Multiple Time Frames in Trading
One can learn about trends,one learns to correctly identify when a sideways trend breaks out into an uptrend.One learns about all the pivots and all that is required to correctly diagnose a change in trend........and yet one needs to resolve the confusion that multiple time frames offer to our mind.
As always there are few rules that beginners ought to follow:
I am not going to use words like position,swing,intraday here for the simple reason that there are so many time frames and that many traders who trade that timeframe,so not abt to go abt classifying and categorising them.
The Trader who trades the Daily charts:Meaning one who capitalises on the trend as displayed by the Daily charts.Right,.............Look at the Weekly Charts.If the weekly charts are making higher pivot highs and lows,we are in an uptrend.As we had learnt,we look for buy signals in the daily chart.Now what are these buy signals?That depends on your strategy.Here we had discussed about a stock making a higher pivot low and then taking out a previous pivot high as a buy point...........But the point being:Look at the weekly.Analyse the trend.If we are in an uptrend,entry on a buy signal on the daily chart.Exit once we get the sell signal on the daily chart.The sell signal we had discussed here:A break of a previous pivot low in an uptrend,or trailing stop,or some other method that you may have........Once again,the point being:The trade is off the daily charts,the weekly is a guide that tells us the direction that we should follow.We buy the daily,we sell the daily,we position size the daily
We do not have a sell signal on the daily,and then pacify ourselves that we have a strong weekly and it's only a pullback,and the fundamentals are good and CNBC says we are doing great.We get a sell signal,and we have the discipline to cut the trade........Why?Coz we are daily charts traders,that trade does not suddenly shift to some other time frame.
The trader who trades the 15min charts:This trader looks at the 60min charts for a trend analysis and direction.No trend,no trade.Uptrend in the 60,the trader waits for a Buy Signal on the 15.Position sizing on the 15min charts.Trail stops on the 15.Exits as per the 15.One does not look at the 60min and say that it's so bullish and therefore one does not mind the pullback...........coz' simply one is a 15min chart trader.One catches the uptrend on the 15 and one exits when sell signals demand s
ne therefore looks to go long on the 15,if the 60 is in an uptrend.One looks to short,if the 60 is in a dntrend.And one sits on hands if the 60min is doing neither.
And so on so forth for all the various time frames...............Never short the 15 when the 60 is in an uptrend.You could make a profitable trade here and there,but the 60 will make you pay dearly at some point.Never enter on the 15,and then get carried away by the uptrend on the 60 and then shift timeframes.For an intraday trader,never disobey the 60min charts.
This,for now.......more later!!
Saint