@weitanjun so I’ve been watching the and/usd and the usd/cad. I’ve my trades usually hit the S/L Right before it spikes.
I’m not sure if I need to add more money in so I can withstand the drops before hand or should I try to time my entries better?
According to my observations for currency pairs it is better to use an hour chart, but gold and other raw materials are well traced on a four-hour chart, at least this way it works much easier for me and I clearly see the necessary levels.
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Thanks a lot
I am a trading loser, so what do i know, and i am a person saying online chart based trading is a scam as the majority who try it lose money, but FWIW i will say this -
what can be done with an M5 chart can also be done (albeit slightly differently) with a bigger time interval such as M15 or M30, but with less noise/detail to keep track of, so is less demanding and more peaceful on the operator/trader.
A problem with M5 is a new candle opens every 5 minutes which is not a long time so its none stop, which can swing the persons opinion 180, without good cause.
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Hi @earthling, Chart based trading or Technical Analysis is effectively a scam… You are trading against a computer generated algorithm that displays a price close to the InterBank Market… your positions are taken onboard by your “Market Maker” Broker… they never reach the true FX Market.
This algorithm generates most price action and sudden market moves (ie: long candles on the 5min Charts) are totally designed to trap the inexperienced trader in opening positions on the wrong side of the market… Price action moves up and down on a consistent basis causing confusion, uncertainty and clean up the stops…your Broker loves you trading the short TF charts (1H and down)… it’s a money machine for them…
So if it doesn’t work, why not try a different approach… trade the Daily Charts for a week with .01 lots and see if it improves your results… it will at the very least improve your stress level and trial strategies that don’t require charts…
The Currency Strength & Weakness without Charts or Indicators thread maybe worth a read. Search for other ways to trade without using Charts… Hope this is of help.
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Do you mean trade off the D1 chart on an intra day or end of day basis?
BTW, i do think / suspect the brokers somehow know (or are good at guessing) where price will soon go, and somehow bias their prices in that direction, which often leads to negative slippage (extra pips loss than what should have been based on chart price + the spread at the time the enter and exit buttons were clicked) for the customer, and more profit/less loss for the broker.
Anyway that gives the best results for you… it will get you away from the noise of the short TF Charts.
It’s not quite as malevolent as this… they have to abide by some rules and regulations… but be under absolutely no illusion with this market… it is designed to erode your account…
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@vickysmart, @earthling and any other traders new to Forex, the YouTube video below is a great explanation of how and what makes markets move and why your stop is constantly targeted.
Watch this 2 or 3 times to take it all in… it will be very helpful to your trading.
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My opinion is definitely do not pay attention to any intraday time frame below M15, as its too fast and furious. And logically H4, H8 or H12 are the largest intraday timeframes that fit into H24.
Candlestick and bar charts at least enable one to see where one could have entered and exited for maximum pips profit, from on any candlestick moving forward.
Live trading with the same aim in mind is a whole different challenge and ball game, and making enough pips profit overall is extremely difficult without knowing where price will move to and when and so needing to use a stop loss to prevent an account balance wipe out in a single trade.
I don’t see how a line chart could ever be used to trade.
Very well said, you hit right on the dot! Winners do things opposite to what losers do. Most of the 95% losers are retail traders and irrespective of how much profits they have taken earlier, they will eventually give back to the market.
The forex market is designed as a minus sum game, the more you trade, the more your account will be eroded, irrespective of how much you’ve made. Ask around those day traders or scalpers, how many of them are really ending up as real winners by end of the day. Along the trading journey, some of them do manage to make monies but the supposed profits are being eroded by the law of minus sum game, the profits are taken away as spreads by the brokers and this is by no way the fault of the brokers, the fault is by the design of the game!
My personal opinion: The more you trade, the more you lose; the less you trade, the more you win, and if not, the less you lose! 
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@Trendswithbenefits very well said!
I use the Daily chart and Weekly chart only, I trade 10 minutes a day, I don’t follow market news, I don’t chase the running prices, I don’t predict, I just follow my own System trading strategy and signals, I plan my trade and trade my plan. Since I don’t predict, I have no expectations, thus, I have no emotions, I trade with peace of mind! 
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The most suitable time-frame is the one which firstly you can manage physically - no point using a 5-min chart-based strategy if you can only be at your screen 15 minutes a day, after New York has closed - and which respects the architecture of your strategy itself.
The latter point is more difficult but start with the strategy first. I am trialling a strategy that involves entering on either a buy order at the high of the last bar or a sell order at the low of the last bar: stop-loss orders are at the opposite extreme of the set-up bar: take-profit exits will be manual but at the close of a bar which should be usually 2-5 bars after the set-up bar.
The way I will be triggered into a trade and then stopped out is if both the high and the low of the set-up bar are breached. So I need to find a pair or index with a chart on a time-frame that shows least outside bars and smoothest trends. The actual market will vary from day to day obviously but the time-frame behaviours are repetitive - m1 and m5 show too many outside bars and the spread is hard to cope with on this scale; m15 and m30 look more consistent and easier to manage by chart clicking; H1 and H4 don’t throw up enough opportunities and are too long for intra-day - the best moves seem to come between the London open and New York’s lunch-time.
Fingers crossed.
Have been working on 4h time frame as execution interday, my daily time frame for tatical and weekly time frame for strategy decision.
Lots of views to read through here, I’ve mostly been using the H1 and H4 charts.
according to what I have read I think that about 1 hours to 4 is good
For day trading 4hr 1hr possibly 30m at a stretch because Market structure breaks down or isn’t clear on smaller TF
Keep your eye on all time frames.
Nothing at all wrong with taking entries off a 5 min chart, if you also have a 30 minute and a 4 Hour chart open at the same time, providing direction to your trade.
if day trading can mean not actually trading everyday it’s actually very possible to day trade with daily charts
there are a few bar formations such as the bullish hammer that can be used with a stop loss placed at the open of the bar and entry just above the high of the bar.
Exit at end of day if triggered in to trade
Not always the best strategy but profitable