Full Time Trader..

Hello All:

For the people who are full time traders, are you trading on a shorter time frame or somewhat longer. I'm a trader and at some point looking to trade the Forex full time. As a trader I seem to be trading the 15 min time frame and not able to be patient enough to go off of a longer time frame.

I guess I'm just looking to get some feedback or thoughts about how to trade as a full time Forex trader.

Thanks....

Hi macf,
I am a full time trader. I mostly trade from 2 to 7 days. My trades are not really based on a time frame for a chart, but if I had to choose what would fit, I would say the 4hour or daily charts... I am always paying attention, but find that there is too much noise in the smaller time frames for my liking. There are several people who trade shorter time frames and who are successful. One of the people I was trained by trades off of a 15 minute chart, using GBPUSD. He is very successful. So I do not know exactly what that means. I just find I understand better what I am doing with a trade that I can expect to last for a few days...

This is neither right nor wrong, It is just my style...

Scott

Alot depends upon the personality of the trader as to what time frame they are most comfortable with.

For myself if I trade the 5 minute charts I will have cardiac problems, if I trade the 15 minute charts I will experience panic attacks, if I trade the hourly charts I have times of elevated blood pressure.....but if I trade the daily charts I am happy

Each trader has their own comfort level - the key is to find yours.

Monaco

Join the James16 PF. It will help ypu READ the charts like a book and understand them. This is your best bet. By the way, longer is better


Rsq

i agree that with minute or hourly charts then you get presented with too much information to process. i would guess that very few survive on hourly charts or less day in day out and the rest suffer from burn out. if you're a beginner then follow the last post's advice and start with 4 hour or daily charts.

if you're not a full-time trader (like me) then higher time frames mean you can combine both job and trading relatively easily.

Hi

I mainly get my signals from "Daily" charts.... Trade duration usually varies between 1-7 days.

I am in NZ so it suits me to use "daily' rather than shorter time frames which may mean trading through the night of the London Session - I dont want to be glued to a computer all day/night watching tick by tick...been there-done that.



Cheers

The time frame you choose is not as important as if you are comfortable trading with it and have successfuly paper traded it. I prsonally trade the USD major 5. Enter from 9:05 to 9:15 EST (13;05 GMT) on a momentum signaled indicator. This indicator, coupled with the time of day with the largest volume, usually, of market participants say to me that if I can exit a 30 to 50 lot with only +12 to +15 pip per lot, I'm satisfied for the day. Stop loss is 15 pip under the session low from 7:20 EST when IMM futures started to trade. If you overlay a front month futures daily, hourly, etc. chart with the forex chart, they tend to move in tandum, or inverse. Also, usually by this time the major news or reports of the day have made their way into the market. This is seen by a momentum indicator shift and helps me stay out of the knee jerk reactions often seen off the session open, and also news events. I don't even have to come close to capture a full days range move -impossible- if you do the math. Ex... +10pip by 50 lot by any where from 1 to 5 liquid pairs. If I don't get 4 of the 5 right (the Canadian can have a mind of it's own), I'll usually make out on all the UDS based or USD crossed, if not a grand slam of all 5. As far as the down side goes, my stops are rarely hit. This 1 to 2 hour window is devoted to my screen. If the momentum indicator reverses I take myself out of the trade and am on the sideline untill the next day. I never chase a trade. It rarely works for me. Better to go golfing or fishing. Like I said, for me it's all about being comfortable with the time frame so you can be confident with your system, following the rules strictly for this (your) system, paper trading it; ie. more confidence, and when you have repeatable outcomes on the simulated platform for a month or so, go live with 5 to 10 lot trades. Work up from there. Thats what I did and for me it works. It sure beets my old contacting job. Good luck trading.

dline

Sorry. My stop loss example only reflected going long the market. The SL point is 15 pip above session highs on the short side. I enter a TTO order for both exit and profit points, but manually exit premature and straight cancel the TTO when I feel wrong.

dcline

OK, this is it for tonite. I'm typing faster than thinking. To reply on actual time frame I trade off the 5mn. chart with momentum confirmation. In all cases I am flat he markets by 12 Noon EST.

Hey BigFace, does the Kiwi tend to follow the Aussie, and do either relate to JPY. Your sessions start around 7PM EST my time and am looking for opportnities in my early evenings.

dcline

I'm not full time trader yet (but plan to be) but I know a couple of guys that are full time.

One trades off the 5min charts (I tried that for a while and do not recommend it...) the other longer timeframes.
But even the guy that day-trades off the 5min still places longer swing trades as well.

My recommendation is to not go lower than the 1H. Don't even go lower than the 4H until really experienced. You can still make a lot of money trading only the daily. But you have to be patient.

The one very generic piece of advice I can offer when trading smaller timeframes, is to never trade against the trend. That will kill you even on the 4H sometimes.

Good luck.

Hi
It depends, what kind of strategy you have in mind. If you are looking a big money earnings then I should say that full time is better otherwise if you are not then two to three hours of market time is enough providing which market you are trading in.

4H trade,almost every working day trade.when i need to go outside i just make my sl and tp and stick to them..my life just as normal as other by the way.

Hi Marcf,
I've been trading for around 8-10 years and have been retired for awhile now. I use the 15, 3 and 1-mintue charts to trade and I trade the opens (London and New York), if I make my target on the London then I dont bother with the New York. Now my target is between 50-100 points daily, it might take me between 1-5 trades to reach my target but more often than not its only 1 or 2 trades.
But it all depends on your style and what your comfortable with, if you are getting good results with what your doing then dont fix something thats not broken.
Above all treat it as a business and not a hobby that way you will treat it as it deserves to be treated.

Go Getter

I scalp the EUR/USD off the 5 min exclusively. I think most people are better off trading a longer time frame like the others said. I'm not a full time either, but someday I will be.

Hi Dcline,

Any particular indicator you are using for momentum??

Thanks & happy trading!

Daemien

Thanks all for your great replies!!