I’m using a demo account on MT4 and I’m not to sure which time frame to use. Is there a recommended one that majority use? Should I start with a wide time frame and work myself down to the smaller ones? I usually use M15
Thanks in advance!
Thank you George90
my name is Martin, I’ve been doing this forex thing for around 7 years now.
here is my advice.
No, there isn’t
but as everything in forex, Answers are not always black and white.
you need to define your style of trading , first of all
Example
if you are a scalper, then you will likely be looking at charts Under 5mins
if you are a Long Term trade, it’s likely you will look at charts above 1 Week or a Month
as a general rule
Higher time frames are more reliable than shorter timeframes.
How you start is up to you
the goal is to be profitable , and to do so you need to be able to understand how the market moves and place appropraite trades
just practice and try different things
be cool
the typical answer is that there’s no definitive answer, and that’s technically true
personally, I trade structures. I like to look at the bigger picture and to bump down and down to where I am comfortable with entries. The general rule of thumb is that the larger timeframes typically bear more significance than the smaller ones (i.e. daily timeframe’s pivot is way stronger than a 5 minute pivot. something massive had to whip the daily chart around)
I use the daily to chart the longer term perspective. typically trend and major levels
then I use the 4H to chart “relevant in the shorter term” levels and trend
I enter on the 1H given price action signals corresponding to the 4H structure
I have also heard of some people using the same technique on smaller timeframes. For instance, 4H reference, 1H relevant charting, and 30M/15M for candlestick entries.
Best,
John from NYC
Actually, time frame depends on your trading style! Such as,
scalpers use lower time frame and swing and positional traders use higher time
frame! As a swing trader D1 is my favorite one.
That’s really true! And now I am working on daily time frame! I see, market respects the S/R levels of the D1 most of the times! But, when used H1 then I found so many false signal!
It depends what you mean by “relibale”, Peter.
If you’re assessing in terms of win-rate, then yes: what Martin said is strictly speaking true.
But it’s also highly misleading, because in reality that’s only half the story.
In general, the extent to which all markets “respect” previously established levels of support and resistance is proportional to increasing time-frames. The longer the time-frame, the more “reliable” (in terms of win-rate) the previous S/R.
This comes, however, at the cost of significantly decreased trading frequency.
Trading longer time-frames is preferred by and more convenient for traders who prioritize a high win-rate, and is therefore particularly suitable for those with limited risk-management and position-sizing skills. This includes many beginners, of course.
Those with more advanced risk-management and position-sizing skills may (and often will) find that the increased frequency of trading opportunities using faster time-frames, with their lower overall win-rates for S/R-based trading, work out significantly better in the long run, and with higher PF’s, Sharpe ratios and/or however else one quantifies trading performance.
The combination of lower win-rates and smaller profits, combined with greatly increased trading opportunities, can lead to much better collective outcomes.
This reality highlights one of the key differences (in terms of both approach and outcomes) between long-term-successful institutional trading and long-term-unsuccessful retail trading.
The point: within a context artificially limited to win-rates, longer time-frames are more “reliable”, but advising people to trade that way rather than developing superior risk-management skills is still awful advice based on only half the picture.
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Generally, your time-frame will be determined by your circumstances and your psychology. Some people may like the weekly chart, as they only have time to do market research on the weekends. Some people may like to trade the daily charts because they can devote a little time to it each morning. Personally, I trade the hourly charts because I don’t like holding a position too long (and never overnight). Some people do well on even lower time-frames.
There are two other aspects to keep in mind, though. First, longer time-frames are generally more ‘reliable’. What I mean by this is that they tend to perform more often in a way that you would expect, making them somewhat easier for new traders to come to grips with.
The reason for this ‘reliabily’ is that the randomness of the algos and the not-for-profit participants in the markets gets smoothed out with larger sample sizes. When Toyota decides to move some money from the US back to Japan it creates a massive splash on the M5, a blip on the H1, and barely a ripple on the D1.
On the other hand, learning compression is a thing. You will learn faster by trading more, and lower time-frames offer you more trading opportunities, so there is a reasonable argument for new traders demo trading the lower time-frames for awhile. Note that this does not mean that you are likely to be more profitable (quite the reverse, actually, as your mistakes are compounded and your transaction costs are higher) - this is purely from an educational, ‘do more, learn more’ perspective.
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Two outstanding posts, just above this.
Contrary to superficial appearances, the forum still has some great value (for those able to interpret, and judge by which posts to be influenced). 
All time frames can be useful, which one would be useful to you depends on your strategy. Figure out what your strategy is, what your trading plan is, and they should include the time frames that would be best to use. Very generally speaking, the shorter you keep your positions open, the shorter the time frame that you will use.
@LaughingCharlie
i can see your point here, Fair enough.
but also understand this…
Your comment here is correct
but i did not advise people to trade like this
you assumed i advised them
i was just speaking generally
and of course we are not here to spoon feed newbies every minor detail.
its’ not our job to do that,
Just like we did the hard yards, i expect them to go and test exactly waht it means to trade Low vs High timeframes.
and then they will discover what you are saying, which is correct as well.
I also agree with your opinion! Thanks for adding this comment here!
By no means am I saying I want you to, or that I expect anyone to. I just wanted to clarify I am willing to put in the leg work. I try to find my own answers before coming here. Heck, I’d blow this forums server up if I were to ask EVERY question I have haha
I appreciate the help you and others do on this forum!
Hi George
No No… don’t take this personally ok
this was not directed at you.
don’t take it as slur towards you ,
to understand why i said this, you need to understand so much more. and trust me, you don’t want to go there
Just understand it was not intended as an insult, and it’s best to just leave it at that.
be cool mate
A lot depends on your trading style and on your trading strategy.
It’s true; time frame always depends on traders trading style! By the way I think, time frame like M15 is not stable (market trend) as like higher time frames! So, if you want trade according to the market trend, try to use higher time frames like H4, D1.
Hi Luke… trading style does matter, but It will always help if you watch the timeframes above the one you want to trade in.
Say you wish to trade the M15, first you can look at the 4H Chart, (let’s say the trend is up). Then you check the 1H Chart (and the trend is up). Return to the M15 Chart, you now know that the stronger trend is up… so you only trade the up swings (Buy) and not the down swings (Sell) on the M15… you a confident that you are trading that pairs stronger trend.
Have a higher TF (say 1H) on screen (if possible) so you will be aware if the longer TF changes direction.
Say the 4H was down and the 1H the trend is up, you would generally trade the direction of the longer TF, in this example the 4H Chart direction… or as I would normally do… find a pair that have both TF’s trending in the same direction and apply the strategy above. Only Buys for the uptrend and Sells for the downtrend.
I’d say this has been displayed above in this thread… Not “Outstanding”… Still might be of some help…
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This isn’t actually right at all, Luke.
Charts are fractal.
If you look at a chart in abstract, without a label, there’s no way of telling whether it’s M15 or H4.
Neither is inherently more “stable” than the other.
The point is exactly as explained by Trendswithbenefits, just above.
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People forget this fundamental truth.
That’s why there’s so much silly talk in forums about “noise” in faster time-frame charts.
If that were true, you’d be able to tell that they’re faster time-frame charts from looking at them, wouldn’t you? 
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As you are new it is better to start with lomger time frame. Actually every person is different. You have to find out your own edge. It needs a lot of study and practice. Forex trading is so easy only when you become skilled. Finish the school of Pipsology of Babypips first.
I like this idea; thank you so much for detailing.