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The chart is not missing 1 through 5. It is refusing to shout early.

Investment desk

An intern asked why the overlay jumps in at 6. I started a lecture. I should have drawn nine closes and stopped talking.

Painting 1–5 on every stretch turns the chart into a numbered parking lot. Most stretches die. Starting the ink at 6 is a display choice that matches how people actually look: they care when the thing is close, and they still need 7, 8, 9 to happen.

1–5 are not gone. They live in the title, or in the count state, depending on the terminal. If bar 7 fails the trigger, you never see a pretty 7. If bar 9 fails, the 6–8 you did see get pulled. That last part is the one that generates support tickets.

What I tell the intern now

Do not reconstruct 1–5 with a marker “so it looks complete.” Completeness is the ninth close. Until then you have a maybe, displayed late on purpose. After the close, the tape only keeps the maybes that became 9s. Almost-8 is a separate bucket so nobody confuses hope with a finish.

Scripts that print 1–9 on every bar are not more rigorous. They are noisier. I have one on a private sheet for teaching. I do not trade off it. I do not send it to clients.

A count, not an order. Questions: support@nineradar.com.