' as series.
  2. Decide the order of the series on chart - when you want particular series to 'float', replace the '0' with a sum of series to create base, on which 'floating' series will stand. Each base is the sum of preceding series.
  3. Add Scalar analysis:
    • In Input panel arrange pairs of series in order '0 - series - <replacement for 0> - series.'
    • For Output series use 'Partition into: 2'.
  4. Add Category chart, select data set with 0's and turn its color into 0% opacity.

Examples

Waterfall chart

In this example we used transparent placeholder series to create waterfall effect.

Waterfall chart - around '50' with list

Here we used range graph type to create anchor point at value '50'.

Waterfall chart - stacked column and area

Here we combined placeholder method with anchors and created stacked columns/areas.

Spaghetti chart

Overview

Spaghetti-like chart can be created on a Scatter chart with Show direction function.

How to create a Spaghetti chart?

  1. Add Scatter chart.
  2. On Graph layout (Ctrl+L) add two series under Line chart graph type - first series will be on x-axis, second on y-axis.
  3. Click on a line and under Presentation properties > Content > Show direction select an ornament.
  4. To add observations, right-click on some point of the line and select Add observation label.

Example

Spaghetti chart

In this example we showed relationship between Brent Oil price and US oil consumption.

Lollipop chart

Overview

There is no dedicated chart type for Lollipop charts. However, with a little help of two additional analyses and graph types, you can create lollipops on Category chart.

How to create a Lollipop chart?

  1. Use Scalar to perform calculations. If needed, add Sorting analysis too.
  2. Add Cross section analysis and sum series, uncheck first 2 boxes ('Include only observations...' and 'Do not include series...') - this will be needed to create lollipop.
  3. Add Arithmetic analysis and subtract 'Sum series' from itself. It will create placeholder for 0.
  4. Add Category chart. Open Graph layout (Ctrl+L) and add:
    • 'Last data set' under Column graph type
    • three data sets ('Sum series' and two '-1y series') under Open-high-low-close. It will create lollipop's stick
    • '-1y data set' under Line graph type, turn it into dot marker.

Example

Lollipop chart

In this example we calculated YoY and showed current values as columns and the one year ago values as lollipops.

Box plot

Overview

There is no dedicated chart type for classic Boxplot, but you can make something very similar with Category chart.

Unfortunately, there is no possibility to show outliers.

How to create a Box plot?

  1. Use Scalar analysis.
  2. Add Calculations: High, Low, Percentile 25, Percentile 75 and Median.
  3. Add, Category chart, open Graph layout (Ctrl+L).
  4. Under Candlestick graph type add series for: Low, 25% Percentile, 75% Percentile, High (in this order).
  5. Under Line graph type add series for Median (and if you want, Last) and change them to markers.

Example

Box plot

In this example w have used GDP YoY series and calculated parameters in Scalar over the last 10-year period.

Pyramid/Demography bar chart

Overview

You can create Age Pyramid/Demography chart by modifying Bar chart.

How to create a simple pyramid chart?

Finding data

Each country has a data set from United Nations regarding age groups. This data also includes projections in various fertility variants. You can find it under Concept & Category data-tree:
Concept & Category > All Sources > Demography > UN > World Population Prospects > Annual Population
Or you can navigate in Country & Region database view to country node to check if they have such data from National Source:
Country & Region > Japan [jp, Region] > Demography [demo, Category] > Population by Sex
For more information about searching data see Finding data.

Which analysis can I use?

To show data in Bar chart you need to convert time series into category series. The best analyses for this purpose here is Scalar and Cross sampling.

Displaying age pyramid

  1. Use Scalar analysis to select the year with Calculations 'Last' or 'Value at.'
  2. Choose in the Output series panel 'Partition into: 2' to create two separate data sets.
  3. Add Bar chart, open Graph panel (Ctrl+L).
  4. Each data set add under different Graph column.
  5. On chart, click on any bar on the left and in ribbon tick box under Axis properties > Reverse.

Examples

South Korea demography Bar chart (with proportions)

In this example, we created population pyramid with additional text column with proportion of age group in the whole population.

Japan demography Bar chart

In this example, we created population pyramid and compared current data with older data (shown as a line). Next to it we added a stacked bar chart showing different approaches to presenting population data.

