No. Thus, you're not required to always use the 1min chart. Simply, you can use any intraday time frame you want to use but make sure it correlates with your trading style, goals and your reaction skills. For example, some traders just are not fast enough to do analysis and then be fast enough to make trade decisions correlating with their analysis on certain intraday time frames... Other traders have no problems with the speed of the time frame. Symptoms of a time frame too fast for you is when you're entering trades too late after a valid trade signal, higher level of stress, more confused about the price action or more missed trade opportunities.
You could trade intraday from a 5 second time frame to a daily, and prob much more variance than that. At the hard right edge where a trading decision has to be made all charts show the same price, the higher TF, the bigger time history is exposed and smaller gyrations are "smoothed" out a bit. Lower TF will show more "right here and now". I would be cautious about always thinking in absolutes (ie " should you ALWAYS trade with 1min charts). I believe trading involves more fluidity and less absolutes but that's just my opinion. Good luck.
Trading is an endeavor where both fluidity and rigidity must coexist Without question - what you believe is correct OMS As the mkt rolls - so must we (stay fluid) What ever gives one the best view / read - absolutely..., that's the one to use ==================== Where rigidity comes into play: No matter what - follow our process / routine No matter what - each trade gets a plan No matter what - each plan is followed to fruition No matter what - we manage risk (in all its various forms) - first No matter what - we must remain patient / disciplined / focused No matter what - we must remain flexible / open to the mkt's information ================== Heck of a business..., this trading We get to enjoy (or in the case of some folks - that would be suffer / endure) the best of both worlds simultaneously Must be fluid (adaptable / changeable) as water..., yet..., we must also be / remain as rigid as titanium yippie ki yay RN
If you accept the market as Fractal, then it's pretty much the same game M1 or M15, M1 Advantage more trades per day, disadvantage Lower average profit so your costs ( spread/Comms) are higher per trade. Personally, I'm an M1 more detail kinda guy and more trades, my costs are approx average of 7% so I can live with that. Intraday, I wouldn't go slower than M15 and that's pushing it so M5 or M1 only for me.
Don't limit yourself to "time" either. To me the passage of time is irrelevant; all I am interested in is price.
No; I'd almost go so far as to say that you perhaps shouldn't trade with M1 charts at all (except I know it would start an argument and some trolling). The point is that if you're trading from charts as fast as that (and I'm not saying you shouldn't), you're very likely to be much better off using either tick-charts or volume-charts instead, because some 1-minute bars/candles, and their patterns, are about ten times as significant as others (but if you just use M1 charts, you'll have no way of telling which). Even if you're not interested in volume, or trading something for which volume isn't reliably available, at least think about using a tick-chart instead of an M1 chart (is my suggestion).
1 minute charts seems crazy to me. or anal. -- i trade the greater day's move, so i trade on a greater time horizon. i basically make one big trade per day. i play both sides. i don't know your style and personality etc etc details...so it's hard to say anything concrete. (but basically, you gotta basically learn on your own -- that's where all the quality answers will arise from.)