What Timeframe Do You Trade?

That’s great thanks a lot. I’ll def shoot you an email now sure. I’m actually from Ireland but lived in oz for a year on a working holiday. Absolutely loved Queensland. Would move back in a heart beat if the opportunity came up. Yeah patience is absolutely key. I have all the patience in the world when it comes to waiting for a trade but when it comes to actually being in the trade i get a little impatient. It’s good that i’m aware of that fact but its going to be a work in progress. Been reading Mark Douglas “Trading in the Zone” which is helping with the psychology aspect a bit.

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By trading the daily timeframe believe me, you don’t have to wait for a long time to enter a trade. Opportunities come up all the time but it’s just up to you to be able to find them with the tools on hand. Some weeks were dead and I still had at least 2-3 trades. I trade 20 different currency pairs (all major and main minor pairs + gold, no exotic), and that gives me plenty of trades every single week. Some trades are intraday, some trades with stronger signal are longer.

Patience for me anyways always apply mostly to trades that are currently running. It’s a common thing for all, you see profit, you want to take it, you see loss, you want to wait and hope it would go your way.

Take all the time you need to learn, in the end what’s important is a strategy that suits you, you are comfortable with it and that’s how you become profitable in the long run. It has to be something you are comfortable doing over and over. The market isn’t going anywhere :smiley:

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Thank you for the informations

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That’s the tip of the iceberg. Go deeper.

Hey, okay thank you for the information :)This is actually helpful for me

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Hi Cloud, great post, thanks for sharing. How do you monitor 19 pairs+ in so little time? Do you use any form of indicator to scan the markets?

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I am glad to hear that, all the best :smiley:

Hi Greyton, thank you for your comment.

My strategy is based on Bollinger Bands and Price Action. And I only trade strong signals (mainly reversal, breakout or continuation). So I can very easily sweep through 19 currency pairs + gold and see if there are any good signals showing up.

Because it’s the daily chart, the previous candle and if needed a few before that pretty much gives me enough information and the confirmaiton to enter a trade. In the evening sometimes if I have time, I’d draw support and resistance to assist and also speed up my analysis in the morning but I don’t do this very often - as Bollinger Band already sort of doing this for me.

Hope this is helpful for you :smiley:

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I stick to London time

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Hi Cloud, Thanks for reply

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One of the simplest things that as a trader you can do to improve your trading almost overnight, is by switching to a higher timeframe. If you are trading based on the 15 minutes, 30 minute, or 60-minute chart, try to move up to the 240 minutes, 480 minute or daily chart for eod trading (end of day trading).

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Thank you very much for the info, but what about some of is with low budget you know if you open a position using a daily TF and the trade go against you it might blow up someone’s ,because the higher the TF the higher the pips .

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Absolutely agreed. Longer timeframe = less noise = better trades. Quality over quantity always!

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Hey Quebec73, that’s completely irrelevant and false, if you are using proper risk management to determine lot sizes, it makes absolutely no diference in terms of $ or % you are risking.

For example, let say you risk $100 for every trade you make regardless of what timeframe you trade. The rule of thumb for calculating lot size is “$ you are risking / SL in pips / 10”.

If you trade on a shorter timeframe, let say the SL is 20 pips, your lot size would be $100 / 20 / 10 = 0.5.

If you trade on the daily timeframe, let say the SL is 120 pips, your lot size would be $100 / 120 / 10 = 0.08.

So on both of these situations, if your SL is hit, you will still only lose $100 maximum.

You might say well in that case, you are not going to make much money trading the daily timeframe, that’s also wrong, because you always aim for AT LEAST a 1:1 or 1:1.5 or more R:R ratio regardless of what timeframe you trade.

Trading on the longer timeframe just mean less noise which equate to more quality analysis and trades. Quality over quantity, always.

In saying that, I am also not saying you cannot make money on the shorter timeframe (scalping, day trading etc.) but, I am saying it is harder to do so for majority of traders and it requires a lot more experience. Not to mention time and dedication spent.

I hope you find this explaination helpful. Let me know if you are still unclear :smiley:

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Can you define “noise” please?
What makes a signal from the D1 a “better trade” than one from the M15 in your opinion?

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Noise refers to the amount of false signals the shorter timeframe can bring.

A daily candle takes 24 hours to form and likewise, the 15m takes 15m to form however, price action on the daily candle will often provide a lot more information for you and are also more accurate. Based on the direction of the last few daily candles, you can basically tell the general direction of the current trend, you can’t do the same on a 5m or 15m candle.

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It is not about the timeframe but at what time the trade is best. I have been trading on expert option and that is why I do this. I have realised that there are times when trades are stronger and sometimes weaker. These are the times when there are a lot of entry points. I can go for the low profit with less risks. It is my strategy and I also enter at the very last minute.

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Some say there is noise on the lower timeframes others disagree

What I can say is that psychologically the lower timeframes are much harder than the daily charts.

As an end of day trader myself I cannot fathom why anyone would like to make their life harder than it needs to be.

But I recognise that there are a few out there who process information much quicker and are quite emotionless on the lower timeframes

I wish I was one of them but alas it wasn’t meant to be

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I always try to trade long-term, because this is a more reliable option for investing.

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My primary strategy is on the daily chart, key support & resistance levels. It also helps to check trend direction on monthly and weekly as well. I start on the monthly, plot out key SR areas to determine long term direction (my determination might differ from others). Weekly, same thing. If M & W are both telling me sell, then I look for short opportunities on the daily charts.

I do enjoy trying out different strategies on lower time frames, with different indicators. I just love everything about this business and can’t seem to get enough, however, it is important (to me) to have 1 main strategy to focus on.

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