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I'm a novice currently learning to trade futures by using pattern recognition n Fib ratios. During the past few months, I have been SIM trading n doing quite ok on bigger time frames from hourly, 4 hours, n daily charts on Gold, Eur, n Corn. However, trading on daily can be quite slow to see my tracking records, my mentor has then instructed me to start practicing on 30 min chart. The main reason he wants me to start doing that is because of more patterns n ratios, however, I seem to have a hard time to adjust to such time frame. Also, I have this conflict of following the trend in the bigger time frame when small time frames won't show the trend that clearly.
How would I tell ALL the major differences among the time frames from big to small ones? Are there certain rules to watch out for?
Next, I was told if I trade on one specific time frame, I will have to stick to it. However, I was wondering if I can find a pattern entry in a small time frame n then stick to the big trend on big time frame???
Please kindly help guide me. Thanks so much in advance.
Can you help answer these questions from other members on NexusFi?
generally that means day trading ... opening gaps , braking news and several other factors makes that not very easy. 1 trader in 1,000 can do it after many years of trail an error .
Trading based on small time frames is now dominated by algos. These algos fire on each tweet of Mr Trump or any news of international trade, geopolitical events etc and that too 0.5% within seconds......better to learn coding than trying to do manual exercise....another alternative is to learn option strategies on weekly contracts....
Just out of curiosity- where is the evidence that "1 trader in 1,000" can make it? I know this is a difficult business and I'm aware that apparently there is a very high failure rate (and I believe it to some extent), but I've only read and heard rumors about this. I haven't seen any evidence.
From the limited experience I've had trading (roughly 7-8 months trading live, and maybe 9 months of wasting time), I now believe it to be true that the less active you are as a new discretionary trader, the better it is for your account. I'd say if you're already doing well using longer time-frames, stick to them! Even though I don't like the cynicism that I perceived from the previous two replies, there is truth in them..
Responding to the bolded question you asked above, since you're an elite member, go and check out wldman's journal. Really read it because it answers both of your questions. Also, it's not necessarily true that you have to stick to one time-frame. That all depends on the person- I can look at a couple of charts at a time.. Anyways, work intelligently and work hard if you're going to do this. Good luck.
Thank you. I welcome all comments and open to them all. First, don't say that u have wasted 9 months of time. I believe the time u have invested for urself would benefit u one way or another, at least we all learn from any mistakes. Yes, I do hear about the crazy algo tradings n newly preferred programming skills needed to be competitive. I also noticed the less impulsive I am , the higher probabilities n profits I got. Even tho it's just SIM trading but I treat it very seriously n abide the rules with high disciplines.
Before executing any trades, I always read the charts from big to small time frames, no matter what. Initially, I was told to trade on hourly chart, however, I "seemed" to see the trend better with clarity on daily or 4 hr charts. And then it just happened naturally to me that way. There'd also be times when big time frames don't show any movement n hard to predict n I"d have to look into smaller times to determine. Also, I don't always trade on the same time frame even if it's just for the same commodity or currency. I'm not sure if that's a bad habit to do so. I try to be flexible/fluid but not loose as to do anything I want, as long as I can spot a good predictable entry n possible Fib pattern. That's what I have been doing.
What's the wldman's journal? There seems to be a spelling error? If u do have a link, could u forward it to me ? Thank you so very much. We should talk more n support each other on this challenging journey.
You're welcome Ted. It's true that during that ~9 months I undoubtedly accumulated knowledge and experience, so I suppose you're right in that sense- but the reason I referred to it as wasted time is because I certainly was running around in circles. I also lied to myself and didn't work as hard as I should've, and I wasn't focusing on the right things (gathering stats, developing a consistent process and strategy, etc.). I was primarily led by my emotions and my self perception/grandiosity that I was the exception to having to have a solid strategy. I labeled myself as a discretionary trader in the process of forward testing to avoid the tedious work that naturally comes along with finding a viable edge. I'm still not successful, but I'm trying. It was very smart of you to get a mentor; if he's any "good" and you stay with him, you will have skipped the drama that I put myself through.
Judging by the second paragraph, you may already be using time frame continuity implicitly, which is awesome.. Thank you @matthew28 for posting wldmans journal, make sure to read it Ted! Don't put it off..