Questions

How to adjust the gap between bars?

You can change the distance between columns per observation and the distance between observations. Click on any one of the columns, and the following options will be available under the Column defaults: 

  • Margin –  determines the gap between columns for each observation  
  • Group margin – determines the gap between column groups, meaning between observations 

How to change size of bar/glyph?

Click on each bar and go to Graph properties > Content > Bar height.

If you want to change height for all bars/glyphs go to Column defaults tab > Glyph heights. If glyph isn't on default (locked with pin) it won't be affected by this setting.

How to edit the formatting of all the values in a text column at the same time?

Text columns in a bar chart are, by default, formatted individually. You can create a default format by clicking any one of the values and finding one of the following options:

  1. In the Cell Properties tab, go to 'Text properties' panel, and click 'Edit column default.'
  2. In the Column Properties tab, go to 'Cell defaults' panel, and click 'Edit text.'

Both of these options will bring you to the following window, where you can select from a list of formats. For more about these see Dynamic text.

Opening charts in a separate window

This lifehack can be used to see analysis and chart side-by-side when changing settings.

In the command bar of the application, you’ll see a button with a P on it - this allows you to present charts in a separate window.

Besides being the first step in compiling a presentation of charts there are two other benefits that it had.

You can use it to quickly open and compare a number of different charts. Moreover, it is also possible to use it as a viewing pane to monitor the changes to your chart as you make adjustments to time series calculations.

Opening a chart in a separate window

To do this you just need to click on the presentation button in the command bar or use the Ctrl+Q keyboard shortcut.

Performing changes in the analysis using information from the second window

With the chart open in a Presentation window, we can see how the visualization is affected as we make changes in any settings.

Comparing charts in two windows

Using Presentation button additionally allows to compare two charts with each other. Simply open the relevant documents in two different Presentation windows.

As you can see, there are a many ways to use the 'Presentation' button to make it easier to work with charts. For more information about used feature see Presentations documents.

Graph layout

Adding series to Series list is first step. If Series list is like a basket, then Graph layout is command center for your chart.

How to access?

There are three ways to access the Graph layout settings, you can:

  • click on the 'Layout' button

  • use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + L

  • right-click on the chart and select Graph layout from the context menu

From here you can manage the appearance of your chart. On the left is a list of all the series from the document that you can add. On the right you can see which series are currently being displayed, the order they are displayed in and what graph style is used for each.

Adjusting graph

Graph styles

At the top of the window, you can choose from a list of graph styles. To change the style of a series, click on it and then select a graph style, for more information about available styles see Graph layout’s charts.

If you have a number of series listed under one graph style, the drop-down list is a simple way to change them all at once.

Alternate scale

Check Alt. scale in case you want the graph drawn relative to the main or alternate scale.

Order of series

You can manually change order of series, just drag, and drop series to desired places. What's at the bottom of the list is drawn in the front on chart. But with one 'tick' you can reverse the legend's order - see more about it on Reversing the order of the legend.

Deleting series

Only time series shown in the Graphs section will be visible on the chart. So, if you don’t want a series displayed, simply remove it by selecting Delete from the context menu. You can also click on series and press Delete.

How to show series on more than one chart?

Visualizing a series more than once, and applying a different graph style, can help you to emphasize a particular point in the data. All the series in the Input list on the left can be added to the chart multiple times.

Adding/removing chart panes

If you want to display your series separately, add a new pane. Adding panes divide chart area into smaller units. Select from the predefined pane layouts available or adjust the panes manually by dragging them up or down.  See more about this on Working with panes.

Charting – overview

When it comes to charting, two things are important to our users: the first is being able to clearly and persuasively present data, and the second is being able to create these presentations quickly. Some of the features that contribute towards these aims are intuitive point and click editing, a variety of chart styles to choose from, and customized style sheets, just to name a few. Overall, you’re saving time and getting your point across effectively.

Point&click approach

Point and click functions on the principle that any element of a chart you click on will activate the editing options for that element, in the command bar above. As you can see below, when we click on the chart heading the Presentation properties tab becomes active - and all modifications are instantly applied.

Various charts

There are several types of charts which you can use in your work. In Macrobond we call them Presentations. Access to them depends on type of analysis you're currently using, for more see Types of charts.

