Setting MAs, RSI and other

Beginner Questions
1

hi, everybody
i think these are the questions that could help newbie traders as well as more advanced that are not sure what are the best settings for most popular indicators.

settings for MAs vary depending on a time frame. on a daily tf setting of 20 goes for 20 day average. on 1h tf, 20 goes for 20 hours average. so if one wants to show 20 day average on 1h tf, he/she should put 24(hours in a day)*20(days) = 480 as a value for MA period. this is pretty clear

what’s with RSI, does it depend on a time frame?
also, in one time frame, which values should be the most “general” of them all? RSI “inventor” recommends 14. what’s with 9 or 20 that are most commonly used? i know they present periods, but why would period of 14 be more accurate or better than 20 or 9? it would be nice if someone could give some light to the matter.

the same is with MACD and Stochs. (5,9,4) or (12,26,9) for MACD or (5,3,3) or (8,3,3) for Stochs.

the main questions is how bigger (or smaller) time frames influence the settings of the indicator? for example 15min chart goes with RSI 20 and 4h chart with 9.
i understand that different settings give you various insights in market, but from where to start. i trade 4h charts. should i just include RSI 14 and learn to read it according to 4h tf or is there more then that?

i hope you understand my dilemma and i thank anyone who can help :slight_smile:

2

All those indicators work on a time frame in a simalar way to the moving average you described.
If you are using a 2 line RSI indicator with settings of 13 and 3, the calculation for each of those lines is based on those time periods, 13 and 3. No matter which chart you attatch it to, it will always use values taken from the positions of the previous 3 candles to calculate the 3 line and the previous 13 candles to calculate the other line.
The reason these lines are calculated using different time periods of history is usually to create a signal, when the two lines cross it tells you something about the expected change in price action, when they separate it tells you something else. The two lines is usually the difference between the current price action and the general price action over a longer time frame.

3

thanks, sdc
i generally knew all that, but i was hoping there was a bit more into it.

basically, whichever setting you choose, you have to adjust yourself to that setting and the info it provides.

thanks again