I have exactly one year since I started learning Forex but I have blown my real account twice already due to tight stops as I use the 1 hr and 4 Hr time frames. Is there any advice for me as I go back to studying the best time frame to trade. I need some help…
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Sounds like you need to learn more before looking at time frames…
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I use daily for the trend, 4 hour for charting and 1 hour for entries.
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I also do use this but tight stops make me loose because of my small account.
There is no easy time frame. It depends on the method of each individual. However, I personally find that H1 time frame and above are reasonable. The higher the frame should be to stop the loss and take profit beyond a small time frame
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what’s your account size?
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Hi Kelvin, theres a few things you can do:
You can take smaller positions so your stop loss can be put further away.
Or put more money into your account so you can place the stop at the right position.
Or you can go down to a smaller timeframe where the stop can be closer than on a higher timeframe.
More worryingly, you have noticed that tight stop loss is the reason you blew 2 accounts. If you know you’ve made a mistake, you should note it down, read it everytime you trade and never do it again.
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That’s what all of us have done somewhere on the journey, blowing some accounts.
I would say, one year is not a reliable time period for being successful on forex and you need to practice more.
regarding your question about timeframe, actually, there is no wrong or right timeframe and everything depends on your strategy.
if you’d provided more details about your strategy, we might be able to be more helpful, however, there are some general ideas for setting SLs.
For example, behind the previous swing high/low is a safe place for placing the SLs.
alternatively, you can use ATR to set your sl. For example, look at the ATR14 and see the number it shows and set the sl from one to one and a half times of that.
consistency and not changing the strategy for setting sl can be another important factor. Sometimes you widen your sl in the hope of market direction change to your favor and it gets even worse when you close your winning trades sooner than it hits your tp.
consequently, your rr gets worse and worse and you’re account start shrinking little by little and finally bursts.
that’s the good side of the story and if you follow money management to some extent otherwise you raze your account in a blink of an eye.
There are millions of reasons people blow up their account but the important thing is you figure out why it happens to you.
for instance, the first time that I blew my account was I think 2007 when I’d studied for one year and I thought I knew enough so I opened a small account — $300.
I didn’t use SLs, so basically I didn’t know anything about trading. The first trade went well and hit the tp. The second one went against me and I didn’t close it where I definitely figured out I was wrong.
I learned the lesson the hard way and didn’t do that anymore but made lots of other mistakes until I got to be in the green and learn to respect the market and my SLs.
to make the long story short, continue learning and be persistent and pay attention to the detail. Sometimes a small thing can make a huge difference. I’m using a strategy that I found in the early stage of my trading with some tweaks. I gave it up for silly reasons because I was looking for flawless HG.
I hope you find your mistakes and fix them. I know, it’s hard but possible.
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less noise on higher time frames
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What do you call noise?? Personally I think the term is a loosely used by traders not knowing what is happening.
It doesn’t matter what timeframe you are trading anytime price goes up or down is because someone bought and someone sold.
Knowing who is doing what and why is to understand price action and the key to trading successfully.
Cheers
Blackduck
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Any small movement looks big on a smaller timeframe is what I meant
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distracts you from your trading
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Unless you are trading that timeframe.
Then it is just like a higher timeframe. That candle or bar formed because someone bought and someone sold.
It is all relevant.
Cheers
Blackduck
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Exactly how I do it, much less stress for me than scalping the lower time frames!
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Do you mind me asking your account size??
With correct Risk Management and Risk:Reward ratio you should be able to trade any time frame that suits you and your style.
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I am currently trading with just 100$ as I am still learning one year down the line.
If you’re trading with a small capital, then you need to trade the smallest lot size in my opinion (0.01 lots), which is about 10 cents per pip
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I’m just starting out but what I’ve gathered is you can trade any time frame, you just gotta set tha right lot size. A standard 1.00 lot size is going to give you wayyyy less room to move how you need to than say a .01 or .10. I recently played with different lot sizes in tha demo to see how they move and I recommend one of those two with $100 based on whatever your trading style is. Consider risk management…
Hi Kelvin - I might suggest looking at using a practice or demo account and getting these important fundamentals down before funding your account with more money. With that being said this is something where we’re always learning, I don’t think this ever stops. Try to visualize this portion of the learning curve like this: before we run we walk and before that crawl: crawl-walk-run so Really try to get this down! Go back through the baby pips education and enjoy😃
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