Working with chart

Alternate scale

It's worth remembering that besides adjusting the more cosmetic chart properties, like color or font, you can easily modify properties such as the alternate scale. For more see Axis & Scale.

Date range

Mentioned previously point and click approach applies, whether you’re adding an alternate scale or changing the display range in your chart. For more see Axis & Scale.

Annotations

If you want to emphasize certain aspects of a chart you can use additional options besides the fundamental formatting one. For example, to draw attention to specific points you can add text annotations, markers or labels. For more see Annotations.

Graph layout

Graph Layout feature allows you to select graph styles, customize the chart layout, hide series and add or remove panes. Everything it's available in additional window which opens when you click on Graph layout icon, right click on your chart and select Graph layout  or press Ctrl+L. For more see Graph layout.

Fill range

This feature can help you highlight a particular angle in a data – recession bands which is also known in Macrobond as Fill range. A fill range can be used to draw attention to a segment of the charted data. Alternatively, you can use the fill range function to create an additional layer of information like recession periods. To open Fill range window, you need to right click on your chart and select 'Fill range' or press Ctrl+F. For more about this see Recession bands (Fill range).

Style of the chart

It is possible to predefine settings for the layout and formatting of your charts by using Style sheet tab. For more see Style sheet.

There's a lot more useful features available when creating charts in Macrobond, you can view detailed information about these under Elements of the chart.

Recession bands (Fill range)

Overview

Fill range is a function that fills a segment of a chart with color, based on a defined range or sequence of dates. A fill range can be used to draw attention to a segment of the charted data. Alternatively, you can use the fill range function to create an additional layer of information like recession periods.

Available bands

Economy turning points - 1 in the series for all negative quarters and 0 for all positive quarters. It simply tracks when the economy switches from growth to decline and back again

Recession (shortening) - recession bands based on a business cycle data from other providers.

Recession (simplified) - recession (1 in the series) starts after two negative quarters in a row, with the first recession quarter being the first negative quarter. That means that once a recession has been confirmed by having two negative quarters in a row the 0 in the first negative quarter is overwritten with a 1. Growth (0 in the series) starts on the first positive quarter.

Recession - recession (1 in the series) starts after two negative quarters in a row, with the first recession quarter being the second negative quarter. Growth (0 in the series) starts after two positive quarters in a row, with the first growth quarter being the second positive quarter.

Systemic banking crisis (IMF) - 1 is used to mark when a crisis starts, and it is repeated through years until the end date, which we mark with 0. If a crisis starts and ends the same year, that year is marked with 1". Underlying data set was discontinued by the source.

Adding recession bands

To add recession bands (shading), right-click in a chart and choose Fill range. In the Fill range window, click on the Import button and choose the desired country or region. When clicking 'OK', the selected recession band (shade) will be imported and can be further customized. The recession bands will be displayed as vertical shades over the specified period

Creating and saving custom bands

To create your own recession bands, or any other type of range, right-click in a chart and choose Fill range. To define a recession band, click on the add-button and set the start and end date. You can add several ranges to your chart in the same way.

To save created bands click on the 'Export' button, choose an account, assign the recession bands a name and click the 'OK' button.

Dynamic recession bands

The Fill Range feature works as a charting tool, meaning that the recessions bands won't be updated with new recessions. If you want to keep them updated you can directly use the recession series in the document and display them as a 'fill' in Graph Layout, which will add shaded area to the chart. For more information about Fill graph type see Stripe, Range & Fill chart.

The series which can be used have aliases i.e., usrecession, derecession, jprecession or you can search for business cycle in Search activity.

Exporting and importing bands

Construct two columns in Excel, the left column indicating the start date and right column indicating the end date of the range. Simply copy the dates from excel (using CTRL+C), right click in the Fill range window and paste the dates (using CTRL+V).

Edit/customize recession bands

To edit a recession band or any other type of range, right-click in a chart and choose Fill range. You can now edit the dates. Check the box named 'Custom' to change the color and the opacity of the range.

Removing recession bands

To remove a recession period, right-click in the chart and choose Fill range. Right-click on the recession you wish to exclude and choose delete. You can select several ranges to be deleted by holding down CTRL and clicking on them. Using CTRL+A will select all periods at once.