Best Intraday timeframe

[Iqbal]

I am new to forex and would like some guidance from the more experienced traders.

I would like to ask what they think the best timeframe is to trade intraday. I am currently looking at 5min and 10min charts, but am unsure which to use. What do you guys trade on and why?

Thankyou in advance.

 

[cj12]

Hi lgbal

I would say 5 and 10 min are ok. I don't think many will respond to you on this.Because There so much more to it, than just picking a time frame some use 1 and 3 min chart to get in but look at a longer time frame of 30 min charts for the trend of the market.

If you are new to trading a good way to start with real money is have a live game against real traders. at www.tradergames.com. you can enter a game for just 20 quid with a winning pot of 76 quid.you would play against 4 traders. with a live trading platform of 50mill but you cant lose no more than 250.000k.,but remember you are not risking no more than 20 pound for a 2 hour game. great for learning. and once you get better you can play for the 750 pound games

good luck

sun

 

[TheBramble]

Iqbal, doesn't matter which intraday timeframe you choose, that will largely be a function of your trading style and your attention span/time availability for trading any given day.

What I will say is whatever timeframe you choose to trade on any given day, use longer timeframes for confirmation of your trade (if directional) and shorter ones for timing your entry/exit.

 

[options]

Agree with Bramble. You should always have a longer time frame chart open for direction and never take a trade against that direction, (until at least you think you know what you are doing). Another thing is don't keep changing time frames. Pick one and stick with it. Going from 1 min to 5 to tick to 10 to 15 and back again will just confuse and frustrate. Take the time to get to know the chart and the instrument you are tracking. So you will have 2 charts showing.

Most fx brokers have dummy accounts where you can trade with 10 grand or so. Just see what a 20 quid trade will return given the leverage available.

 

[SvenFoster]

Couldn't agree with options more, I've spent too long flipping between 4 Timeframes and I seem to completely loose the plot, in the end I just end up looking at the same 2 anyway.

Having several open confuses me sooner or later since I can see a trade on one, resistance on another and support on another etc.. and I continue to get a very warm head. That and the constant flipping makes me twitchy, and thats never good.

I've settled on 1 timeframe for trades, one longer to ensure I'm heading in the right direction and somtimes confess to using one below.
It kind of works but I still think I'm making it to complicated but time will tell.
as bramble says the the TF you choose should be a function of the amount of trades you need and time you can devote.
The bad news is there isn;t a perfect timframe that everyone is using ...or is there

 

[Roberto]

I am new to forex and would like some guidance from the more experienced traders. I would like to ask what they think the best timeframe is to trade intraday. I am currently looking at 5min and 10min charts, but am unsure which to use. What do you guys trade on and why? Thankyou in advance.

I trade from 15-minute and 30-minute charts (and look at 1 hour charts all the time too), because I want the longest trades I can manage that are still clearly "intraday" and with no risk of leaving positions open overnight.

But which ones will work for you will depend which currencies you're trading and how. Unfortunately, you can't really assume that other people's answers to your questions will necessarily apply to your own situation.

I've found that charts of shorter periodicity tend to present more trading opportunities, but each of _less_ reliability, than is the case for longer charts.

There are people who trade exactly the same way as me but from 5-minute and 10-minute charts instead of (mostly) 30-minute charts. They trade more often, and their success-rate is lower. They may well earn more overall, but it wouldn't suit me for many reasons.

Many people find that in general, it's a good idea to assess and plan trades from charts of longer periodicity than the ones from which you produce the actual entries and exits.